Comhrá as Gaeilge: A proposal for deliberate practice

At Bitesize Irish, we want to get you to practice the Irish language regularly, preferably daily.

Deliberate practice, as described in the book Grit, requires:

• focussed learning on a specific skill, which will help get you to your ultimate goal
• and immediate feedback, so that you can improve quickly.

Even if you attend Irish language classes, you’re probably only getting into a possible conversation in Irish once a week.

There’s also a time to just hang out, and shoot the breeze with others who are on the same journey as you.

Proposed conversation structure

The regular practice method I’m proposing here is a regular Irish-only structured conversation. In Irish only, because immersion in the language is key to getting you to expressing yourself in the language.

The conversation can focus on different context and phrases each time.

At the conversation, each person will introduce themselves, in Irish only.

For this type of structured conversation, you don’t need to be able to speak Irish. You’re working off a script.

The session will also lead onto a five minute non-structured conversation for those will to push themselves, accommodating the more advanced speakers. This will include preset open-ended questions.

The people in the conversation will agree to a principle of immediate feedback. With the wisdom of the group, you can try your pronunciation out, and get feedback if it can be improved.

So how would you ask questions for stuff you don’t understand? The participants will also have a private community online, where they can post their questions in their own time, and get help from the community and coaches.