I am just beginning to learn Irish and am wondering if anyone has suggestions for any programmes or such that would come in useful. So far I have just been combining things from different websites/books/songs/etc. I'm aware that doing this combines dialects and such but I don't know how else to go about this. I live in America, so obviously my resources are limited as far as actually speaking the language goes . . . does anyone have any suggestions?
Go raibh maith agat!

Pick one dialect and learn it inside out.

Hello Christine,

It is always nice to hear another person interested in learning the language.

Is there a particular reason you chose Irish? Maybe you are of Irish origins?

Don't worry about the dialects, you will run into them soon enough. They seem to cause a lot of problems for the Irish language, but in truth they really only cause problems for people learning the Irish language. ;-)

The reason they often become a problem is because as you already know, there are not many sources that remain consistent with one specific dialect. They either mix them together, or they stick to one dialect and then they don't go beyond the basic levels of Irish.

My first two suggestions:

1) Listen to the different dialects, find one that sounds nice to you, and learn the pronunciation for that dialect. It is important that you stick to this system of pronunciation because while you can mix the words and phrases of the dialects and be understood...you might run into some problems if you mix the pronunciations from different dialects.

The Irish are very good at associating your sounds with where your Irish is coming from, they will come to expect certain things based off where your sounds are coming from. If you choose a western dialect, they will hear it in your words, and start to expect western sounds, but if you start mixing it up, there might some confusion.

2) Make your learning reflect things that you are genuinely interested. You will get more out of your learning if can personalize it quickly.

They don't "often become a problem" though - only for people who insist on dialectal purity from the very get-go. I learned my Irish from an odd mishmash of people and resources and it hasn't hurt me a bit. (Take Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin or Máirtín Ó Cadhain as a precedent if you need one - native speakers both, who had their own dialect but weren't above incorporating whatever else they fancied into it.)

1) If there's a class or a teacher near you - Gaeltacht born-and-bred or not - choose that, and stick with whatever dialect or mix of dialects is taught there. You can always branch out or purify later - but you've got to get the fundamentals in, and for that a teacher with the "wrong" dialect is infinitely preferable to a self-teaching book with the "right" dialect.

2) If not, find a book that works for you and stick with it. Again, differences in teaching style are much more important than differences in dialect at this point.

3) Dabble in as much else as you can. You'll want to read and understand other dialects eventually anyway, so don't shy away from them now. Study as broadly as you possibly can without confusing yourself (and only you know how broadly that is.) Similarly, work for a good command of both dialectal and standard forms.

4) Access information in Irish as soon as possible. Write your shopping list in Irish. Read your shopping list in Irish. Listen to the news on RnaG instead of your usual English-language outlet.
In particular, note that Irish reference books and learning resources above beginning-intermediate level are generally written in Irish - so the sooner you get to grips with Irish grammar terminology the better.

5) Keep it interesting. I'm not saying never read anything in Irish that you wouldn't bother with if it was in English (I've bought nós* ar son na cúise as well as anybody) but that shouldn't be most of what you read. Plenty of good stuff out there for everyone's taste.

Thank you, everyone. Your advide is very useful and I will certainly take advantage of it. :) Thank you again!