Hey all! I'm going to be offering a new Irish language class in September!

The class is being offered through the Capitola, CA, Recreation Department and will take place on Monday evenings (9/8 - 10/13) from 7:15 - 8:30 at the Capitola Community Center, 4400 Jade St., in Capitola. The cost for the six-week course is $84 for Capitola residents and $98 for non-residents. There's also a $10 materials fee, payable at the first class, to cover printing and copying.

The name of the class is "Irish Gaelic for Beginners and Travelers." While it's themed for people who may be planning (or dreaming of) a trip to Ireland, it will also be a good class for people who want a basic introduction to the structure, grammar, and pronunciation of Irish, or for people who have had some Irish and want to brush up a bit.

Here's the full course description from the Capitola Rec Early Fall Catalog:

"Whether you’re planning a trip to Ireland or
simply want to get in touch with your Irish roots,
this beginner-level class is for you! We’ll explore
the basics of Ireland’s first official language (An
Ghaeilge, or Irish Gaelic) in a fun and interactive
way, with an emphasis on topics of interest to the
traveler, including: 'Irish place names and how
they got that way (“Kill” what? “Bally” who?);'
'A look at Irish surnames (“Who is this ‘Mac’
guy anyway?”);' and 'How the Irish language has
influenced Hiberno English (“Why do they talk
that way?”)' We’ll also take a look at the structure,
pronunciation, and grammar of the language, using
role play (with an emphasis on day-to-day speech,
such as basic greetings, ordering in a restaurant,
etc.), stories, games, and song."

If you're interested, you can sign up via the Cap Rec homepage:

http://www.cityofcapitola.org/recreation

You can also contact me at audrey underscore nickel at yahoo dot com if you have questions about the class.

Please share this information with others you think may be interested!

Redwolf

Good luck with it.

Go n'éirí go geal leat. Let us know how you get on.

_________________

Keeping my fingers crossed! We have a core group of interested people here, most of whom have been students of Mary Mc Laughlin's (she's moving back to Ireland, which is why I'm taking over the classes again). Mary suggested the travel angle, which makes sense to me. When I was teaching before, there were always several students who were planning a trip to Ireland and wanted just enough Irish to enrich their experience.

Redwolf

A friend was able to convert my flier to a photo file. Let's see if this works:

Looks great. I would go myself if I thought I could get a trip to California out of it!

_________________

Next time I'm in Ireland, perhaps I should offer a class in "How to speak Californian"

Redwolf

Had our first class last night, and I think it went well. We worked on basic greetings (Dia duit/Dia is Muire duit/cad é mar atá tú/Mise... c'ainm atá ortsa/srl), talked about places in Ireland where Irish can be found, and learned a verse and the chorus of Trasna na dTonnta. Next week we'll take a brief look at the phonetic system, practice saying where we're from and where we live now, seque from that into Irish place names, and, if time allows, learn the second verse of Trasna na dTonnta.

Redwolf

That all sounds great. I'm sure everyone enjoyed it. Maith thú!

_________________

Just picked up a couple more students as well! They called me to ask if it was OK for them to join the class after having missed the first one.

Redwolf