Elementary Irish I

Catalog description

This course introduces the complete beginner to Irish language and culture. The Irish language is the native language of Ireland and the first official language of the Republic of Ireland, and it continues to be a language with strong literary, political, historical and artistic dimensions. As a language that has survived and has again begun to thrive, with numbers of speakers increasing in recent years throughout the island of Ireland and abroad, Irish presents the learner with a chance to explore one of the surviving Celtic languages and opens up the chance to participate in a linguistic culture that includes great works of literature, film and more. Students will gain a foundation in the grammar of the Modern Irish language, the confidence to hold basic conversations and will begin with composing simple written exercises. Students will actively participate in classes, which will comprise both written and spoken exercises. In addition to exploring the language, this class will include an overview of Irish language culture in modern Ireland as well as the development of the language and the place of Irish within the endangered Celtic languages. Short readings tracing how Irish has been used throughout the history of Ireland will also be provided, as well as clips from films and radio. This class will primarily teach the Connacht dialect of Irish, but will in addition present an overview of the other dialects and will explore their use in the modern world.