The Merlin Project
A Brief Note from the Author/Translator
Clearing off my desk, I hauled out a notebook and Irish-English dictionary (just in case — I was at a low low-intermediate level, after all), fully prepared to practise using the most recent list of irregular and type 1 verbs that I had learnt in the past tense. I only meant to write a handful of example sentences, thinking it best to take the advice that I had often given my own language students since the start of the 2020 quarantine and describe a scene from the last series that I had watched, which at the time had been BBC's Merlin.
All it would take was 25 minutes. Tops.
Project Elements
in Irish and in English
A2-B1 Writing Skills
A list of essential materials and to-do tasks should you be so keen as to watch TV, write what you see and improve your language skills in the process.
Yes, 25 minutes for a rough 120 words.
It would be just like the picture description exercise that I used to help prepare my A2-B1 German and FCE (Cambridge First Certificate in English) students for the speaking part of their respective exams, only easier as I could simply write about what I saw in the first 3o seconds of the show in chronological order rather than needing to coherently organise my thoughts on the fly. To challenge myself further, I could even see about translating the spellbinding monologue, a short, voice-over exposition from the Great Dragon used to set the scene.
And it would have played out that way too, had it not been for my rudimentary basics of writing in Irish, lack of vocabulary, inability to formulate more than one kind of sentence structure — a simple one at that — and the fact that those first five innocuous lines of opening text I mentioned before were of sphinx-like proportions to a low low-intermediate level student, grammatically-speaking.
Still, it was great fun. I realised after an hour or two of head-scratching that by writing past the first scene I would be forced to repeat the verbs I was trying to practise, develop my writing skills, improve my vocabulary, learn to alter my sentence structure and finally work through those tricky grammatical lessons that I had hitherto skillfully avoided.
I have decided to share the story with all of you for a handful of reasons:
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Because the project itself was genuinely enjoyable — all editing acrobatics and grammar-induced headaches considered — and I hope the story will be as fun to read as it was to write.
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Moreover, a number of foreign language students and those who would like to pick up the hobby have found themselves with ample time to learn throughout the quarantine (and will hopefully continue to learn after it), but might not know how to get started. This type of writing project requires only the last show you watched, a dictionary and a grammar. It can be completed digitally or on paper and is designed to be learner-driven (although consultation with a teacher or native speaker is possible), encouraging the individual to learn, write, identify one's own mistakes, correct and repeat.
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I also hope that this text will serve as an example of long-form writing at the A2 level. Many students in Irish and other languages may feel disheartened at this level, due to the gap between their comprehension and productive skills, since they are unable to use the language go líofa, i.e. fluently. I firmly hold that students can train themselves to become fluent at the level, meaning that they engage in focused practice on level-appropriate topics until they are able to use these structures and expressions with increasingly less hesitation. Which is, in part, what I aimed to accomplish through this project in order to bolster my own skills.
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Most importantly, the Merlin series and Arthurian legend are wonderfully interesting, and I would recommend that anyone in search of an exciting, yet often tragic story to dive into look no further.
Thank you for taking the time to read about The Merlin Project. I hope you enjoy the story and the other elements related to it.
Maria Athena
What's Next for the Merlin Project?
May 2021: The finalised project presented to you here is actually Draft 3, a snapshot of all that I have learnt and practised at the A2 level since May 2020. Some mistakes and/or instances of clunky usage are to be expected, but are not the end of the world.
October 2021: By drawing out my original timeline, I have been able to table the text and revisit it with fresh eyes after a period of light independent study, including semi-regular lessons with my Irish teachers. ('Light' due to the fact that I have not been solely dedicated to my Irish studies, but have rather been working to maintain or improve multiple languages simultaneously since this past May.) The remaining chapters of the story have been written and require a moderate level of editing, increased word count in certain scenes, and an updated English translation. My aim is to have uploaded all remaining chapters and story/translation notes by May 2022.
I intend to continue working towards my goal of reaching a solid B1 level in Irish by improving my understanding of verbs to include type 2 verbs and expanding my vocabulary by reading over the next 4-6 months, at which point I plan to sit the B1 TEG (Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge) exam. Following this, I plan to outline the grammatical topics I covered throughout the project which proved most essential to creating a readable text at this level in order to provide a checklist or recommended topics for improving student writing skills at the A2-B1 level.