TACHARTAS A1+ SAMH. ’25

ALL-LEVELS EVENT NOV. ’25

[Gàidhlig]

Abair gun robh An Lòchran trang Disathairne, an 8mh latha dhen t-Samhain! Chùm sinn tachartas eile do dhaoine a tha a’ tòiseachadh air Gàidhlig ionnsachadh, no daoine a tha aig ìre eadar-mheadhanach (no beagan nas àirde na sin).

Thòisich sinn le bhith a’ cur ann an aithne a chèile air na bùird fa leth againn. An uair sin, dh’ionnsaich sinn mun tràth làthaireach, ’s sinn a’ toirt sùil air gnìomhairean cumanta sa Ghàidhlig leithid sgrìobh, cluich, leugh, òl, fosgail agus feadhainn eile. Chuir mi ceistean air na h-aoighean feuch an robh iad a’ tuigsinn nam puingean gràmair seo – agus bha 🙂

Às dèidh sin, chuir sinn an t-ionnsachadh seo gu feum tro bhith a’ cabadaich beagan sa Ghàidhlig mu na ceistean Ciamar a tha thu ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? Cò ris a tha e coltach? Càite a bheil thu ag ionnsachadh, agus carson? Rinn sinn an eacarsaich seo air na bùird fa leth againn, ’s a h-uile duine a’ dèanamh an dìcheall airson pàirt a ghabhail sa chòmhradh agus an còrr dheth a thuigsinn.

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Às dèidh fois le tì is cofaidh, chleachd sinn na h-aon ghnìomhairean a-rithist, ach an turas seo, dh’ionnsaich sinn mar a thèid an cleachdadh san tràth chaithte. Nise, tha sin furasta gu leòr le gnìomhairean leithid cluich (“chluich mi…”) agus tòisich (“cha do thòisich mi…”), agus fiù ’s nas fhasa mura gabh sèimheachadh a chur air a’ ghnìomhair (“an do leugh thu an leabhar ùr sin fhathast?”, “nach do sgrìobh thu an litir sin mar-thà?”). Ge-tà, tha cuid a ghnìomhairean ann a tha rudeigin nas neo-riaghailtiche, leithid fosgail (“dh’fhosgail mi an uinneag”), agus – gu follaiseach – leithid nan gnìomhairean a tha neo-riaghailteach co-dhiù, m.e. dèan (“rinn mi cupa cofaidh”) no faic (“am faca tu…?” … “Chunnaic!” / “Chan fhaca.”).

Ach ’s ann glè mhath a rinn na h-aoighean anns an eacarsaich a rinn sinn an uair sin airson an tràth caithte a chur gu feum, ’s sinn a’ sgrìobhadh seòrsa de dh’inntrigeadh leabhar-latha. Seo earrann ghoirid, mhath a sgrìobh fear dhe na h-aoighean:

“Tron t-seachdain seo, chuir mi a’ mhòr-chuid dhen ùine agam seachad ag obair, gu mì-fhortanach. Ach lorg mi ùine airson gym agus rud no dhà spòrsail eile.”

No dè mu dheidhinn an seantans seo?

“Thug mi biadh do na h-eòin (na pioghaidean) agam.” 🦜🦜

Mar as trice a sgrìobhas sinn leabhar-latha, ’s ann as fhasa a dh’fhàsas e na tràthan eadar-dhealaichte a chleachdadh. ’S ann air sgàth sin a thug mi brosnachadh dhan a h-uile duine an dearbh rud sin a dhèanamh aig an taigh, leis gur e deagh dhòigh a th’ ann seantansan a chur còmhla, misneachd a thogail agus [leth-]fhileantachd a ruigsinn – ann an sgrìobhadh, agus ann am bruidhinn air a’ cheann thall!

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Bu toil leinn “Mòran taing!” a ràdh ris an fheadhainn a bha ann, agus chaidh sianar nar measg an ath-dhoras às dèidh ceann an tachartais airson pinnt a ghabhail agus an còmhradh dà-chànanach (no trì-chànanach, nuair a thòisich Andy air Gearmailtis a bhruidhinn 😁) a chumail a’ dol.

Gheibh sibh gu h-ìosal na duilleagan PowerPoint a chleachd sinn air an sgrìn. An dòchas gum bi iad feumail.

Andy, Dàibhidh agus sgioba An Lòchrain xx

[English]

What a busy afternoon we had at An Lòchran on Saturday 8th November! We ran another event for people who are just starting to learn Gaelic, or who are at intermediate level (or a little higher).

We kicked off by introducing ourselves on our individual tables. After that, we learned about the present tense, looking at common verbs like sgrìobh (to write*), cluich (to play), leugh (to read), òl (to drink), fosgail (to open) and some others. I asked the attendees questions as well, to check they were understanding the grammar here – and they were 🙂

* Many people prefer to just say write, rather than to write, but using “to” helps me remember verbs more easily, infinitives aside! Call it an old habit from learning German and French in school and at uni…

After learning about the present tense, we put this learning to use by chatting a wee bit in Gaelic around the questions Ciamar a tha thu ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig? Cò ris a tha e coltach? Càite a bheil thu ag ionnsachadh, agus carson? (“How are you learning Gaelic? What’s it like? Where are you learning it, and why?”) We did this exercise on our individual tables, with everyone doing their best to take part in the conversation and to understand the rest of it.

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Following a tea and coffee break, we used the same verbs again, but this time we learned how to use them in the past tense. Now, that’s straightforward enough with verbs like cluich (“chluich mi…” – I played…) and tòisich (“cha do thòisich mi…” – I didn’t start…), and even more straightforward if the verb can’t actually be lenited (“an do leugh thu an leabhar ùr sin fhathast?” – Have you read that new book yet?, “nach do sgrìobh thu an litir sin mar-thà?” – Haven’t you already written that letter?). However, some verbs are little less regular, such as fosgail (“dh’fhosgail mi an uinneag” – I opened the window), and – of course – the verbs that are irregular by nature, e.g. dèan (to do; “rinn mi cupa cofaidh” – I made a cup of coffee) or faic (to see; “am faca tu…?” – Did you see…? … “Chunnaic!” – Yes! / “Chan fhaca.” – No.).

But our attendees did very well at the follow-up exercise that we did to practice the past tense, where we each wrote a mock diary entry. Here’s a short, but well-written passage from one of our guests:

“Tron t-seachdain seo, chuir mi a’ mhòr-chuid dhen ùine agam seachad ag obair, gu mì-fhortanach. Ach lorg mi ùine airson gym agus rud no dhà spòrsail eile.”

During the week, I spent most of my time working, unfortunately. But I found time for gym and one or two other fun things.

Or how about this one?

“Thug mi biadh do na h-eòin (na pioghaidean**) agam.”

I fed my birds (my parrots). 🦜🦜

** I’ve seen other translations for parrot, but this is the one I learned from an old Gaelic-language summary of R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

The more often we write diary entries, the easier it becomes to use the different tenses. For this reason, I encouraged everyone to do that very thing at home, as it’s a good way to construct sentences, build confidence and reach [semi-]fluency – in writing, and eventually in spoken form!

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We would like to say “Mòran taing!” (Thank you!) to those who came along, and six of us went next door after the end of the event for a pint, and to keep the bilingual convo going! (or trilingual, once Andy started rabbiting in German 😁)

Below you’ll find the PowerPoint slides we used on the screen. We hope you’ll find them useful.

Andy, David and the an Lòchran team xx