On the back of my copy of Bun-Ghaeilge by Risteárd Ó Glaisne, there's an advert for an audio language lab run by a group called "Cara" at 54 Dame St., BAC, which featured language tapes that follow along with the text of Bun-Ghaeilge, presumably reel-to-reel tapes, as Bun-Ghaeilge was published in 1962. They called this language learning process the "Cara-Phillips System", and it featured one track which could not be erased and another on which the student could repeat the phrases/sentences being spoken. The Irish bits were recorded by Dún Chaoin native Pádraig Ó Maoileain.

It sounds a bit like an early prototype of the language labs I recall from school in the 1970s.

Do any of our older members recall this language lab, or recall having heard these tapes? They were also available for sale to home users, though how many people in 1962's Ireland could afford a reel-to-reel player is an interesting question.

Since I own the book, it would be nice to hear the recordings made for it, but, alas, the author died a few years ago, so he won't be of help (barring a séance, I suppose).

Visit universities' language labs in your neck of the woods, my friend.

When I was an undergrad in the late 80's at my University in Pennsylvania, I worked as the language lab assistant, and we had quite literally TONS of audio recordings that were in pristine condition, never once used. Most of the artifacts were vinyl records, but there were a few reel-to-reel tapes as well.

If you can contact a senior language professor with access to a lab's archives, he may remember what you're seeking and you may well find it.

For our part, we had items dating back to the early sixties by the time they finally got around to "cleaning house" and basically tossing it all in the dumpster. I wish you luck.