Spring workshop, April 24, 2010

Ceardlann, 24ú lá Mí na Aibreáin 2010

Gaeltacht Minnesota‘s Spring workshop at the University of St. Thomas.

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Fadas: áéíóúÁÉÍÓÚ

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For the first time I was placed in the highest of the three levels. It was hard, but I don’t
think I did noticeably worse than my classmates. The emphasis was on conversation, which is the
weakest of my skills in the Irish language. In fact, I am not much of a conversationalist in English.

The first session was a set of get-acquainted questions. We went around and asked them to each other, to find out who had
done this or that. There was a question of who frequently went to the theater, and what play they had most recent seen. I commented:
Tá agam déagóir sa bhaile. Breathnaím dráma gach lá.

anuraidh	last year
tamall	while, spell [of time]	m1
déagóir	teenager	m3
uaireanta	sometimes	pl of uair “hour, time” m4
ariamh	never
taobh amuigh de Mhinnesota	outside of Minnesota
seachas	besides, other than
in ann ceol a casadh	able to play music

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Scéal grinn faoin nGaeilge &mdash Funny Story about Irish

Bhí seanbhean ina suí ar bhinse i bpáirc i Moscó, ag léamh Teach Yourself Irish. Thug garda a bhí ag dul thart an leabhar faoi deara, agus chinn sé labhairt léi.	An old woman was sitting on a park bench in Moscow, reading Teach Yourself Irish. A policeman going by noticed the book, and decided to speak with her.
“Cén fath a bhfuil tú á leamh sin?” a dúirt sé léi.	“Why are you reading that?” he said to her.
Tá mé sean,” a deir sí, “agus gheobhaidh mé bas roimh i bhfad. Ba mhaith liom a bheith réidh, mar sin tá mé ag foghlaim teanga na bhFlaitheas.”	“I am old,” she said, “and will soon die. I would like to be prepared, therefore I am learning the language of Paradise.”
“Bhuel,” a deir an garda “an bhfuil tú cinnte dearfa gur ar neamh a bheidh tú ag dul?”	“Well,” said the policeman “are you absolutely sure that you will be going to heaven.”
“Déanta na firinne, níl mé cinnte ar chor ar bith, ach is cuma. Tá Rúisis agam cheana féin.”	“Truth to tell, I am not at all sure, but it is all the same. I already know Russian.”

In the original version, which I first saw in
Political
Jokes of Leningrad, the language of heaven was Hebrew.

binse	bench
a bhí ag dul thart	going by/past/around
Thug X faoi deara	Noticed X
cinn	decide
chinn sé labhairt léi	he decided to speak with her
cinnte	certain, failed
D’eirigh liom é a dhéanamh.	I succeeded in doing it.
Chinn é orm é a dhéanamh.	I failed to do it.	“It failed on me to do it.”
Ta sé cinnte orm.		I failed
Chinn mé labhairt léi.	I decided to speak with her.
Chinn mé labhairt léi.	I failed to speak with her.
Gheobhaidh mé bas roimh i bhfad.	I will soon die.	“I will get death before long.”
reidh	prepared
Flaitheas	paradise, kingdom, rule	m1. Plural (na) “the paradises” is idiomatic
cinnte dearfa	absolutely sure
neamh	heaven
Deanta na fírinne	Truth be told
Inseach na fírinne	Truth be told
cheana	already	with fein

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Advertisements from Irish papers

Siopa — store

sladmhargadh	sale	“slaughter market”
bruscar	trash, refuse
canna	can	m4
sluasaid	shovel
scála	scale
leithreas	bathroom, privy, toilet
foltfholcadh	shampoo
gallúnach	soap	f2
miotóg	mitten, glove	f2
ciarsúr	kerchief, hankerchief
cipín	twig, match

de Dhíth — Help wanted/vacancy

díth	need, loss, lack
cúntóir	assistant, helper
troscán	furniture
ullmhaigh	prepare, make ready	/uləvi:/ vn ullmhú
taispeántas	display, show	m1
ordaigh	order, command	verb. vn ordú
i mbun	attending to
as láthair	absent
Taispeáin mé an t-airgead.	Show me the money	Abbrev. ‘Speáin (?)

Taispeántas Aeir — Air Show

foireann	team, crew
clúiteach	famous
cleas	stunt, trick
glac	take, accept	vn glacadh
páirt	part, portion
fosta	also
saor	free

de Dhíth — Help wanted/vacancy

timire	attendant
lánaimseartha
lárionad	center	[a building]
tuarastal	salary
rith	run, course	gs reatha “recurring” here
reáchtáil	running, organizing
cáilithe	qualified
laghad	smallness, fewness	m4
foirm	form	f2 pl foirmeacha
sonra	detail, characteristic, shape	m4

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Listening Exercise

scaoil	loosen, release
Scaoil amach	Let go, Let ‘er rip
ceomhar	foggy, misty
Cnoc Teamhrach	Hill of Tara	Teamhair
roilig	cemetary
stair	history	f2
Áras Pobail	community center
busáras	bus station	m1
caisleán	castle
meas	high opinion, respect
tóg	build, lift, raise	vn tógáil. va tógtha
goid	steal	va goidte
snámh	swim	va snámhtha
póg	kiss	va pógtha
lúb	bend	va lúbtha

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Murder Mystery

maraigh	kill
saibhir	rich	/sev’er’/
aisteach	eccentric
nimh	poison
coir	crime
a réiteach	to solve
neart	strength, power
nod	clue, hint
áfach	how ever
mar sin	like that, thus
lá saoire	day off
gaol	relationship, relative	m1 pl gaolta
triúr	three [people
cuairteoir	visitor	m3
saineolaí	expert, specialist
craiceáil	drive crazy	craiceáilte “crazy”
saineolaí craiceáilte	mad scientist
cailín aimsire	maid	not live-in
ciotóg	left-handed person
corr	odd, eccentric
deasóg	right-handed person
feoilshéantóir	vegetarian
lánúin	married/engaged couple	f2
mainicín faisean	fashion model
pioneer	teetotaler
tógálaí meachan	weight lifter
cliamhain	son-in-law
eadraibh	between you [pl.]	← idir
gluais	glossary, vocabulary, commentary
cúnamh	help, assistance	m1
insint	version, narration
nia	nephew

To figure this out we had to avoid gender stereotypes. Not only was the fashion model a man, but
the mad scientist was a woman. It’s about time :-)>

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There was also an exercise on body parts. We were grouped in pairs, and each
of us had to describe an alien body (varying numbers of heads, eyes, fingers, etc.) from a stick-figure picture while our partners
had to draw another picture based on the description without seeing the original. If I do this again in another class or workshop, I am going
to describe a motie as Gaeilge.