Cluas Dheas ri Claisneachd	A Right Ear to the Ground
Trioblaid le bhith tuigsinn Gàidhlig air a labhairt? Feuch èisdeachd leis a' chluais dheis....	Having trouble understanding spoken Gaelic? Try listening with the right ear....
Sin a' chomhairle a gheibheadh tu bho àite ùr a th'air fosgladh ann an Oilthigh Napier ann an Dun Eideann, fear de chòrr is 240 Ionad Thomatis timcheall an t-saoghail. Oir, a rèir an eòlaiche cluas, sròn is amhach às an Fhraing Oll Alfred Tomatis, bidh a' chluas sin a' togail fiosrachadh claisneach nas luaithe na a' chluas chlì. Agus, coltach ri làmhan, tha tè seach tè dhe na cluasan againn nas neartmhoire na an tè eile.	That's the advice you'd get from a newly opened unit in Napier University in Edinburgh, one of more than 240 Tomatis Centres around the world. Try doing this because, according to the French ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Alfred Tomatis, the right ear process incoming auditory information faster than the left. And, as with hands, one of our two ears is dominant over the other.
A bharrachd air sin, tha an t-ollamh ag ràdh gum bi cluas a' fàs leisg, agus ged a tha i comasach air bann fuaim eadar 16-1600Hz agus rithim sam bith a thogail, ri ùine cha bhi i cleachdte ach ri bann is rithim a' chànain - neo na cànanan - timcheall oirre. A rèir choltais tha buaidh aig an àrainneachd, gu h-àraidh inbhe an adhair, air mar a bhios cànanan a leasachadh, agus tha seo gam fàgail ag obair air banntan eadar-dhealaichte.	Furthermore, the French specialist says that the ear settles into a habit with age, and though it can theoretically capture frequencies between 16-1600Hz and an infinite amount of rhythms, over time it only becomes used to the frequency and rhythm of the language - or languages - that surround it. There is apparently an environmental influence, especially regarding air quality, on how languages develop which leave them operating on different frequency bands.
Gabhaidh an dà bhacadh seo a rèiteach dhan neach-ionnsachaidh, canaidh na h-ionadan Thomatis, anns an aon dòigh sa tha beachdan an ollaimh gan cleachdadh airson gagachd a leigheas. Ged nach fheum luchd Ruiseanais no Duidsis seiseanan fuaim leis "a' Chluais Eleactronaigich", an sìoltachan fuaim aig Tomatis airson trèanadh na cluaise, oir tha bann an dà chànain sin cho leathann (125-12000). Air an làimh eile tha Fraingis (1000-2000) is Beurla (2000-12000) cumhang is eadar-dhealaichte ri chèile.	These two obstacles can be overcome by the learner, the Tomatis centres maintain, in the same way as the specialist's theories are used for curing speech defects. However, speakers of Russian or Dutch won't need sessions with the "Electronic Ear", Tomatis's sound filter for training the ear, for frequency since the band of these two languages is very broad (125-12000). On the other hand, French (1000-2000) and English (2000-12000) are narrow and mutually exclusive.
"Chan urrainn dhuinn cànan a bhruidhinn gu math ach nuair a chluinneas sinn gu math e," a rèir Thomatis. "Se sin ri ràdh nuair as urrainn dhuinn na fuaimean a thogail agus rithim binneas a' chànain aithneachadh".	"We can only speak a language well when we hear it well," according to Tomatis. "In other words, when we can analyse the sounds and recognise the rhythm of the linguistic melody."
Tha e a' cur cuideam air dà phuing a tha cudromach do luchd-ionnsachaidh inbheach: "An toiseach, 'se bacadh a dh'fheumar rèiteach a tha san tùs-chànan; agus cuideachd, bitheas ag èisdeachd mus bruidhnear agus 'sann an uair sin a thèid structar a' chànain a sgrùdadh."	He places emphasis on two ideas of importance to adult learners: "Firstly, the mother language is a barrier which it is necessary to get past; secondly, that one listens before speaking, and only after does one study language structure."
Dh'fhaighnich CLI do Thomatis dè am bann a th'aig a' Ghàidhlig. Cha b'urrainn dha innse le cinnt bho na teipichean Cothrom, Karaoke is Cothrom Eisdeachd (faic td57) a chuir sinn thuige - bhiodh feum air teip shònraichte agus clàradh air a' bhlàr a-muigh cho math ri anns an stiùidio - ach thuirt e gun robh e coltach gum biodh i faisg air a' Bheurla agus air na cànanan Ceilteach eile. Ma thèid sin a dhearbhadh le tuilleadh sgrùdaidh, cha bhi an leisgeul sin agad!	CLI asked Tomatis about the frequency of Scots Gaelic. He couldn't tell us for sure from the Cothrom, Karaoke and Cothrom Eisdeachd tapes (see pg57) we sent him - specialist tape with recordings made outdoors as well as in the studio would be required - though he said that it would appear to be close to that of English and to the other Celtic languages. If that is proved to be the case after further research, you won't be able to use frequency as an excuse!

You can find more articles in the archive under Gaelic Column and information on the organization at C.L.I.