Page:Handbook of Irish teaching - Mac Fhionnlaoich.djvu/20

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HANDBOOK OF IRISH TEACHING.

us will carry the meaning to the mind of the pupil. It will be observed that during all this time, I do not ask the pupils to say the verbs. This will come in good time, but the words must first be lodged in their ears and carried to their brains, and when that is accomplished, the tongue will wag effectively. Pronunciation! It is as easy as child's play under this system. Why, I have taken a class of raw recruits from a London suburb, to whom the sound of r was unknown except in a wrong situation, and in three lessons they could pronounce all the words they had been taught; startling even their teacher with the fidelity with which they reproduced his Donegal pronunciation.

Having taught the verbs a second time, I again make some remarks to the class—those already taught, with perhaps a phrase or two thrown in, as AN TUIGEANN TÚ SIN? TUIGIM. NÍ ṪUIGIM. ABAIR ARÍS É. I now repeat the verbs a third time more quickly, and then I examine the class as to their pronunciation and knowledge of the meaning. This will usually call for fresh repetition on my part, and I never shrink from repetition until it is no longer required.

Having satisfied myself on this point, I proceed to teach the sentences somewhat as follows:—

"Attend to me. (This would be said in Irish after the first lesson.) You remember the lesson we are at, DRUIDIM AN DORAS, and you remember the actions involved.

1. "ÉIRIĠIM. Now this word expresses the whole idea, but is somewhat indefinite, and the Irish define it by the idiomatic expression. I arise in