2009 Immersion Weekend, Colorado Springs, CO

Ceud Mìle Fàilte gu Colorado! (100,000 Welcomes to Colorado!)

IMMERSION 2009 TO BE HELD IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

An Comunn Gàidhealach Ameireaganach (ACGA) presents its 13th Annual Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend, held for the third time in Colorado and the first time in Colorado Springs, from Thursday June 4 – Sunday June 7, 2009.

This event will feature some of the best Scottish Gaelic instructors from Cape Breton and the United States. The immersion weekend is a unique opportunity for learners of Scottish Gaelic to come together with more advanced and native speakers in both a classroom setting and informal gatherings. Whether you are a new learner with no experience or an advanced speaker, the immersion weekend will provide opportunities to speak Gaelic in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

We'll likely have informal afternoon, or at least evening events on arrival day, Thursday, June 4th. We'll have a full schedule of classes, workshops, and special events all day on Friday and Saturday, and morning sessions on Sunday, June 7. Extracurricular activities will include a cèilidh on Saturday evening.

Our Teachers

	Lewis MacKinnon was born in Cape Breton and raised in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. He's an accomplished Gaelic singer, who also sings in Irish and English. He has recently published his first book, a collection of original Gaelic poetry. As CEO of the Office of  Gaelic Affairs for the province of Nova Scotia, he s helping point the way toward Gaelic preservation and development in North America. And he's an expert in the teaching of Gaelic using the TIP (Total Immersion Plus) method.
Muriel Fisher grew up on the Misty Isle (the Isle of Skye) as a native speaker of Scottish Gaelic. She has been giving Gaelic lessons in Tucson for over 25 years, privately, at Pima Community College, and at the Critical Languages Department of the University of Arizona.  During the summer, for the past 10 years, she has taught at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. In 2007, along with the Linguistics Department of the University of Arizona, she was the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant to continue her research into and publications concerning the Scottish Gaelic language.
	Michael Mackay began studying Scottish Gaelic in 1997 and has become fluent through the help of ACGA-sponsored events and through the teachers and native speakers he has met through the organization.  He has appeared on the BBC Radio nan Gaidheal station for occasional news interviews on Aithris na Maidne and the Coinneach Mòr program, and contributes to the Internet podcast program Gaelcast, together with Liam Cassidy and Ed Bradshaw.  Michael has been teaching Gaelic to students across the country, both on behalf of ACGA and via Skype on the Internet.

Our Location: Colorado College

The site is the very lovely campus of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We think you'll find this a great setting, with good facilities for our classes and meetings, a fine cafeteria, and reasonable (but college dormitory-style) lodging. Here's a photo of Gaylord Hall, where we'll be staying:

Here's our classroom building, Slocum Hall:

And here's the cafeteria, in Rastall Hall:

Registering for the Event

(it's also available from the navigation bar to the left). Just print it, fill it out, and mail it in with payment.

We hope to see you there.

Other Information

Non-locals can fly into Colorado Springs itself, or into Denver with a rental car (or perhaps additional travel by bus). We'll put more details about this on the website soon. We also hope to provide our own volunteer-based local transport between the Colorado Springs airport and the college.

Watch this space for information updates, including teachers, special events, and transportation information.