Irish

Groups of second level students sitting at desks in a classroom, smiling.

Irish – Supporting Dyslexic Students

Introduction

Like any language, Irish has its own structures and sounds that certain learners may need additional support with. Below are some key areas to be mindful of when teaching students with Dyslexia the Irish language, along with inclusive, practical strategies and suggested supports to help optimise your language classroom to cater for them.

Key Areas to Support Learning

Learning new vocabulary, verb forms, and prepositional pronouns.
Understanding noun gender, applying mutations (séimhiú and urú), and forming plurals.
Developing oral fluency, pronunciation, and confidence in reading aloud or speaking publicly.
Navigating the three dialects of Irish and understanding fast or fluent speech.
Writing extended pieces and recalling appropriate tenses and grammatical rules.
Distinguishing between similar-sounding words and words with similar meanings.

Practical Teaching Strategies

Highlight the difference between the Irish and English alphabet: Use posters on the wall to show the students there are less consonants in Irish (no: j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z) and 5 extra vowels: á, é, í, ó, ú.
Show how vowels impact the pronunciation of consonants: For example if ‘s’ is beside a slender vowel (i/e) it will be pronounced ‘sh’ (e.g. Seán, mise) and if ‘s’ is beside a broad vowel (a/o/u) it will be pronounced ‘ss’ (e.g. Satharn ,tusa).
Revisit the difference in pronunciation between short vowels and long vowels: For example explicitly show how the short vowel ‘a’ makes an ‘ah’ sound, and how the long vowel ‘á’ makes an ‘aw’ sound due to the síneadh fada.
Point out the regular spelling rules: Use poster displays highlighting the regular spelling patterns the language has (e.g. “leathan le leathan → Cathal, caol le caol → Aoife” ).
Teach high frequency language regularly used in the classroom: feature these phrases on place mats stuck to all student desks or above the whiteboard (E.g. Cén Ghaeilge atá ar ______?)
Give verbal and written instruction: the more multimodal the instructions are the better. As well as giving oral instruction maximise the use of the whiteboard by writing the instructions too so that students can refer back to it and carry less of a cognitive load.
Demonstrate how the word order in sentences is different to English: Show how Irish is a Verb-Subject-Object language (e.g. Léigh Síle an leabhar) and how this contrasts to English’s Subject-Verb-Object structure (e.g. Síle read the book) this will support pattern recognition.
Break vocabulary and grammar into clear, visual chunks: Use posters or tables for verb tenses, question words, and sentence structures. Colour-code grammar rules (e.g. green for séimhiú, blue for urú).
Use choral repetition: Get all of the students to repeat pronouncing a new word after you in unison to provide a low-stakes practice environment.
Provide writing frames or sentence starters: Use templates for key tasks such as the litir phearsanta, sraith pictiúr, or scéal. Include examples for openings, transitions, and closings.
Incorporate multisensory learning: Use role-play for oral tasks, physical actions for verbs (e.g. léim = jump), labelled classroom visuals, songs, rhymes for grammar, and tactile games like word-matching or sentence-building with cards.
Apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Offer texts and listening tasks in multiple formats (audio, visual, written). Allow students to show understanding through drawings, recordings, or visual timelines. Provide options for oral vs written responses where possible.
Use assistive technology: Text-to-speech tools (e.g. Abair.ie) and language-learning apps (like Duolingo or Quizlet) help reinforce vocabulary and pronunciation.
Use online dictionaries: Point out pronunciation and emphasis differences in words between Connacht, Munster and Ulster dialects (e.g. bradán)
Model exemplar responses: Show annotated examples of good answers for oral and written tasks. Break down what works well and why to highlight the criteria for success.
Incorporate group work: Give students the opportunity to do Think-Pair-Shares with their peers to offer to reinforce learning in a supportive way, assign clear roles (e.g. speaker, researcher, scribe, time-keeper).
Use repetition and retrieval: Reinforce key vocabulary and grammar through daily warm-ups, flashcards, mini-quizzes, and spaced repetition techniques.
Teach spelling and memory strategies: Use mnemonics, rhyming patterns, and repetition to help students remember difficult spellings and rules (e.g. “An chéad réimniú = 1 syllable, an dara réimniú = 2 syllables”).
Chunk longer tasks: Break writing into smaller steps (e.g. brainstorm → draft → edit), and support oral preparation with visual prompts and cue cards.
Support speaking and listening: Use slower, clear audio recordings. Give students the transcript. Let them voice record answers on their phone or using apps before performing aloud.

Tools & Resources

Focloir.ie / Teanglann.ie: Irish-English dictionary with pronunciation and grammar tools.
Duolingo for Schools: ‘Duolingo for Schools’ is a special school addition of Duolingo where the teacher can easily set up and add students into a Duolingo classroom to set personalised assignments and monitor progress once they download the Duolingo app onto their devices.
Bain Súp As: These pdf slides offer clear colour coding and visuals on 43 different grammatical aspects of the Irish language along with clear images (originally made for L1 primary schools but highly useful for revising grammar in L2 post-primary schools too).
Quizlet : Flashcard apps with spaced repetition.
Abair.ie: a text-to-speech and speech-to-text tool with built in AI.
Oide Gaeilge Resources: Graphic organisers, lesson ideas, language games, grammar posters.
TEG.ie: The TEG sample teacher materials are particularly good for Transition Year with handouts for every language level in the class from basic (A1) to high proficiency (B2) to help cater for differentiation in the mixed ability classroom.
Snas.ie: Fun evidence-based teaching tips specifically for Irish language teachers (from using digital tools such as Padlet and Wordwall to offering different examples of ‘Cleachtaí Cainte’).
TG4 Foghlaim: Short videos, subtitles, and youth content in Irish.
Bookshare: Accessible Irish texts and readers (for eligible students).
Dyslexia Ireland’s whole school resources

Contact & Support

Use your school’s Student Support File to personalise learning goals and supports.
Liaise with your school’s AEN / SEN Coordinator for additional adjustments or accommodations.
Dyslexia Ireland: www.dyslexia.ie
National Council for Special Education (NCSE): www.ncse.ie