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The Daltaí Boards » Archive: 1999-2004 » 2001 (January-June) » Learning « Previous Next »

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Stefani Isotamm
Posted on Friday, February 02, 2001 - 06:43 am:   Edit Post Print Post

I need some help to start studing Irish. If here are some teachers who may help me, please let me know.

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Jonas
Posted on Saturday, February 03, 2001 - 04:30 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Tere Stefani, kuidas sa elad? / Conas tánn tú, a Stefani?

I would say that the best way to learn is to live in an Irish-speaking area, na Gaeltachtaí. However, few are able to do that, and in that case I would suggest that you buy a book (and tapes).
In my opinion the best book available at the moment is "Learning Irish" by Mícheal Ó Siadhail. It gives an extremly good description of the languages in 36 lessons, and teaches the Conamara dialect. The cassets are useful as well, since Irish pronunciation can be a bit, well, unusual for beginners. I would definitely recommend you to buy this book.

Another very good book, in my own dialect, is "Teach Yourself Irish" by Myles Dillon. Together with the tapes it teaches the dialects in the south-west of Ireland. Since I speak the dialect myself, I can guarantee that is is a perfect book for learning this dialect.
(PLEASE NOTE: I refer to the "Teach Yourself Irish" by Dillon here, which is a very good book. DO NOT BUY "Teach Yourself Irish" by Diarmuid Ó Sé. That book, with the same title, is almost useless for learning to speak Irish, and the Irish it teaches would be laughed upon by native speakers. (Diarmuid Ó Sé is an excellent scholar who I admire, so it isn't his fault that the book is crap. All modern "Teach Yourself" books are written in the same style, and they are all just ridiculous.) Be aware, since most bookshops have the Ó Sé book, while few have the better book by Dillon.)

Of course, there are other books as well, but none of them are that good compared to "Learning Irish"

There are one important thing to remember with "Learning Irish", and that is that the book teaches the Cois Fharraige dialect. This is excellent, because it is important to learn to speak like the native speakers, but the learner should remember that there are other dialects as well.

I hope that this helps you, and please ask more questions if you want. Good luck with learning Irish!

Head aega / Slán anois

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Christine
Posted on Tuesday, February 06, 2001 - 11:44 am:   Edit Post Print Post

a chairde
As much as I have enjoyed the lessons offered by Daltaí, I was getting nowhere until I could hear the language and found book and tapes "Irish on Your Own" by Éamonn Ó Dónaill and Deirbhile Ní Churraighín at Barnes and Noble. The accent is from Belfast and very different from the CD by Transparent Language, Inc. which uses the southern dialect (available at some Computer stores)
The Irish Bookstore on-line where I ordered two dictionaries (Irish/English and English/Irish) seems to have joined Amazon.com, which couldn't mean they're any more efficient or helpful than when I ordered from them. I couldn't find these comprehensive dictionaries at any local bookstore.

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