Hi, i'm portuguese and i'm trying to make my first approach to irish language through the course presented in www.inac.org . My goal is mainly to be able to read and write in irish, and to have an idea of how it is pronnouced since i won't have the chance to talk to native speakers. I'd like to know your opinions on this course, and if its not good, which one should i take. I don't intend to have a profound knowledge of the language. Learning other languages is mostly an hobby for me, and this is the case especially with irish, since i won't be needing it at all.

Le Petit Prince & to whom it may concern,

one needs to sign up for to see the course. Is it the same as this one?: http://www.irishpage.com/irishpeople/

if they are the same lessons a) I have neither used both b) (an old chestnut, but hey!) the phonetic attempts do not capture Irish cadences in their full timbre, but seem to my eye better considered than most c) will read the whole lot, savour their aromatic qualities (or pong) and enage in linguistic gastronomy. Bon apetite.

Yeah, the problem with learning pronunciation from written materials is that we non-linguists (phonicians?) sometimes use weird pronunciation guides.

Just look at the end of the first lesson that 'dj@ks linked to. It shows the word "customary" and says it's normally pronounced in American English as "KUH-stuhm-ayr-ee".

But every part of the country I've been in pronounces it "KUH-stuhm-ehr-ee".

Yea, I'm not been a gobán or a stickler, but try the Belitz guides next time you go to another country and watch how the guides are of no use what so ever...or even some computer programs.

I brought a laptop to France and then found that Lernout & Hauspie Power Translator Pro 7.0 was not too good: 'Je serai aller' for the simple future tense, which is incorrect. Then I found out the creators were in jail for fraud.

Nice.

Thanks for replying. I think i 'll go on with those lessons (yes they're the same) and if they contain mistakes i will notice sooner or later comparing them to other sources...i guess.
I also found it weird when i read "KUH-stuhm-ayhr-ee"...i never heard the word pronounced like that.
And "Je serai aller" is an awful mistake, i'm shocked!