The GaelMinn Gazette: March, 2015
THE GAELMINN GAZETTE (#117): March, 2015
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The GaelMinn Gazette, a monthly e-newsletter from Gaeltacht Minnesota, carries helpful items for anyone studying the Irish language, anywhere, as well as news of interest to local and regional students.
Please FORWARD this newsletter to any friends who may want to learn Irish. And if you received this Gazette from someone else, go to www.gaelminn.org to sign up.
To read this newsletter as a web page, go to www.gaelminn.org/lastgaz.htm .
Content (C) 2015 Gaeltacht Minnesota
CONTENTS
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APRIL WORKSHOP IN ST. PAUL!
Tips, Tools, & Tricks
---You've Got (Voice) Mail!
GaelMinn News & Announcements
Lessons Learned
---Roll Your Own: Fadas
About Gaeltacht Minnesota
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----------APRIL 11 (SAT) WORKSHOP DISCOUNT AVAILABLE!
We are holding our annual Saturday language workshop on April 11 in St. Paul.
A very thorough question-and-answer page, along with downloadable registration form, is available at http://www.gaelminn.org/ceard.htm . There is a 20% discount on the workshop fee ($52 vs. $65) for registration by March 30, but because that is so close, we'll extend the discount to anyone who registers and writes "GAZ" on the form, even if it comes in after the 30th. (All registrations due by April 4.)
And if you have been waiting to join our Monday classes, this will get you in.
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TIPS, TOOLS, & TRICKS
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----------YOU'VE GOT (VOICE) MAIL!
As you learn to speak Irish, consistency can be a challenge. It's a problem for all of us. Sometimes we say a word one way, sometimes another. Sometimes we see a vowel or consonant combination and we can't quite decide how to tackle it!
One of the reasons progress can be slow in this area is because it is hard to construct an utterance and judge it at the same time. Our brains are churning to find the words and grammar we want, as well as the sounds we need, and there isn't much spare capacity for evaluating our own performance.
It's a little like trying to compete in figure skating at the Olympics and also being a judge on the sidelines. You can't do both at the same time effectively, and that's why skaters have coaches.
Of course, if you're part of a class or study group, you may get some coaching on how you say things.
But fortunately, modern technology makes it possible to coach yourself a bit. Just use your phone, especially your voice mail.
First of all, simply recording yourself and then listening to the recording can help you a lot. It lets you separate judging from performing, and you'll notice the places where you sounded tentative, or where you think you made a mistake. Then you can check those out with your learning resources and try again.
But a particularly nice use of voice mail is to give you a little distance, a little time, between saying something and evaluating it.
Just call your phone (or use a recording feature) and say a sentence or two in Irish, perhaps reading them from a lesson or other source.
Then, wait. Don't play the message back right away. Just pick up the message when you regularly check your voice mail.
That gives you more time to shift out of production mode and into listening mode. It lets your memory of what you were trying to say clear a little, so you have to listen more closely to hear what you actually said.
Of course, you can play the message several times to see what you'd like to change. But it also makes sense to spread that replay out. Just listen to it when you routinely check your messages, saving it each time. If you made a recording, listen to it after each time you check voice mail.
Sometimes, when you space things out that way, you form a better judgment of your performance. You may notice something the third time you hear it, with gaps between listening sessions, that you wouldn't pick up listening to it three times in quick succession. Or you may decide that something that bothered you on first hearing might not be so bad after all, when you listen to it later.
And if multiple things bother you, don't get wound up about all ofthem. Just pick one thing to work on. Find or construct a new sentence that uses that sound and repeat the process.
We have the technology to hear ourselves with a convenience that is hard to beat. Take advantage of your voice mail on a regular basis to check your speaking performance.
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GAELTACHT MINNESOTA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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----------GREAT LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
There are a number of interesting opportunities to learn or practice Irish in the coming months.
MAY in INDIANA: if you're in the Indianapolis neighborhood this spring, you can catch their weekend event on May 1-3. Visit http://www.indianaceltic.org for more information.
JUNE in IOWA: We're pleased to see that our friends in Iowa will be hosting their first weekend workshop in Cedar Rapids, June 27-28. You can get more information, as well as pick up your registration form, at https://iowairishlanguage.wordpress.com/ .
JULY in MINNESOTA: Our annual weekend workshop, held in central Minnesota on the lovely campus of St. John's University, is scheduled for July 25-26. We'll have more details after we get done with our April event.
AUGUST in AN RINN: John Handy of Pennsylvania is coordinating an immersion week in An Rinn/Ring in the middle of August. For more about this effort, visit www.facebook.com/irishlanguagelearners .
----------CLASS NOTES
No Class, March 30, spring break
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LESSONS LEARNED
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----------ROLL YOUR OWN: FADAS
Puzzles or games can be a good way to add a little variety to your studies. But you don't have to search for sources, or wait for instructors or others to provide you with these materials.
You can "roll your own". In fact, the process of building a puzzle, and then solving it, spreads out your work with the language and produces more lasting benefits than just solving a puzzle someone else hands you.
One good topic for building your own puzzles is the "fada", the accent mark over some vowels. As you soon learn, fadas make a huge difference. Seán and sean, fear and féar, ban and bán all refer to very different things!
And besides those pairs, you have probably found yourself encountering (and looking up) the same words again and again, because you are not certain about whether to spell them with or without fadas. Is it cupan or cupán? It is fior or fíor?
You can use this theme for a puzzle by following a simple process: Collection, Construction, and Completion.
COLLECTION
This is the easy part, but you do have to be a bit organized. Every time you are writing a word in Irish and you aren't sure about fadas, add that word to a list you keep separately. Also add words when you see them and overlook the fada as you look them up in the dictionary, that is, you look up "fear" when the word in front of you is "féar".
No need to rush this. If you capture these items as you go, over the span of a week or two (or more), you'll be assured of working with words that actually give you problems, instead of an artificially assembled list just for the sake of the puzzle. Focus on adding words that you use, and that annoy you because you have to look them up again and again.
CONSTRUCTION
Now, there are several ways to create a puzzle around these fadas, depending on your level of ability. What they all have in common is that they provide clues, followed by options -- namely the word with and without the fada.
At the simplest level, provide an English word followed by the options:
grass = fear, féar
Perhaps a better option at this level is to write a sentence in English with a blank:
I have to cut the ________ (fear, féar).
This may seem odd, but practicing this way means that when you think of the needed concept ("grass") in context, you'll think of the Irish word complete with the fada as part of the word.
Naturally, if you're more advanced, you can construct sentences in Irish for your clues:
Itheann ba ________ (fear, féar).
COMPLETION
Once you have created your puzzle ... put it away! Don't look at it for at least a week.
If you just do the puzzle right after you finish constructing it, it will be too easy. Give yourself some time to forget the right answers.
Then, once you solve the puzzle, do it again, every couple of days. Use it as a drill until those words automatically pop into your head with the fadas handled correctly.
Some of the best exercises are the ones you create yourself. And sorting out these fada situations is a great place to start.
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ABOUT GAELTACHT MINNESOTA & THE GAZETTE
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Gaeltacht Minnesota is a volunteer organization that has been teaching free weekly classes in Irish for more than three decades. Besides free classes, we offer several workshops each year, publish introducing the language to readers of columns in regional publications, and participate in a wide variety of community events.
The GaelMinn Gazette is distributed to our subscriber list on the 25th of each month: Will Kenny, editor.
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You can stay up to date with Gaeltacht Minnesota at www.gaelminn.org , or drop us a line anytime at info@gaelminn.org .
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