Just back from Los Angeles, and man...did I have a blast! Nice weather in L.A., and the air was as clear as I've ever seen it (often the air in downtown L.A. is so thick with smog you could chew it). Séamus Ó Súilleabháin, a Fulbright scholar an poet from Kerry, taught the advanced level, and he was fantastic! It got funny from time to time, because the four of us in the advanced level all have Ulster or Ulster-influenced Irish, so when we didn't recognize a word or term, he'd give us the Ulster equivalent in a hilarious immitation of a Donegal accent...had us all laughing!

One of the coolest things about being in the higher levels is you get to do some really cool things, and Séamus was full of good ideas! Of course you want to work on your speaking skills, but since you all have the conversational basics anyway (I'm reasonably confident that, if I were to suddenly find myself in a monoglot Gaeltacht, if such a thing still existed, I'd be able to get by reasonably well), anything you do is going to give your conversational skills a workout, so nothing you do is wasted time. We took a look at synthetic verb forms, talked about some grammar issues, read some passages from An t-Oileánach, interpreted some contemporary and classical Irish poetry, and played around with what American place names might have been if Irish speakers had had the naming of them (not just translating the names, but trying to look at the places with a Gaelic point of view). What a gas! It was especially interesting for me, as I've had little exposure to Munster Irish, other than chatting with a few people from Cork at Oideas Gael.

There was quite a group of dedicated and sharp beginners as well. To close out the weekend, we read aloud the 1916 Proclamation in Irish, and the beginners did a pretty darned good job with their lines...not bad at all for people who have just started to learn Irish!

And, of course, it's always wonderful to spend time with others who are passionate about the Irish language. I'm really glad I started going to the L.A. event three years ago. It's a long drive, but worth it to meet new Irish speakers and learners.

I'm tired from the long drive (my first major road trip without someone riding shotgun to help me stay awake and focused), but stoked that I finally took the leap of driving myself to L.A. and back by myself (and survived! ). Another one off the bucket list!

There are some pictures from the DSG here (scroll to the bottom of the page)

https://lagaeilge.wordpress.com/

Very interesting