March 2018. As a beginning Gaelic learner in the US I always
like to find new ways to practice. Here are some online pages I have
bookmarked.
If you don’t mind using children’s games to practice Gaelic … I think
these games at the Lasadh site are fun. The hardest part is that
there are no English instructions. You might have to use “intuition”
or a dictionary to figure out how to get each game to start and then how
to play.
1. This is a word search game. Click “cluich” underneath the
letters matrix to enter the game. The words listed on the right side
are hidden in the letters matrix. Click the left mouse button and hold
as the mouse covers each word in correct letter order. When correctly
picked, the word disappears from the list and you get points.
https://faclan-falaichte.lasadh.co.uk/word-search.html?wordset=feelings
On the top right of the screen is a pull down menu to change the
topic of the words list. At the above link this is set to
“Faireachdainnean” (feelings). To change the list of hidden words and
play again, change the topic (dathan – colors, aimsir – weather, etc).
Then click “cluich” next to the list to change the topic. Then click
“cluich” again underneath the letters matrix to start the new game.
2. To get to a new type of game, click “Lasadh” in the top left corner of your screen.
You should see “Dachaigh/Tòimhseachain” with a little monster picture.
https://www.lasadh.co.uk/toimhseachain/
Under “Eadar-ghnìomhach” you can scroll through a list of games.
Some are very simple, such as how to make letters and sounds of
letters. But others are more challenging.
3. For example, see the following links. These are word matching games with verb forms.
Maidseadh Fhaclan
Cliog air agus tarraing gach facal chun an fhacail cheart sa gheama teanas eadar-ghnìomhach seo:
Gnìomhairean Riaghailteach – An Tràth Seachad
Gnìomhairean neo-riaghailteach – An Tràth Seachad
Gnìomhairean – An Tràth Seachad
Click “cluich” to play. Click “geamannan eile” (upper right) to change the topic.
From this game, “Lasadh” goes back to a main page with 8 buttons and 5
menus across the top. You can get back to the games, “Tòimhseachain”,
from the button on the bottom right. It looks like most of the other
buttons go to a wide variety of worksheets for GME classrooms. But
some might be good practice.
For example, do you know the Gaelic names
for all the types of fruit on this worksheet —
https://www.lasadh.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Faclair-mheasan-2.pdf?
4. Here is a story about a cat shared in my current class (AGA Beginner Level) a couple of weeks ago:
https://www.lasadh.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Ire-2-suithean-1.pdf
5. This work sheet is to pick the verbs and adverbs from the list and make sentences with them:
https://www.lasadh.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/gniomhairean-agus-co-ghniomhairean.pdf
6. For lots more practice, see the Storlann website and especially the Ceumannan pages. I purchased the Ceumannan 1-4 books from
Gaelicbooks.org
a few years ago. I’m still slowly working through Ceumannan 1. I
find it helpful to read grammar explanations from different authors’
viewpoints.
From the Storlann website you can get to all the Ceumannan
online materials. Here is the Ceumannan main page:
http://www.storlann.co.uk/ceumannan/index.html
Scroll down to see links for the Ceumannan 1-4 books (sound files etc) and the new Ceumannan 5 materials.
For example, this is the main page for Ceumannan 1:
http://www.storlann.co.uk/ceumannan/leabhar1/index.html
It has links for all the sound files referenced in the Ceumannan 1 book.
From Oisean an Sgoileir (students corner) you can get to more student
materials. From Oisean an Tidseir (teachers corner) you can see links
to teaching materials and the reading material from the books
(Ceumannan 1 Modal1, etc).
7. Finally, here is a link to a page of Scottish Gaelic stories. Each
one has a recording linked to a video of the storybook pages with a
bouncing ball that follows each line as it is read aloud.
http://sgeulachdan.scot/
This is great for hearing Scottish Gaelic spoken correctly.
