Has anybody else here invested in the most recent version of Ó Siadhail's "Learning Irish"?

I bought the boxed set consisting of the updated textbook and 4 audio CD's. The content is fantastic, and the production quality appears wonderful -- but the textbook's physical quality is pretty low grade. It's literally falling apart after two months' of use.

The binding is the problem. This book should have been coil-bound, but instead was glue-bound. Now the pages are falling out like loose-leaf.

Was curious whether anybody else had run across this problem, or I just got a bum copy...

(Message edited by Domhnall_Ó_h_aireachtaigh on July 14, 2007)

Don't judge a book by its cover binding.

A Dhomhnall, I have an older version with cassettes, but haven't had any problems with the book. Just a suggestion - when I've had pages come loose in a book, I run a fine line of super glue on the binding inside the book at the missing pages' location. I then glue the pages back in place. For larger sections I use epoxy and let the book sit to dry.

Even though I've spent the effort transferring the cassettes to CD's, I've been tempted to buy the new edition. Has the content of the book or audio changed from earlier versions?

I also have the cassette set. It would be useful to know if there is a lot of revision in the text. The author himself has abandoned Irish language for good by immersing himself into [English] poetary pursuits, so it makes me wonder who could have revised the book (if any)?

quote:

who could have revised the book (if any)

Maybe it was somebody from Munster or Ulster - now that would be interesting!

quote:

somebody from Munster or Ulster

That would spell disaster - somebody from other Cúíge revising highly dialectal text. Recipe for catastrophe...

Ní raibh mé ach ag magadh.

Á, tuigim anois. An fairsing atánn tú istigh sa leabhar anois?

"Has the content of the book or audio changed from earlier versions?"

Níl a fhios agam, a chara; ní chonaic mé an leagan bunaidh é.

My teacher once taught me a trick with cheap glue bound books.

When the book is brand new and the glue has not yet turned brittle, bend the spine as far as it can go in as many different places as you can. This is supposed to stretch the glue so when it dries your pages won't fall out because you won't break the glue as you turn the pages. But I prefer Buntus Cainte myself and it's staple bound. :-D

Of course, my teacher was a little strange, but it worked fine for me...

O'Dwyer,

That's so cool! Is innealtóir mé. I would have never thought in a million years the process you describe above, yet I can understand the reasons why it works.

Gotta go, lotta books to bend and stretch!

Enjoy!

When my McLysaght broke, I took off the paper off the spine, and glued a piece of cardboard the same footprint up the back of it, and then reglued the paper cover back on -it still is grand, but this might only work for books of a certain thickness