Its aim is to promote in-dept engagement with themed learning materials and focus on the sounds, intonation and pronunciation of common everyday exchanges.

Each day, students are allocated time (20 minutes in the morning) to undertake their own recordings of audio materials worked on the previous day during class contact.

These themed audios are grouped into lessons which are arranged into daily work programs.

These audios may also be accessed on our website at https://lurgan.biz/ceachtanna where PDF files for individual lessons may also be viewed / downloaded.

Students partake in lively practice during class time as they work with selected audios and are coached on the nuances of using authentic conversational Gaeilge.

While, students quickly forget things that they merely listen to. Practicing aloud, roleplaying, emphasising intonation pronunciation & rhythm flow helps retention and understanding. However, it is by actively incorporating newly acquired skills into informal social interaction (chit chat) that students become proficient. (Simply put – “Use it or lose it”)

Recording your own voice is long recognised as being a highly effective method of supporting language acquisition. It also requires that learners practice in a particular way – listen intently to original audio / make a wholehearted attempt to mimic the original recording / listen back / rerecord a number of times (at least 4 times) Imitating the native speaker audio as precisely as you can is the best thing you can do to program your pronunciation. It is worth noting that being determined and going all out when you are recording yourself requires the same amount of time and energy as a half-hearted indifferent effort.

Feedback on student audio. A central feature of OIDE is that is allows tutors to evaluate learner audios and give verbal feedback (optional) on each recording. The tutor’s intention is to help learners improve their pronunciation, intonation, rhythm & flow. This feedback is highly relevant once the student recording is genuinely their best effort as tutors can tailor recommendations accordingly. However, giving feedback on lacklustre attempt fails to address the true situation and is an opportunity lost.

Parental / Guardian Access Parents / guardians can login to OIDE and listen back to recording tasks that have been completed or evaluated.

The OIDE Approach

Conversation Is King: Focus on becoming conversational. Working and practicing with real conversation leads to real progress. OIDE sets out to highlight authentic conversational materials and keeping coursework relevant to communication needs.

You don’t need to know everything right away as you can quite readily get by on the basics you already have while expanding your conversational skillset as you proceed with coursework.

Prioritise functional dialogue. Concentrate on everyday exchanges as these can be put to immediate use. Learn by heart the basic Q&A constructions of simple chit chat such as: The most common 1,000 words account for 80% of all spoken communication. You already have more than enough vocabulary to get by and fundamental grammar will get you speaking basic sentences right away.

Pronunciation, intonation, rhythm & flow: We don’t speak word by word in the way that language is learnt from a textbook. We communicate in word chunks where spaces between many words disappear. A common fault is to focus on specific words instead of on the rhythm and natural flow of speech. Imitating native speakers is the best thing you can do to program your pronunciation.

Mimic Sound Morphing & Connected Speech: Native speakers (in all languages) cut, mix, leave out sounds when they speak informally. OIDE focuses on several prevalent examples as spoken in Conamara. Mimicking these gives maximum return for minimal effort.