I am interested in finding a source
be it on-line or by mail to be able
to learn the Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge)
language.

Dia Duit, a Janet:

I am a beginning "self learner" myself. I have found three resources to be very helpful. Each has its merits and faults.

1) Michael O'Siadhall "Learning Irish"---teaches from a strictly academic approach with good grammar explanations, etc. Not too helpful in day to day conversation, though.

2) "Teach Yourself Irish"---good source for almost immediate conversation but you don't get a good feel for why words change the way they do (and it seems they always do in Irish!). There is a bit of emphasis on grammar but not as much as with the O'Siadhall.

3) "Buntus Cainte"--available from the shop section of this web site. Absolutely minimal grammar but very heavy with conversational Irish. It's really a matter of repetition and memorization.

I have found all of these helpful depending upon my level of "academic mind set" while I'm studying. You can get most of them (if not all) from the aforementioned shop. Those that you can't, you can get from Amazon.com.

I would suggest/offer two more things. First, get the tapes!!!!!!! I can't begin to tell you how necessary they are. Letters that we phonetically associate as English speakers get a completely different treatment in Irish. Secondly, the various dialects encountered in O'Shiadhall vs the "Teach Yourself" text can be a bit confusing. I've found the info on this site quite helpful in sorting it out.

Good luck!! You'll need it, but this language will suck you right in and you'll find you can't get enough of it! I love it more than any other language I've ever studied. It's tough, but it's beautiful at the same time.

Jay

Dia dhuit a Janet,

If you can find them, get yourself a copy of "Who Said That?" (produced, I think by Comhar Múinteoir na Gaeilge) which is a two-video set. (It also comes with a workbook and cassettes).

Also of great value is a set of Video and Workbook called "Fís Feasa". Both SHOULD be available through Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge ()...

Congratulations on your decision to learn one of the world's most beautiful tongues.

Your best friend online is Daltai.com of course(!), which would have to be the finest Irish langauge site I've seen. (and that INCLUDES many sites IN Ireland)... please feel free to email me anytime for help (IF I can provide it) or just to practice chatting to someone 'as Gaeilge'.

Ádh mór ort féin (Good luck yourself),
Créag 'Fintan' Batty

a chara,

a few good sites for learning the irish language are gaeilge.org, the site you are currently on of course and on the irish site of www.iol.ie search for sefton i think its called and thats a really useful site. also check out
www.litriocht.com they offer every irish book in print and alot of them would be useful to learners of the language such as yourself. they also have cd`s and tapes as well to help you in your quest to learn irish. also im sure they have a few irish language cd-roms as well whick might be useful.

mise le meas

Pól