The GaelMinn Gazette: July, 2017
THE GAELMINN GAZETTE (#145): July, 2017
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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) 2017 Gaeltacht Minnesota
CONTENTS
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Winding Down ...
Tips, Tools, & Tricks
---What are you muttering about?
GaelMinn News & Announcements
Lessons Learned
---Be lazy!
About Gaeltacht Minnesota
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WINDING DOWN ...
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After twelve years of publication of The GaelMinn Gazette, we're coming to the end of our run. Your faithful editor is cutting back on his activities for a variety of reasons and this newsletter is one of the things to let go. The September edition will be the last issue of this newsletter.
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TIPS, TOOLS, & TRICKS
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----------WHAT ARE YOU MUTTERING ABOUT?
Nothing? Well, maybe that's your problem! A little muttering, as Gaeilge, of course, can be very good for you.
We all know people who are constantly muttering under their breath. They keep up a little soliloquies while they're going through a cafeteria line, walking through the office corridors, checking their e-mail, cooking dinner, continually making exclamations that tell everyone what pleases, displeases, or confuses them. (They drive me crazy, actually.)
If life offers these people so much to talk about, in short, simple statements -- "I hate that", "I'll do that tomorrow", "That's nice" -- life must offer you the same opportunities. Here are a few ways you can mutter under your breath to get more comfortable with your Irish:
1. Likes & Dislikes. There are few things you encounter during the day that you don't have a reaction to. Mutter "Taitníonn sé liom" or "Is fuath liom é" whenever you get the chance. People you see on TV are great for this, as is food at a restaurant, random billboards you see on your commute, and more.
2. Numbers, of course. You see them all the time, why not name them?
3. For heaven sakes, you can always talk about the weather. Say something about the weather every day (required by state law if you're a Minnesotan anyway). You can describe it, you can react to it.
4. Be a smart mouth. When you get promises from co-workers, service people, sales reps, and others, mutter things like, "Ní chreidim é", or "Feicfidh muid".
Taking advantage of all your muttering opportunities can mean dozens, even hundreds, of brief Irish utterances each day. And because you'll re-use a lot of common expressions, you'll soon be able to plug these useful little bits into all your Irish conversations.
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GAELTACHT MINNESOTA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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----------FALL "INTRO" CLASS
If you have been waiting for an opportunity to join our weekly classes, plan to enroll in our four-week "Introduction to Irish Gaelic" class that will be offered through St. Paul Community Education starting September 25.
Keep an eye on our web site at www.gaelminn.org for more details as we get closer to the end of summer.
----------IRISH FAIR VOLUNTEERS
The Irish Fair falls on the second weekend in August (11-13, go to www.irishfair.com for details), and we'll be doing our usual bit greeting visitors and answering questions.
We'll also be promoting our fall Intro class.
If you're going to the Fair, count on giving us a few hours of your time. Students at every level can handle the tasks involved, and your enthusiasm really helps reinforce Gaeltacht Minnesota's place in local Irish culture.
For more information about what is involved, visit our Volunteer Page at http://www.gaelminn.org/volpage.htm . Or go directly to our online form at http://www.gaelminn.org/gaelvolform2.htm to sign up.
And thanks!
----------CLASS SCHEDULE
Classes are meeting in separate locations and on independent schedules, check with your instructor.
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LESSONS LEARNED
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----------BE LAZY (BUT FAST)!
Good drills focus on very specific things, and try to eliminate everything else. It's a little like an exercise machine that isolates all but one muscle group.
As students get more experience, sometimes they try to do MORE with a drill we give them, and may actually get LESS out of it. A good example is a question-and-answer drill designed to teach the student to quickly give simple responses, like "Tá", "Ní raibh", "Chuaigh", or "Is maith."
Suppose we are just asking quick questions like "An bhfuil sé mór?", and a student takes the time to work out a nice answer like, "Níl, níl sé mór, tá sé beag." This is fine IF it is the point of the exercise. But if the point of the drill is to be able to toss off the correct, SHORT form of the answer, this slows you down and takes away the focus on the key point. In other words, you work a lot of muscles, but you don't get the intense work on the ones you're supposed to isolate, to make them stronger.
In most drills, increasing the number of repetitions is the key to success, and one of the best ways to encourage that is to go for speed. Set a timer and see how many of these items you can answer in a given time, and then try to beat your best score.
Many of our best students create their own drills for themselves. When you do:
* Focus on one thing at a time, and try to eliminate everything else. Giving the short answers, and the longer answers, described above should be done in two separate drills.
* Make the parts of the drill that you are NOT focusing on as simple as possible. Pick a few simple words and use them to complete the drill sentences over and over again. So what if you have to say "mór" a thousand times, if it helps you learn something about tenses? In fact, you can even use an English word as a placeholder if you can't come up with the Irish, as long as you maintain your speed.
Sometimes it helps to be a little lazy!
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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 ongoing free classes and this newsletter, we offer a workshop and an introductory class each year, publish columns about the language 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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