Hi,
For anyone interested in seeing a complete course created for Irish by Pimsleur.

I spoke with Charles Heinle of Pimsleur and he said that the new abbreviated version is currently on the market. They are waiting to see the response to these tapes before and if they decide to proceed with a complete course.
He suggested that people with an interest in seeing Pimsleur create a complete course should write to him at the following address. He can be reached at 800/222-5860

Heinle & Heinle Enterprises
30 Monument Square
Concord, Mass 01742

attn: Charles Heinle

thanks for the info - I'd heard of the pimsleur system tapes for other languages & also heard they were well-worth getting - I'm delighted to hear they have an Irish set, even if it is only introductory -
go raibh maith agat as ucht an t-eolas

I was curious which pronunciation/dialect the speakers have, so I called Charles Heinle. He said "Galway" (i.e. Conamara, I assume) and is sending me some more info. I've seen the tape pack in several bookstores in town, but the cover notes don't provide much detail.

I'm an intermediate student of Irish. But, I've
had teachers with all three dialects. I own set of
the Pimsleur tapes. It is Munster Irish. They even
use Gaelainn for Gaeilge. It is my understanding
that is an older Kerry term for Irish. Now
Gaelainn has come to mean Kerry Irish, I think.
There are some references on the tapes to places
in and around Dingle as well. I seem to remember
reading that the tapes were produced by a
professor at NUI Galway. While Conamara is the
standard at NUIG, I know for a fact that NUIG has
some Kerry natives on their Irish Lanugage staff.
This might be the source of Charles Heinle's
confusion.
As for the tapes themselves, I like them. They use
a listen and repeat method with some question and
answer segments. They recomend that you work with
it for a half hour each day. There is no written
material. It's great for someone like me who needs
lot a practice with conversation. While it was
great practice, I encountered few new words or
idioms, mostly on the last side of the four tape
set. I'd be very interested in more advanced set
of tapes. I'd like to hear from some teachers out
there, to learn their opinon of the Pimsleur
tapes.

Go raibh maith agat, a Mháirtín, as an eolas cuidiúil sin!