Fall 2021 Irish Language Classes

By The Irish American Club of Maine | August 6, 2021

The Irish American Club will be offering Irish Language Classes again this Fall.

For in depth detail regarding each class please click on “READ MORE“.

Irish Language Classes with the Irish-American Club

General Description of classes:

  1. The classes will meet twice a month either at the Maine Irish Heritage Center or through Zoom.  Classes will alternate between in person and online. Zoom offers us the possibility of continuing our class if there is another event at the Center or if the weather is bad. The Fall classes run from September and end by  December 17.
  • Each class is about 90 minutes in length.
  • You must have a Google account to receive class information and handouts as we use Google Classroom for handing out documents, watching videos, etc.
  • Cost for the Fall classes is  $20 for members and $40 for non-members of the IAC.  There are no course materials that need to be purchased.  Checks can be made payable and mailed to:

Irish American Club

PO Box 1683

Portland ME 04104

    Please indicate which class level you are signing up for.

Description of Classes  

  1. Level One – The class is  for learners who have never had any Irish before or for those who may know a few words but little practice with listening, speaking or reading short Irish sentences.  Level 1 meets two Wednesdays per month from 7pm -8:30 pm beginning September 15. 

The course will cover the following:

  1. An introduction to the Irish language and its dialects.
  2. Meeting and greeting people.
  3. Saying where you are from
  4. Talking about the weather
  5. Expressing likes and dislikes about food, drink and activities
  6.  Saying where you are going or would like to go
  7.  Talking about your family
  8. Getting a sense of the characteristics of the Irish language.

2. Level Two – This class  is for learners who took the 2020-21 beginning course or those who have some grasp of the topics in level 1. Level 2  meets two Wednesdays per month from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm beginning September 15.

  The course will cover:

  1. Review of topics from Level 1. 
  2.  Saying what you did. (past tense)
  3.  Going on vacations
  4. Requesting things
  5. Shopping
  6.  Describing people

3. Level Three — This class is for those learners who feel comfortable with the contents of the previous two levels.  Level 3 meets  two Fridays per month from  5:30 pm-7:00 pm beginning September 10.

The course will cover:

  1. Reviewing topics from Levels One and Two
  2. Continuing with the past tense
  3. Talking about things you will do in the future
  4. Location and movement
  5. Skills, talents and hobbies
  6. Meeting up with friends or making appointments

4. Level Four –   For those learners  who have studied Irish for a while and would like to practice their conversational, reading and listening skills.  Most of the work will consist of short reading passages, native audio, question formation and brief conversations. Level 4 meets two Fridays per month from 7:00 pm- 8:30 pm beginning September 10.

Caveat from the instructor:  I am a local  retired French and Spanish teacher. I am not a native speaker of Irish, but I have been studying it regularly since my retirement and have attended Irish language schools in Ireland and have taken a number of courses from native speakers online.   I plan to take the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG) for a level B1 proficiency, sometime in the coming year.

Posted in Irish Language