Intermediate
60 mins
Teacher/Student led
+75 XP

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Consider how to welcome a new classmate who speaks none of your languages. Discover Ireland's traditional greeting of a hundred thousand welcomes, explore what place names reveal, and notice your growing ability to understand different languages.

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    1 - A New Pupil Tomorrow ~5 mins

    A new pupil joins this class tomorrow and speaks none of your languages. What is the first thing you do?

    Not the clever answer. The honest one. Hands up for a smile, a wave, a seat pulled out, a word you already know how to say.

    By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

    • Talk about Ireland's big airport welcome and what it counts
    • Read what a Leinster placename quietly tells a new arrival
    • Write the welcome you would actually give, and name one thing you can notice now that you could not in September

    2 - What a Hundred Thousand Welcomes Means ~8 mins

    1. The three words
    Ireland uses a traditional greeting in airports, on signs, and in tourism materials: céad míle fáilte.

    Said aloud: kyd MEEL-uh FAWL-chuh. Listen, then say it with the class.

    2. What it counts
    It counts a hundred thousand welcomes. Not one hello. A number so large it feels huge on purpose.

    3. Where strangers arrive
    A welcome is not only a feeling. It is also the words a country puts up where new people walk in.

    Listen for this: three words, one big number, and a country putting them where new people arrive.

    3 - Names a New Arrival Reads First ~8 mins

    A new arrival reads the road signs before anyone speaks. We will open Leinster place names on the board. Watch each name split into its pieces. What picture is the name painting?

    Tip

    Think of ordinary pictures: a fort, a church, a river, a plain.

    4 - The Welcome You Would Give ~7 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    Open your copy. Write the welcome you would actually give, in whichever language you choose, and why that one.

    It can be one word, a short phrase, or a sentence. It can be Irish, English, a language from home, or no words at all if you explain the gesture. What matters is that it is yours.

    Stuck? Start from the hook: a smile, a wave, a seat pulled out, or one word you already know.

    5 - Last Listen of the Year ~8 mins

    Short clips from languages you have met all year. Each clip plays twice. Then we name the language together (hands up or call out). No writing.

    Tip

    This is the last listen of the course. Notice if guessing feels easier than in September.

    Pupil practice
    Module 5 · Stories, Songs and Cultures
    Lesson 30 · A Hundred Thousand Welcomes
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