Arts Week with Judy Murphy

People who want to improve their Irish are being offered a novel way of doing that this summer, courtesy of a 60-day challenge – Dúshlán an tSamhraidh– that will kick off on July 10.

It’s the brainchild of Patricia Nic Eoin and Joe Ó Fátharta, both experienced teachers, who are aware of the role stories can play in helping people learn a language.

People who sign up for the course on the website ListenupIrish.com will receive a copy of Bódléar, the latest novel from Conamara author, Darach Ó Scolaí. Joe and Patricia will then guide them through it over a 60-day period, starting on July 10.

“We’re asking people to sign up before June 25, so we can post the book out to them, with a tracker to keep a track of their progress,” Patricia explains.

The idea is that every second day, people will listen to Joe reading a chapter from Bódléar and they’ll also read it themselves. Patricia and Joe will support them as they journey through this Irish language novel that deals with history, change, and Ireland’s unique relationship with France.

There’s a three-step approach. Firstly, people can listen to Conamara man Joe reading the story, getting the correct Irish pronunciations and cadences. They can read the novel and follow him, using the bilingual text that’s provided when they need to. And they can reinforce what they’re learning via extra video and audio resources, which will include a bilingual background to the novel, because history and culture are central to this approach.

“There will be a vocabulary and a lot of repetition, because learning involves a lot of repetition,” says Patricia. “But it’s a great story and that will keep people wanting to read it.”

The Bódléar challenge is the latest collaboration from Joe, from na hÁille in Cois Fharraige who teaches Irish in DCU, and Patricia, who grew up in an Irish-speaking family in Kinvara and who set up the successful online teaching platform, allaboutirish.ie, in 2020. Before that, she had worked in law and as an Irish language translator with the EU Commission in Brussels.

Patricia’s courses on All About Irish range from Conversational Irish for Beginners to advanced classes for the European TEG certificate, and they attract people from all over the world. Former students from Greece to the US have signed up for the latest challenge which is being offered on the website she and Joe have established together.

Patricia explains that the focus on the All about Irish courses is on grammar and structure, while literature offers a unique key to unlocking a language.

Pictured:  Patricia Nic Eoin and Joe Ó Fáharta, the founders of listenupirish.com, who are offering this challenge.