TACHARTAS A1+ FAOI. ’26

ALL-LEVELS EVENT JAN. ’26

[Gàidhlig]

Thòisich a’ Bhliadhna Ùr ann an dòigh mhath, mhisneachail air Disathairne, an 10mh latha dhen Fhaoilleach! Chùm sinn a’ chiad tachartas againn ann an 2026 do dhaoine aig a bheil Gàidhlig eadar ìrean A1 is B1 (sin luchd-tòiseachaidh agus daoine aig ìre eadar-mheadhanach thràth).

Mar as àbhaist, thòisich sinn le bhith a’ cur ann an aithne a chèile aig na bùird fa leth. An uair sin, chaidh sinn tro chuid a sheantansan Gàidhlig sìmplidh ach riatanach, leithid Ciamar a tha thu?, A bheil thu fhèin ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? amsaa. Bhathar gan ionnsachadh, gan ràdh gu slaodach, agus mhìnich mise na tha iad uile a’ ciallachadh ann am Beurla. Gheibh thu na seantansan air fad am measg nan slides gu h-ìosal ⬇️

Às dèidh sin, dh’fheuch sinn ri còmhradh beag, sìmplidh a chumail aig na bùird againn, ’s an còmhradh stèidhichte air ceistean leithid Ciamar a tha thusa ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? Càite a bheil / Carson a tha thu ag ionnsachadh? Rinn a h-uile duine an dìcheall leis an eacarsaich seo, ge b’ e dè seòrsa Gàidhlig a bh’ aca 👏

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Às dèidh dhuinn fois agus cupa cofaidh / tì a ghabhail, chluich sinn geama-ionnsachaidh eile a bha stèidhichte air a’ ghnìomhair thig. Tha an gnìomhair seo am measg nan deich gnìomhairean neo-riaghailteach a th’ againn sa Ghàidhlig, agus ’s minig a nochdas e. Mar sin, chaidh sinn tro sheantansan san tràth làthaireach (Thig a chèilidh!), san tràth chaithte (Thàinig e a-steach orm gun robh e feargach) agus san tràth theachdail (Ciamar a thig sinn beò anns an Antartaig?). Agus: às dèidh dhuinn na seantansan seo ionnsachadh agus a ràdh nar buidhnean fa leth, bha aig na daoine aig gach bòrd sgeulachd ghoirid, chruthachail a sgrìobhadh, ’s iad a’ cur gu feum na h-àireimh a bu mhotha dhiubh a bha comasach dhaibh! Seo blasad dhut…😎

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1️⃣ “Tha mi ceart gu leòr a-nis,” ars’ Ethan. “Thàinig cnatan orm an t-seachdain sa chaidh, ach thàinig mi bhuaithe.”

2️⃣ “Thigibh a-steach,” arsa a’ bhana-bhuidseach. Thàinig an t-eagal air na cait. “Thig am bàs oirbh mura òl sibh bainne!” arsa i. “HAHAHAHA!” 🧙‍♀️

3️⃣ “Thig cnatan ort mura òl thu cofaidh!” thuirt Craig. “Uill,” fhreagair Mòrag, “bha cnatan air Iain, ach thàinig e bhuaithe.”

4️⃣ Thàinig an t-eagal oirnn, oir bha mathain-bhàna anns an Artaig. Tha ceiltinn a’ tighinn air mathain-bhàna, ach chunnaic sinn tòrr dhiubh.

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Às dèidh dhuinn uile spòrs a ghabhail leis an eacarsaich chruthachail seo - agus cuid a dh’aoighean ag ràdh gum biodh iad airson a dèanamh a-rithist san àm ri teachd - bhruidhinn sinn air tiopaichean- agus goireasan-ionnsachaidh a th’ ann san fharsaingeachd do dhaoine eadar ìrean A1 agus B2. Chuir sinn crìoch air feasgar trang ach spòrsail tro bhith a’ dèanamh seo, agus ghabh còignear nar measg pinnt no dhà san Lios Mhòr às dèidh dhuinn an t-ionad a dhùnadh, airson an còmhradh Gàidhlig a chumail a’ dol 🍻

Bu toil leinn MÒRAN TAING a ràdh dhan fheadhainn a bh’ ann còmhla rinn! Chun an ath thuras!

Andy, Dàibhidh, Stephen agus sgioba An Lòchrain xx

P.S. Chì thu am measg nan dealbhan gu h-ìosal Iain agus Andy leis a’ chuilt a bhuannaich Iain mar phàirt dhen iomairt a bh’ againn aig ceann 2025 airson airgead a thogail dhan Lòchran. Meal do naidheachd, Iain! 👏

[English]

The New Year kicked off in positive, optimistic style on Saturday 10th January! We held our first event of 2026 for people with Gaelic between A1 and B1 level (i.e. beginners to early intermediates).

As usual, we began by doing a round of introductions on our individual tables. After that, we went through some simple but essential Gaelic sentences, such as Ciamar a tha thu? (How are you?), A bheil thu fhèin ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? (Are you learning Gaelic yourself?) etc. We learned the sentences, spoke them slowly, and I explained what they all meant in English. You’ll see all the sentences among the slides below ⬇️

After that, we tried holding a simple wee conversation on our tables, which was based on questions like Ciamar a tha thusa ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? Càite a bheil / Carson a tha thu ag ionnsachadh? (How are you learning Gaelic? Where / Why are you learning it?) Everybody did their best with this exercise, no matter what their level of Gaelic was 👏

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After taking a break and enjoying a cup of coffee / tea, we played another learning game which was based on the verb thig (to come). This verb is among the ten irregular verbs that we have in Gaelic, and it comes up frequently. In this sense, we went through sentences in the present tense (Thig a chèilidh! or Come and visit!), in the past tense (Thàinig e a-steach orm gun robh e feargach or It occurred to me that he was angry) and in the future tense (Ciamar a thig sinn beò anns an Antartaig? or How will we survive in Antarctica?). And: once we’d learned these sentences and spoken them in our individual groups, the people at each table were asked to write a short, creative story, putting as many of them to use as possible! Here’s a taste of what we came up with…😎

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1️⃣ “Tha mi ceart gu leòr a-nis,” ars’ Ethan. “Thàinig cnatan orm an t-seachdain sa chaidh, ach thàinig mi bhuaithe.”

“I’m okay now,” said Ethan. “I caught a cold last week, but I got over it.”

“Come in,” said the witch. The cats got scared. “Death will come upon you unless you drink milk!” she said. “HAHAHAHA!” 🧙‍♀️

3️⃣ “Thig cnatan ort mura òl thu cofaidh!” thuirt Craig. “Uill,” fhreagair Mòrag, “bha cnatan air Iain, ach thàinig e bhuaithe.”

“You’ll catch a cold unless you drink coffee!” Craig said. “Well,” replied Mòrag, “Iain had a cold, but he got over it.”

4️⃣ Thàinig an t-eagal oirnn, oir bha mathain-bhàna anns an Artaig. Tha ceiltinn a’ tighinn air mathain-bhàna, ach chunnaic sinn tòrr dhiubh.

We got scared, because there were polar bears in the Arctic. Polar bears are becoming scarce, but we saw a lot of them.

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After we’d all had fun with this creative exercise - with some attendees saying they’d be up for doing it again in the future - we chatted about learning tips and resources that are out there more generally for people between levels A1 and B2. This brought a busy but fun afternoon to a close, and five of us went for a pint or two in the Lismore after closing up, in order to keep the Gaelic conversation going 🍻

We would like to say MÒRAN TAING (Thank you!) to all those who were with us! Until next time.

Andy, David, Stephen and the An Lòchran team xx

P.S. Among the pictures below, you’ll spot Iain and Andy carrying the quilt that Iain won as part of our end-of-year fundraiser in 2025. Congratulations, Iain! 👏