Dr. Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew

rblyn@sas.upenn.edu

Title:  Lecturer

Courses:

Personal Information
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Education

Experience
Has taught Irish Gaelic for 14 years

Research interest and Publications

Affiliations
Past-President, North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers (NAACLT); established NAACLT's Clann Lir prize for original children's books in a Celtic language.
Member, American Conference for Irish Studies and American Folklore Society

Press Release

Advanced Irish Language at U. Penn This Summer

Irish Edition columnist Dr. Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew will be teaching a 3rd-year Irish language course at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Language Center this summer. The class is designed for those who have had two years of Irish at a North American university or equivalent experience. The course would also be an excellent refresher course for those who studied Irish in primary and secondary school in Ireland and would like to renew their study of the language or for those who have achieved their “fáinne” as adult learners. The class meets for two summer sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 6:30 to 9:30. Summer Session I runs from May 18 to June 24 and Summer Session II from June 29 to August 5. This is an accredited class; students may register as auditors but the fee is the same as for credit.

The coursework will involve reading literary selections, especially poetry and drama, from the 18th to the 21st centuries, conversations on topics of interest to the participants, dialect study, and discussion of advanced grammatical issues. The class will be conducted bilingually and students may ask and receive answers to questions in Irish or English.
Dr. Blyn-LaDrew received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Folklore. Her undergraduate work was at Harvard where she earned a B.A. in Celtic Languages and Literatures combined with Folklore and Mythology. In addition to Irish, she has studied Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Breton, and is the translator of Clóicín Dearg (Little Red Riding Hood), in the Interlingo Series, and of the “t-léine” Cad é mar a bhraitheann tú inniu?, which is probably the only t-shirt in existence containing 30 phrases of Irish. As many Irish Edition readers know, she has also been contributing an Irish language column for children for several years now – and adults are welcome to learn from it too! She volunteers regularly as a teacher for Daltaí na Gaeilge and recently lectured in Irish on Máire Mhac an tSaoi’s recent novella, A Bhean Óg Ón, for Daltaí’s “Fáinne-Wearers’ Weekend.

The course numbers are LING 232 980 (Summer Session I) and LING 233 981(Summer Session II). Students may register for either Summer Session or for both. Senior citizens (65 and over) with the appropriate language background may seek the instructor’s permission to audit the course for a small fee as part of Penn’s Senior Associates program. For further information on Penn’s Summer School and registration, see http://www.sas.upenn.edu/CGS/summer/ or call 215-746-6900 (fax: 215-573-2053). The application deadline is May 7. For Senior Associates, contact senassoc@sas.upenn.edu or call 215-746-6907 . For information on the course itself, email Dr. Blyn-LaDrew: rblyn@sas.upenn.edu

This summer marks a unique opportunity to take this class. It is typically offered only every three or four years and there is no comparable course at any American university. For those who want to begin study of the language, evening classes in Irish will start up at Penn on September 9. The Penn Language Center also offers accredited courses in almost 40 other languages, ranging from American Sign Language and Amharic to Zulu, with Pashtu being among the most recent additions.