Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knows how successful people are in general when trying to learn the language through a website like Daltaí. Wouldn't you need some in-person interaction in order to really learn the language?

Will

Wryan21,
I find personally, it keeps a recurrent focus on the topic, thru times when I cannot commit hardcore to direct learning. Its a fetile background, if you will. Also, one learns things, like the importance of non-conscious processes, such that one needs to be able to automatically pronounce and enunicate the Irish sounds to be on target with speech, in my case at least.

Its an interactive resource too; in fact, in some ways better than in-person as we can get many viewpoints quickly, but of course, it is slower for learning speech and social interaction.

I have to say that while I think the internet is a wonderful resouce and a brilliant aid, I don't think people will be as successful at learning the language if they solely learn from it. You need to hear the language spoken to be able to get the pronunciation, you need to have voice conversations with people to get into the swing of the language and practice responding to and interacting with a person in Irish.

so try http://www.gaeltalk.net !

Aonghus,

That is an awesome site. I think I have seen it once before, but never really got a chance to look at it.

In general, I am of likemind with you, beircheart. I suspect that anyone who really wants to learn the language needs more than just the internet. Also it seems that gaeltalk.net will only get you part of the way there - it seems like it requires day-to-day encounters and chance encounters (ie. just bumping into another Irish speaker and striking up a conversation.)

I have not gotten beyond just having a small grasp of this or any other language, so I may not be the person to make such distinctions though.

You want to boost your comprehension skills or your "casual conversation skills" ? Go to one of the immersion weekends!

The computer or internet option will do two things for you.

1) It'll help clarify difficulties or ambiguities in your self study material.

2) As has been noted already, it'll get you through those difficult periods when you're asking yourself "why am I doing this."

However, you are correct in your assessment...nothing is better than casual, impromptu conversation that arises from day to day interaction. This site has been a wonderful source of encouragement as well as a source for academic clarification. But, I just came back from the immersion at Esopus and I've got to tell you...it was amazing! You get exactly what you put into to it though. If you wanted to speak Irish all day every day, there were people there who were MORE than capable of doing just that. If you wanted to limit your "Irish time" to class room or group settings, well, you could do that too. It was probably the best experience to address the issues you raised (casual conversation, etc) outside of visiting a gaeltacht. If there is any way at all that you can make it to one of these events, you should do it!! I drove 12 hours from NC to NY and there was a group from Montana there as well...don't let the distance discourage you...it CAN be done!

I have to definately agree with James! I was at the weekend at Esopus as well and it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and had fun. By Sunday I was a bit tired, but everyone is more than happy to speak Irish to you. Actually Irish is encouraged at these weekends.

Learning over the internet is difficult, atleast I find it to be. Human interaction is 10 times better than learning over the net. You can ask questions and get answers right away, instead of waiting for someone to respond to your question via internet. If you get a chance to attend an irish immersion weekend with Daltai, I would say "Go for it!"

Bhí sé iontach maith, agus Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

Christine

That was what my intuition was really, Christine. That human interaction is much better. But I wonder if there is someway then to make the Internet even better for learning. Human Interaction, in my opinion, is indispensible, but I wonder if there is some way in closing the gap a little bit between learning in person and self-learning online.

Will

Will,

The only other way I can think of by strictly learning online is maybe a chatroom? You can still get a type of human interaction but via the internet. I have not found an irish only chatroom, but I practice online with my friend Alex at www.phrasebase.com. Recently we haven't had much practice there because they are improving the chatroom. So, we've turned to Skype www.skype.com. It's kind of like a telephone online. It has really good sound quality and you can have multiple voice chats up to 4 people.

If you would like to join us, feel free to. We mainly practice on Thursdays 7pm EST(USA) or 24:00 GMT. Anyone is welcome to join us. My SN: chinita96. You can text me or call me on skype, and I will answer, as long as I am available to :)

You can also try Seans Eile, it´s a neat little flashcard type game that helps you to remember Irish. http://nualeargais.ie/seansEile/index.html

Other than messenger/chat and Seans Eile, I'm not sure what else you can do online interactively. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Slán a chara,
Christine

(Message edited by chinita on February 25, 2005)