Category: CALL

Island Voices Audio Podcasts

~ Gordon Wells ~ 2 Comments

Although the core of the Island Voices materials archive remains the YouTube video collections, regular visitors will be aware that there is a large amount of audio material on the Island Voices Ipadio channel as well. And as more and more local participants start recording themselves there are more and more Ipadio channels starting up!

As of this month the original Island Voices audio channel has been linked into iTunes. This means that you can download the latest audio clips on that channel as podcasts, for repeated listening on your iPad, iPhone, or other preferred device – with or without an Internet connection. If you search for “Island Voices” in iTunes podcasts you will find the channel in the Education category (subcategory “Language Courses”), or you can click on the graphic or this link. You can also subscribe directly to the podcast page. Happy listening!

Island Voices on Clilstore!

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

“Caoimhìn has now transferred all 150 clips onto Clilstore, which means that you can watch any video while accessing a transcript on the same page which will link any word you care to select to an online dictionary of your choice. A “unit info” button will give you additional summary information, such as a description of the contents, and notes about the language used, as well as a Short URL for posting as a link elsewhere, for example in your blog or on Twitter or Facebook.”

Clilstore Trials at Ulster

~ Gordon Wells ~ 1 Comment

It’s good to see the Clilstore platform, being developed by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (Scotland’s Gaelic College) and European partners through the TOOLS project, getting a good workout across the water with Irish Gaelic too. And it’s interesting, if you follow the links, to listen “through the wall” to Irish speakers talking about some of the same issues about learning and use that affect Scottish Gaelic too here in the islands.

Lithuanian Linkage

~ Gordon Wells ~ 3 Comments

Am Pàipear is the local community newspaper for the Uists, here in the Outer Hebrides. But that doesn’t mean that interest in it is restricted to just these islands! There are subscribers in various countries around the world – wherever families with Uist connections have chosen to settle.

And now, through the Island Voices/Guthan nan Eilean connection a growing body of language learners (of both Gaelic and English) are also taking an interest. There is a new “Guthan: Voices” tab on the Am Pàipear website featuring homegrown lifestyle pieces created in English or Gaelic by local community members, and it’s proving popular with online visitors from around the world.

And another area of interest is the development of the Clilstore online learning platform with multiple dictionary access, in a partnership with the European TOOLS project. So now, for example, vocational students at the Marijampole Vocational Education and Training Centre in Lithuania are finding out all about Am Pàipear as they test drive an early prototype English learning exercise with online Island Voices video, wordlinked transcript, and supporting Hot Potatoes crossword exercise. This project has some way to run yet, but it looks like connections between our “offshore” islands and mainland Europe are getting shorter already!

TOOLS for help with English

~ Gordon Wells ~ 1 Comment

Gordon Wells has just returned from Belgium where he and Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle were attending a workshop with other European partners for the new TOOLS project. The project has only just started, but the aim is to develop a tool that will help teachers and learners when they need to find a word in an online dictionary. Users will be able to put recordings (for example from YouTube) on a new page with an accompanying transcript. You will then be able to check any word you don’t know in an online dictionary. This should be helpful for learners, though clearly you can’t learn any language just from a dictionary alone! The team has started a blog where they will be putting up examples of their work as they progress. Here is an English example, using an Island Voices film. As can be seen, you can also put links on the page for following to other webpages. That allows you to build “learning units” including Hot Potatoes pages or other appropriate sites or blogs. It will be interesting to see how easy this tool will be to use in a community like Uist and how useful it will be for local ESOL learners.

TOOLS airson cuideachadh le Gàidhlig

~ Gordon Wells ~ 1 Comment

Tha Gordon Wells dìreach an dèidh tilleadh às a’ Bheilg far an robh e fhèin agus Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle ag obair le colaistean is oilthighean eile air pròiseact ùr, air a bheil an t-ainm TOOLS. Chan eil ann ach toiseach tòiseachaidh, ach tha iad an dùil inneal ùr a chruthachadh a chuidicheas luchd-teagaisg agus luchd-ionnsachaidh ma tha iad feumach air facal a lorg ann am faclair air-loidhne.

Thèid aig luchd-cleachdaidh air clàraidhean (mar eisimpleir air YouTube) a chur air duilleag ùr le tar-sgrìobhadh ann cuideachd. An uair sin faodaidh tu facal sam bith a leughas tu a lorg ann am faclair, mura bheil thu ga thuigsinn. Thathas an dùil agus an dòchas gum bi seo na chuideachadh do luchd-ionnsachaidh, ged a tha e follaiseach nach ionnsaich thu cànan sam bith le faclair a-mhàin!

Tha an sgioba air blog a thòiseachadh far am bi iad a’ cur suas eisimpleirean dhen obair aca fhad ’s a tha iad a’ gluasad air adhart. Tha eisimpleir Ghàidhlig ùr an seo, a’ cleachdadh film a chaidh a dhèanamh airson Guthan nan Eilean.

Chìthear cuideachd gur urrainn dhut ceanglaichean a chur air an duilleig gus an leantail gu duilleagan eile air an eadar-lìon. Mar sin, tha sin a’ toirt cothrom dhut “aonadan ionnsachaidh” a thogail le duilleagan Hot Potatoes no duilleagan iomchaidh eile. Bidh e inntinneach fhaicinn dè cho furasta ’s a bhios an t-inneal seo ri chleachdadh ann an coimhearsnachd mar Uibhist, agus dè cho feumail ’s a bhitheas e airson Gàidhlig a bhrosnachadh agus a leasachadh.

Extra Dimensions

~ Gordon Wells ~ 3 Comments
Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle demonstrates the use of Multidict and Wordlink with Gaelic Wikipedia

The latest issue of Am Pàipear carries a couple of articles with a bearing on Guthan nan Eilean/Island Voices. In the first, “Local Language Patterns: Uist’s Extra Dimension”, Gordon Wells highlights and discusses the main points arising from the recent Soillse research project he conducted through Cothrom. This may be a useful summary alternative to reading the full report, already published online.

The second article, “From POOLS to TOOLS: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig leads the multilingual way”, gives more detail on a new European project due to start in January, in which new multilingual software will be trialled. It will be interesting to see if and how a new “cyberspatial” connection can enhance language learning and use in a real community!

New Download Facility

~ Gordon Wells ~ 1 Comment

All 150 Videos in the Series One and Series Two Island Voices collection are now available for download in “avi” format from this page on the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig website:

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gd/ealain-is-cultar/guthan-nan-eilean/

This new facility means that, once you download a particular video to your computer, you won’t need to go online every time you want to watch it. This may be especially useful if there are some particular clips you want to use on a regular basis, or if you’re taking your laptop somewhere where there isn’t a good internet connection.

The page also gives links to the transcripts for downloading in Word format, as well as to the original YouTube locations (already available through the Series One and Series Two pages on this site, which also give links to detailed pdf catalogues for each series).