Here is a well-known Irish saying: Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. Said roughly: NEEL ayn tin-TAWN mar duh hin-TAWN fayn. It is often glossed as: there is no hearth like your own hearth.
Hearth means the fireplace (the warm place at home where a family gathers).
What might people who keep saying this care about most? Call out or point to one:
Your job: listen to each saying, then say what the first speaker might have cared about. We will meet three well-known sayings. Only one is live on the board at a time.
Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin
(said roughly: NEEL ayn tin-TAWN mar duh hin-TAWN fayn)
Often glossed as: there is no hearth like your own hearth.
What did the first speaker care about?
Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid
(said roughly: puh-TEE ah puh-TEE, lwah-ZOH feh soh NEE)
Often glossed as: little by little, the bird makes its nest.
What did the first speaker care about?
Aller Anfang ist schwer
(said roughly: AH-ler AHN-fang ist shvair)
Often glossed as: every beginning is hard.
What did the first speaker care about?
Notice: none of these sayings is better than the others. Each one may hold a value speakers chose to keep repeating. A value here is one possible reading of the words, not a full picture of a country.
You have met sayings from Irish, French and German, and you will hear Spanish too. Now listen to short clips and decide which language you hear.
You might hear a scrap of kitchen chat from Ireland, a playground line from France, a classroom phrase from Germany, or friends talking in Spanish. Listen for the music of each language, not for words you already know.
How you answer: the teacher plays each clip twice. On the count of three, show fingers: 1 Irish, 2 French, 3 German, 4 Spanish.
Open your copy. Write one saying you have heard at home, and what it tells you about the people who say it.
It can be in English, Irish, or any language spoken in your house. If you are not sure of the exact words, write the idea as best you can, then add one sentence about what the speakers seem to care about.
Watch the Europe map on the board. We will pin four sayings on the map together. Help the class point to Ireland, France, Germany and Spain as we put each saying back where it is often heard. Notice how one language can sit in more than one country.
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