Parents
Learner Parents
Parents, expectant parents and those considering parenthood with the objective of having their family speaking Gaelic fluently as a norm in the home environment, as well as in the wider community, are advised to begin the learning process as soon as possible.
Creating a Gaelic Habit
To this end and even before a new child enters the family unit, there are
a myriad of language learning courses parents can take up.
Indeed, apropos their overall objective, preparing early is absolutely essential regarding sustainability of the Gaelic language spoken within the family. Ideally, parents will want to aim for conversational Gaelic to become “the natural thing” within their family. The idea is to create the habit of speaking Gaelic in the home and wider community at all times. This strategy has two very important components; firstly, habits offer great support in creating a “norm” ; secondly, once created, habits as we all know, are extremely difficult to break.
Intergenerational Transmission
Another, most important consideration of having a Gaelic speaking family is that in time children will grow up and have children of their own, which one would hope, will also speak Gaelic.
If this doesn’t happen, it then seems wasteful and disappointing in the extreme that they and their family having made an enormous commitment, with all the hard work and care that this task entails, to then see it all disintegrate as they become grandparents; all because their children did not bother to pass it on. Be very aware also, that the Gaelic language and culture’s future relies entirely on those who carry the language forward from generation to generation.
Manuals & Courses
In support of the work we have an innovative and stimulating range of manuals and courses, that cover all aspects of parent involvement in learning Gaelic, albeit, from a range of different perspectives. Notwithstanding, they are all designed to help, guide, assist, problem solve, measure progress and engender confidence in those who make the wonderful journey of acquiring family and community centred Gaelic.
All this will of course be to the good of building strong intergenerational transmission. A fundamental element in all successful language revivals.
- Family Language Action Plan (The Parent’s Handbook)
- Family Language Plan (Omnibus Edition)
- Family Language Plan (Book One)
- Family Language Plan (Parents Contact Database)
Together these four manuals will prove invaluable for all those who
wish to embrace a Gaelic Family Language Plan, as they adeptly steer with clarity and ease a practical path through a families’ road map of becoming fluent in Gaelic and then maintaining this status, inasmuch as it sets out user-friendly ground rules governing language use.
Observance of which is absolutely vital if the family and in particular,
the children, are to feel secure and therefore confident in knowing that the language they are using at any time is the right one.
Highlighted in Family Language Plan (Omnibus Edition) and in great detail, is the family scenario, whereupon both, one or even neither parent speaks Gaelic.
Family Language Plan Meetings (The Officer’s Handbook)
The overall objective of the Family Language Plan Meetings, Officer’s Handbook is to encourage parents to take advantage of the invaluable help that can be provided by a field officer in orchestrating, implementing and maintaining a Family Language Plan Meeting/Workshop. Moreover, this officer and manual will together, make the whole experience, interesting, stimulating and most importantly of all, a highly motivating influence for parents to adopt a personal Family Language Plan.
Gaelic In The Home Courses
Gaelic In The Home Courses provide parents with a range of innovative methodologies, whereby they can learn to speak conversational Gaelic within 200 hours, given a realistic commitment and set within
a pro-active learning environment.
One unique feature of this new learning, is that the home is not just the backdrop for learning Gaelic; in actual fact it is a central part of the whole language acquisition process. For it provides themes apropos the kitchen with all its utensils, cooking, recipe books, washing, appliances etc., the bedroom, sitting room, garden etc. Indeed, every room provides its own particular theme and vocabulary and therefore, an endless supply of topics in which one can acquire a comprehensive range of Gaelic conversational words, phrases and sentences.
The second important feature of the course is the wider community aspect, whereby themes such as shopping, visiting, outings, attending
pre-school facilities, sport and leisure activities etc are embarked on.
A final incentive-providing feature found in this exciting new language learning method, is that there is no reading, writing, grammar or translation until a competent level of conversational Gaelic has been achieved by a student. Thus virtually, the whole learning process is both painless and enjoyable. An uncommon experience found in traditional and many current language learning courses.
To accompany this work, parents would do well to acquire the
- Total Immersion Plus For Adults The Student’s Handbook
- Total Immersion Plus For Adults The Course Handbook
Both these manuals offer invaluable help, instruction and guidance in reaching the Gaelic conversational objective in the shortest and most successful way possible.
Altrum/Bumps & Babies Courses
Altrum/Bumps & Babies Courses provide parents of a pre-birth to 3 year child with a unique Gaelic vocabulary centred around life with
a new or awaited child. For example, themes such as nappy changing, feeding, dressing, talking to the child etc. all have specific language to be learnt and used by the whole family.
Eventually there will be separate courses covering four age group classifications of pre-birth-9 months, 9-18 months, 18 months to 3 years and 3 to 5 years.
The great thing about Altrum/Bumps & Babies Courses is that parents learn child centred Gaelic Motherese, in a most natural and stress-free way. They in turn, can then pass it onto their child, which, as was stated earlier, is the ideal way for a child to learn Gaelic.
Parents will find added assurance in Altrum/Bumps & Babies Courses knowing that at their heart, they have the highly effective Total Immersion Plus (TIP) methodologies.
GAELIC LANGUAGE TRACKER
The Gaelic Language Tracker is drawn up and added to, on a day by day basis and over many months. In doing so, it allows both fluent Gaelic speakers and learners to measure the percentage of Gaelic they use as they go about their daily tasks. Having said that, there are a number of other, subtle benefits derived by using the tracker.
But perhaps the two most interesting advantages, are firstly, it shows how much or how little Gaelic one has used during any given day; the results will very often be surprisingly positive or negative. Either way it will give a fairly clear indication of what action one needs to take in order to improve a current situation. Secondly, and again either way, it will be an extremely effective motivating device to improve or learn more.
It is also well worth knowing that the Gaelic Language Tracker
has a very important role if one is a student on a Gaelic in the Home Course or Altrum/Bumps & Babies Course or indeed, if one is implementing a Gaelic Family Language Plan.
This invaluable document may also serve those parents etc. who attend Gaelic Family Language Plan meetings, whereupon, they can add to the tracker’s information and thus it becomes part of a permanent, highly visible and valuable record.
One Or Both Parents Fluent Gaelic Speakers
Both The Family Language Plan (Omnibus Edition) and the Gaelic Language Tracker are essential tools for this group of parents. One reason being, that however fluent one may be, there is always room for growth, honing one’s skill or simply reassuring oneself that their language capability is up to standard. What point is there in learning to speak the language badly and then maintaining a low standard.
Apropos the Gaelic Language Tracker much that has been written about in that section, moreover, it applies equally well here.
It may even be slightly more important to keep up the tracker if one is fluent, given that an awful lot of work may have gone into the original learning process and it would be a shame to see one’s language use decline due to slow unnoticed neglect.
Neither Parent A Fluent Gaelic Speaker
Given this scenario The Family Language Plan (Book One) will then be the ideal tool for grappling with what needs to be done to change this situation. And once again, a filled in Gaelic Language Tracker will offer a tremendous amount of help, support and guidance over time. Quite simply, one should always keep up and never be without their Gaelic Language Tracker.
TIP Playgroups & Nurseries
In Total Immersion Plus centred (TIP) playgroups (2-3 year olds)& nurseries (2 or 3 to 5 year olds) it will be essential and highly desirable that parents are made fully aware of how they work, before their child enters such a facility. Given that they then do understand what is happening, they then become an immensely powerful force for the good of their child in their encounters with Total Immersion Plus methodologies.
It is tremendously important that parents realise, irrespective of whatever family arrangement they embrace, that they are the first and most decisive influence in a child’s learning experience.
In addition, the manual will also address a number of concerns they may have, as well as highlighting the many and varied benefits derived from TIP centred language acquisition, apropos their child, or indeed, themselves.
Also available regarding this particular aspect is Total Immersion Plus The Parent’s Manual, a document that will explain with a great deal of detail and clarity, to parents the decisive role they play in reducing the learning period from 2000 hours down to 400 hours, it presently takes for their two to five year old child to learn Gaelic fluently.