3 Irish Classroom Resources for the Oscars

The Irish success at the Oscars with An Cailín Ciúin and The Banshees of Inisherin etc. is a great talking point in Irish language classes at all levels. 

Ever since I launched GaelGram and started offering courses online, I've been amazed at how creatively teachers are using online tools not just to check spelling and grammar but also to make Irish language classes more enjoyable and effective. 

So here are my top 3 tips for finding the best phrases for talking about the Oscars in Irish by using free online resources in unconventional ways:

1. Even though the word Oscar isn't officially an entry on Focloir.ie, typing the word "Oscar" into its search box quickly reveals useful sample phrases. These can be easily adapted to this year's films: 

• the Oscar nominees >> na daoine atá ainmnithe do ghradam Oscar
  
  
• the film snagged seven Oscars >> d'éirigh leis an scannán seacht nOscar a fháil
  
  
• an Oscar-winning actor >> aisteoir a bhfuil Oscar buaite aige
  
  

2. Doing the same search for Oscar on Tearma.ie gives an official translation, but more usefully opens up a rich gateway into the world of film-making terminology:

• Oscar >> Oscar / gradam Oscar
  
  

3. Heading over to Gaois.ie and searching its corpus for "gradam Oscar" and importantly clicking "cuardach leathan" (to do a broad search) is even more powerful. It serves up over 90 ready-made and easily adapted phrases from 70 sources that will get the ball rolling in any classroom discussion. Among my favourite starting points are:

• "Go deimhin ba í a d’fhógair duine de na buaiteoirí ag Gradaim Oscar in 1952."

• "Agus na gradaim Oscar á bhronnadh amárach caitheann ár léirmheastóir scannán Breandán M MacGearailt súil ar chuid de na hiomaitheoirí, na hiomaitheoirí Éireannacha ina measc."

• "Beidh fuaimrian an scannáin, a ainmníodh do ghradam Oscar, ar díol i siopaí ceoil ón lá amárach freisin."

Using these 3 free online resources in these unconventional ways will help get any classroom discussion about the Oscars in Irish off to a flying start. 

I hope you find these tips useful. I know other people have spotted this opportunity for Irish language learning too, so let me know in the comments if you've any other tips for Irish language classroom resources about the Oscars.