A chairde, do you any of you have experience with the Cogar Irish course? I was thinking about using it to supplement Ó Siadhail's course. Also, where would be a place which I could buy it from? Go raibh maith agaibh.

I don't have much experience with the Cogar course, although we do have it hanging around the house somewhere.

I believe it is no longer in print, though I suppose if you monitored eBay you'd find it after a long while. As I recall, there were around four tapes and it came with a colored newsprint-style insert with quite small print. I also think there were larger course books that could be purchased separately from the tape set.

Mike Johnson wrote the following on gaeilge-b in 1997; I hope you find it helpful:

"These tapes alternate English and Irish, through nineteen 'lessons', which encompass conversations from day-to-day life: asking directions, talking about where people work and what they do, buying things, discussions about what people are studying in school, the weather, a little overview of politics, interviews about what different folks like to do as hobbies and pastimes, etc.,.... pretty good, really. There are four tapes, and a couple of pamphlet-type enclosures with some additional written exercises which are designed to complement each lesson. The dialect is mostly Connemara and the cost is about $30 U.S."

Go raibh maith agat for an t-eolas sin.

It's a waste of time and money.

I do recommend supplementing (or preceding) "Learning Irish" with "Buntús Cainte," though.

Is breá liom iad !
They were my favorite tapes when I started to learn.
I thought they were great for riding in the car - since you can't be referring to a book - you hear both the English and the Irish for the conversations, and I loved the interviews with the various native speakers.
I never found the pamphlet to be the slightest bit useful - but the tapes I recommend highly.

Two years ago, when I first started learning Irish, at the same time I was driving, I would scan the pages in "Buntús Cainte" while listening to the tapes. It worked well where there were lots of redlights. Now that Connecticut, like New York, forbids the use of handheld cell phones while driving, I can only wonder what the police would have thought about that Irish learning method. (Is amadán mise, ach is maith liom ag foghlaim an Ghaeilge!) I second Rath and Peadar's comments; I still enjoy listening to them though I am perpetually listening to part one. Someday I would like to advance to the next parts, but I have not mastered everything in the first part yet.

Go raibh maith ag 'chuile dhuine. Sílim go gceannóidh mé "Buntús Cainte", as this is definitely not the first time I've heard tremendous things about the course.

p.s. A Pheadar, I wrote you an email, níl a fhios 'am go bhfuair tú é nó nach bhfuair. I'll send it again.