The GaelMinn Gazette: April, 2016
THE GAELMINN GAZETTE (#130): April, 2016
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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) 2016 Gaeltacht Minnesota
CONTENTS
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Tips, Tools, & Tricks
---Talk Back!
GaelMinn News & Announcements
Lessons Learned
---Collect "You-Isms"
About Gaeltacht Minnesota
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TIPS, TOOLS, & TRICKS
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----------TALK BACK!
You already know, surely, that it is a good idea to listen to Irish whenever you can. It could be the CD from a course, or that accompanied a book. It might be programs from Irish language radio, such as Raidió na Gaeltachta (http://www.rte.ie/rnag/) or television programs on TG4 (http://www.tg4.ie/).
If you are a beginner, you can find this frustrating because you understand so little of what is said. (Dirty little secret: students with years of experience feel the same way!) Whatever your level, frustration builds when you set your sights too high, when you get too attached to being able to grasp the meaning of what is said.
Audio sources can be very good practice for your ears and for your mouth, even if you catch very little of the meaning of what you hear. Approached with more modest -- and more interactive -- goals, listening is a great tool that should be a regular activity for most students.
The trick is to go beyond just listening. Whatever the source, why not talk back a little? Repeating what you hear is a wonderful way to help you focus on what you're listening to a little better. (And as you get more practice, it becomes a good source of useful phrases, especially of the "filler" variety -- see You-isms article below.)
Try to repeat a word, or a short phrase, every minute or so at first. Don't get more ambitious, once a minute is plenty to start. And don't try to repeat stuff that you can't understand. Pick a few words you know, and when you hear them in your audio, SHOUT them out!
Even beginners can benefit from this approach. It makes listening to materials like radio broadcasts less frustrating, because you can be more active about learning something from what you hear. So pick a few words like "tá", "anois", etc., and repeat them out loud when you hear them.
If you're a little more advanced, repeat useful phrases like "ar bhealach" or "i gceist".
If a particular speaker uses a certain phrase repeatedly (Máirtín Tom Sheánín is known for the excellent Irish word, "ByDad"!), try repeating it when you've heard it a few times. Do not worry about what it means, just learn to copy it.
Make some noise, don't just listen! You are bound to recognize a few words, even if they are as simple as "tá" and "ansin". Your success at picking up a few words will make the listening experience more enjoyable and less frustrating.
Again, the more interactive you are, the better. Making a "mental note" when you recognize a word will do much less to boost your skills than repeating the word out loud, even if you have no idea how to spell it. Almost without trying, you will learn more and more about how Irish language sounds work.
In other words, forget about meaning and just be a copycat. As you continue your studies, you will find -- ByDad! -- that some fun new words and phrases creep into your own speech.
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GAELTACHT MINNESOTA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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----------THANKS FOR A GREAT WORKSHOP!
Thanks to everyone who made our Spring Workshop a success!
We had a great group of students, some experienced, some brand new, at our annual Saturday workshop. Welcome to the new students who have decided to continue with us.
Our deepest thanks to Mary, Tom, and Wes for their excellent work in front of the classrooms. Thanks, too, to Maureen for her help in so many ways.
We also appreciate the continued support of the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas.
----------ADDITIONAL WORKSHOP NEWS
The Indiana group will host a weekend May 1-3. http://www.indianaceltic.org/
And our pals in Iowa are holding their language weekend June 11-12.
----------CLASS SCHEDULE
No Class May 30, Memorial Day
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LESSONS LEARNED
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----------COLLECT "YOU-ISMS"
Listen to your relatives, your co-workers -- or yourself -- and you realize that everyone has favorite phrases. You know that one person sticks "more or less" in every other sentence, while another says "it seems to me" whenever expressing an opinion.
These expressions are part of our speaking personalities. And you don't have to give up your personality once you start speaking in Irish!
Indeed, adding these kinds of little phrases to your conversation efforts does a lot to spice up your Irish, and makes learning the language a little more fun.
Unfortunately, we often get so focused on the "serious" topics in learning Irish that we overlook these "filler" phrases. But they are just as legitimate as the more substantive parts of our sentences. They are the natural lubricant of speech, we might say.
So how do you develop a few "filler" phrases that fit you?
Start by observing yourself! For a week, say, keep a little list of some of your most common English expressions. Write down the little phrases that are characteristic of the way YOU talk.
Or ask friends or relatives to think of phrases that associate with the way you talk.
When you have a list of several phrases, head to the dictionary. (The fairly new online dictionary at http://www.focloir.ie/ is especially useful for common phrases and figures of speech.) See if you can find a straightforward Irish equivalent for each favorite expression.
But don't go nuts about translating your you-isms into Irish. If there isn't a clear equivalent, cross that phrase off your list (or save it for a later study effort) and move on to the next one. You don't want to get bogged down in translating these phrases, especially because many times there simply won't be a good direct translation.
When you have good Irish versions of a couple items from your list, say them every day for a while. Notice when you use the original English "filler" in daily conversation and call to mind the Irish version.
Then, when you get to your next class or conversation session, work those expressions in absolutely every place you can. Don't worry about driving the other students crazy -- if you've found that "ar bhealach" ('in a way') is an expression you would like to use, try to get it into just about everything you say for a night, or for a week.
When you find those expressions coming easily to your lips, it is time to look at what else is on your list, or to expand your list, and repeat the process.
A few good fillers can replace the "um" and "uh" you lean on as you work out how to say something in Irish. Others can put the stamp of your personal style on your Irish, just as in English. Either way, picking your own favorites is a fun way to grow your conversational toolkit.
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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.
---------- CONTACT US
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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