I am learning Irish using "Learning Irish", but as I have ancestors from Ulster, I want to buy a course in Ulster Irish. I thought "Now you are talking/Irish on your own" was the only one. But I have recently seen adverts for Tús Maith. Is that better than Now you are talking? Which contains the more formal approach? Irish on your own is apparently out of print, but there are bookshops in the Donegal Gaeltacht that claim to stock it (on their websites that is - they might still have a copy or two even though this title has been deleted by the publisher).

I started with 'Now you're talking' and found it very friendly. It's easy to digest and has a great mini soap opera (an baile mór) on the videos. If you like the Ulster dialect you'll love this course.

There's an on-line course in the Ulster dialect called "Giota Beag".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/learners/beag1.shtml

I'm not a cyber-smart guy but this link (or some version of it) should get you there.

Wow, that's a great course...

Btw, the audio files are ".ram" files and designed to play on a "RealPlayer" audio player from

http://www.real.com/

They'll try and get you to pay for the deluxe version, but the free one works for this course.

Aaron

Has anyone heard of a course called Tús Maith and what is it like?

There is a review of Tús Maith on Litriocht:
http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=1164&reviews_ id=16

quote:

I want to buy a course in Ulster Irish.

Consider Irish on your Own by Éamonn Ó Dónaill and Deirbhile Ní Churraighlín. Éamonn is the editoer of Beo published by Oideas Gael, the language school in Donegal. The paperback and the five tapes are all in the Donegal dialect.

You could also buy Easy Reader and set it on the Ulster dialect. That way you could learn the Donegal pronounciation of 5,000 words in its sound library. It also has readings by Donegal speakers for more intermediate learners.

Aha! Apparently "Tús Maith" is none other than a revised, reformatted "Cúrsa Closamhairc Gaeilge." The review at litriocht.com says it uses a "centralized pronunciation," but if the recordings are all the same as in the older package they are of Donegal speakers from various districts, using their own local pronunciations, although some of the verb forms are unfortunately "standardized"; that is, forms peculiar to Munster (e.g. tagann) or Connaught (e.g. feiceann) are used instead of the Ulster forms. There's one young female speaker, though, who in some of the lessons in "Cúrsa Closamhairc Gaeilge" cheerfully rebels and says "Ní tháinig" where the text says "Níor tháinig," and that sort of thing. The course is very much like "Buntús Cainte" except that it is in Ulster Irish, grammatically contaminated to some degree by the Official Standard, as opposed to a similarly altered form of Galway Irish; and many of the lessons conclude with songs.

Oh, and I think you'll learn a lot more from "Cúrsa Closamhairc Gaeilge" or "Tús Maith" than from "Irish on Your Own."

>peculiar to Munster (e.g. tagann) or Connaught (e.g. >feiceann)

If you use these in Donegal, I'm sure the people will ask you "where have you learnt Irish? in Dublin maybe?"

lol

Is it a bad thing to learn Irish in Dublin?

I saw a copy of Fiche Blian a' Fás today and it was in Standard Irish. I just thought, sure jayzus, what's the point in that?

I just wanted to say that if you use such Standard forms in Donegal, people will immediately know that you are a learner and that it isn't in the Gaeltacht that you have learnt Irish.

"I saw a copy of Fiche Blian a' Fás today and it was in Standard Irish"

??? I guess it's not criminal to publish it in the standard, but there are moral laws as well... ;-)

Cad d'imigh ar do chuidse Gaolainn, a Jonas?

Ná habair liom go bhfuilir anois id SCOLÁIRE? ()

---

Tabhair a dhóthain den ardléann do Ghaeilgeoir agus ní Gaeilgeoir a thuilleadh é ach SCOLÁIRE. Agus, a chairde mo chleibh, is iontach na héanacha iad na scoláirí nuair a bhainnean siad amach beanna arda an léinn mhóir. Tugann siad gráin don uile fhocal den teanga Ghaeilge ach na focla a bhfuil seacht sreama na seanaoise orthu. Níl canúint is fearr leo ná an chanúint atá marbh le céad blian.
Bíonn a chanúint fhéin ag gach duine acu agus murar féidir leat í sin a labhairt leo go clocharach pislíneach mar is dual labhróidh siad Béarla leat. Bíonn Béarla an-bhreá acu go hiondúil. Le fírinne agus leis an gceart bíonn sé acu chomh maith nó níos fearr ná an Ghaeilge féin. Béarla gan chanúint a chleachtann siad, rud a chuireann ar a gcumas labhairt lé formhór chuile Bhéarlóir. Buntáiste mór é seo gan dabht.
Breandán Ó hEithir, Feabhra 1958

Scoláire is ea me, cinte - scoláire a bheidh ionam i gcónaí :-)

Seachain anois, ní hionann "scoláire" agus "foghlaimeoir", a Jonas.

A'd ghriosú chun breis Gaolainne a bhíos, agus ag spocadh (go headrom) asat.

"Seachain anois, ní hionann "scoláire" agus "foghlaimeoir", a Jonas"

I gCorca Dhuibhne, thugtar scoláire ar ghall atá ansan chun na teangan a fhoghlaim.

Tuigim. Ach tá tusa ar bhóthar na hollúna!

recté: bóthar na n-ollúna.

Bhí sé i gceist agam imeartas focal a bheith ann idir ollamh agus oiliúint, chun do stádas mar éigeas a thabhairt le fios. Ach tháinig an ngramadach aniar aduaidh orm arís.

"I just wanted to say that if you use such Standard forms in Donegal, people will immediately know that you are a learner and that it isn't in the Gaeltacht that you have learnt Irish."

As long as they don't attack people who learnt Irish outside the Gaeltacht, I think I'd survive them knowing where I learnt it.