Saw these on a website. I thought they were helpful.

Don't waste your money on get-fluent-fast programs.

"There is no method that can do that," says Robert DeKeyser, a professor of second language acquisition at the University of Maryland. "The only way to learn a language is to make quite a bit of effort on a daily basis."

Don't try to learn like a child.

"The most counterproductive idea has been the idea that adults should try to learn like children," says DeKeyser. "The fact that they are adults means that they can no longer learn that way."

Find what works for you and stick with it.

"The main thing is to do a bit every day and to not get discouraged if you miss a day," says polyglot Richard Simcott. "If audio works for you, do audio. If it's classes, do classes. But find whatever it is and be consistent."

Interact with native speakers.

Our experts claim this will help immensely with learning slang, common phrases and everyday colloquialisms even when you're still in your own country.

Learn from multiple people.

"When you are exposed to a lot of people you get a much better sense of what the sound of a word is supposed to be," says Davidson. "You avoid exposing yourself to what could be idiosyncrasies in one individual's speech patterns."

Learn as much vocabulary as you can.

"Learning loads of vocabulary is really much more useful than learning grammar," says Simcott. "Learning grammar is good too, but with a lot of vocabulary you can successfully describe anything you need to."

Do a little bit everyday to maintain fluency.

"It takes so much time to learn languages completely even for the best learners," says DeKeyser. "To maintain it you must do daily practice. It's quantity and quality that matter."

Challenge yourself beyond what you're comfortable saying.

"Sign up for political science or philosophy classes where you will be tested beyond asking things like 'how much is the bread?'" says Simcott. "This will help you understand the culture and the people infinitely better as well."

Learn to laugh at yourself.

To anyone unaccustomed to having the speaking capabilities of a 2-year-old, perhaps the best advice is to accept that you are going to make a fool of yourself. "You have to laugh," says Simcott. "You can only laugh because if you don't you cry. Just keep practicing."

I could add a few others:

Learn songs by heart
Be sure you are learning traditional songs and not nonsense put together by three chord posers. In Irish the language of the older songs tends to reflect good everyday speech.

Learn proverbs and old sayings by heart
Some are amusing "Nach bhfuil cead ag an gcat amharc ar an mbanríon?" Others are wise or satirical "Is sleamhain iad leacracha an tí mhóir" or "Satailt ar an mbuailtreach é a leathadh."

Read folklore
Again you will learn good native-speaker Irish. There are plenty of Audio-CDs available with books now and they are ideal for long journeys in the car.

Don't translate too much from your own language.
You'll end up in a mess and grow discouraged. If you are only a learner you will need to show your translation to someone who knows Irish well. If you have bitten off more than you can chew your Irish-speaking friend may also be discouraged at the prospect of having to explain twenty or thirty errors. You've got to realise that just as native-Irish speakers may say things differently to English speakers many of the latest English slang idioms are best left untranslated. Find out what Irish speakers actually say instead. Most Irish-speakers have to translate but learners should wait until they are well immersed in the spoken language.

Regardless of the last point you should keep a diary in Irish. Even one sentence will help you increase your vocab.

Finally, if you disregard all the above advice and find you are making progress nevertheless well good for you. Continue on and prove us all wrong.

When you do gain a command of Irish don't keep it to yourself. Encourage others by speaking it and using it at every opportunity. Don't just learn it. Use it and pass it on.

Jeaicín,

B'feidir go mbeadh seans agat líosta de na hamhráin a scríobh ?

Bunleibhéal / Idirmhéanach

+

Ardleibhéal


Slán

Some more good advice I ran across, from an Irishman who speaks 9 languages including Irish. Very interesting take:

http://www.fluentin3months.com/engineer/

And some stuff on his Irish mission:

http://www.fluentin3months.com/irish-language/

(Message edited by seánw on August 24, 2011)

A Shéanw: Is maith liom an píosa sríofa seo!. Tá smaoineadh maith ann. I bhfocail difriúl: Bí ag caint gan eagra.

Slán anois,
Faber

Seánw, thanks for a very upbeat link.

The attached quote caused me a little pang of anxiety:

quote:

The best part of all, is that Irish speakers are generally always happy to help! We are a long cry from arrogant perfectionists (something that holds too many people back from speaking a language), so if you can form some sentences we’ll be very happy to hear them even if there are some grammatical mistakes Whenever I hear a cúpla focal from someone I always encourage them to keep going!

Irish is different to other spoken languages, even the minority lesser-used languages of the world.

Gaeltacht people -- where ever they may live -- learn their Irish in the cradle from their mammy and their immediate family.

Almost everyone else has learnt some Irish at school hence the attitudes to the language that a learner may encounter cover a wide spectrum from ardent love and enthusiasm to outright hostility and derision.

You'll be lucky to find Irish people fluent in Irish and willing to help you speak it.

Personally I love to hear Irish of any kind spoken and I hope that my involuntary correction of an error or the supplying of an appropriate word or phrase in response to an obvious difficulty encountered by the speaker would not categorise me as an arrogant perfectionist. I'll talk Irish to anyone go bhfillfidh na ba.

Sadly it is not always possible to speak Irish now even in places where Irish used to be spoken in the recent past.

I recently had three disappointing experiences in state-funded heritage centres two of which used to use Irish first to all visitors regardless and only then switch to English if necessary.

In one the receptionist replied to my greeting with an appropriate response in Irish but then said "I'm afraid I can't speak Irish. I tried to learn it but I couldn't so I don't!" Since the particular centre had spoken Irish as its principal objective I wondered how s/he got the job.

In a similar situation in another such centre we again got a minimal response in Irish followed by an angry lecture on people being forced to emigrate and not needing Irish in London or Chicago. All this to a background of English talk radio with Anglo-American-Irish pop-music in a so-called Gaeltacht centre where Raidió na Gaeltachta, TG 4, and videos of local people and events were readily available to create a Gaeltacht atmosphere.

We were saddened by this as we had looked forward to meeting the previous incumbents who had beautiful native-speaker Irish and were only too delighted to smother us in it. All we had to do was pretend that we understood every word and appreciated every joke and continue to field questions as best we could. [NB: Don't ask a native speaker to explain. You'll only hear English from then on.]

The third such state-funded centre in a "Gaeltacht" area was staffed by a Polish lady whose English was very good. We didn't even try to speak in Irish to her although we later discovered an Údarás-funded centre up in the hills where the staff were pleased to speak Irish. The locals could probably speak Irish also if they suspected "cigire na ndeontas" was in the vicinity but I never overheard a conversation in Irish that I had not initiated myself.

On the other hand -- and on a positive optimistic note -- we spent a holiday in An Spidéal recently and were more than pleased by the readiness to speak Irish of all the locals and their obvious fluency. They seemed delighted to speak it. The penny may have dropped that speaking Irish now conveys advantage admiration prestige and respect. Gone are the days etc ....

Incidentally it seems from roadsigns that authorities are now distinguishing "An Ghaeltacht Beo" from "An Ghaeltacht" agus tá sé sin go maith.

Thanks for your imput. I imagine he is being either optimistic and enthusiastic, basing it on his experiences, or both. I can't make that call. Motivation of people's behavior is not always apparent at first blush, so for our part we can just keep trying to speak with people. I appreciate the ethic of just going for it and not waiting around for a certain level of learning, or being overly concerned about performance. I also appreciate the increased value of study when it is reinforced by active use. It is sort of like having a full tank of gas in your car. Study by itself is like 1/16 tank -- you'll move, but not every far. I know some people pop in here now and then looking for practical advice, so I hope it helps them. And everyone just keep hitting at the marble and trying to speak with people. Ádh mór oraibhse!

A cairde:

As most of you know, I am a basic speaker of Irish. I live in Central Texas and wanted to learn something of my heritage. I really enjoyed the article of "Gobbledegaeilge" and thoughts on preserving Irish. I have wondered how the Welsh have done such a superior job of preserving/resurrecting their language. They have done so with closer geographical proximity to England. They have done so without seeming to create a bunch of hostility with other Britons and without it being a hugely divisive issue. How have they done this? It would serve the Irish Government well to perhaps hire some Welsh Language Experts to show them the way. Just a thought. I have been amazed how hostile some Irish people have reacted when I've related my journey of studying the Irish language.

Would appreciate some of you VSG's commenting on the Welsh experience,
Slán anois,
Faber

Ps. VSG's = Very Smart Guys/Girls

A cairde:

As most of you know, I am a basic speaker of Irish. I live in Central Texas and wanted to learn something of my heritage. I really enjoyed the article of "Gobbledegaeilge" and thoughts on preserving Irish. I have wondered how the Welsh have done such a superior job of preserving/resurrecting their language. They have done so with closer geographical proximity to England. They have done so without seeming to create a bunch of hostility with other Britons and without it being a hugely divisive issue. How have they done this? It would serve the Irish Government well to perhaps hire some Welsh Language Experts to show them the way. Just a thought. I have been amazed how hostile some Irish people have reacted when I've related my journey of studying the Irish language.

Would appreciate some of you VSG's commenting on the Welsh experience,
Slán anois,
Faber

Ps. VSG's = Very Smart Guys/Girls

We spent a holiday last year in Portmadog near the Llene Peninsula (don't trust my spelling)and noticed a few differences.

Welsh survived as a spoken language in urban centres as well as in the remote isolated mountain regions served by the towns.

Due to the support of the various churches it was used by all classes in society.

Unlike Ireland where there is good land there was little profit to be gained from establishing English colonies in the mountainous regions of Wales which is where the language survives today.

Speakers of Welsh are almost all native speakers. Speakers of Irish may be learners.

Outside the small pockets of native-Irish speakers that still exist in parts of the larger areas designated "Gaeltacht" everyone has had to spend (endure?) thirteen years of Irish tuition. Since neither teachers, parents, nor local community had any intention of using the language outside the schoolhouse they could have spent thirteen years more achieving the same result.

Learners of Irish fall into two or more categories:

those who did not want to learn Irish but were forced to do so by the education system. Hostile.

those who did not care if they learnt Irish or not but were willing to try. Generally they succeeded but seldom speak Irish now. Well-disposed however. May send their own children to a Gaelscoil.

Those parents who want their children to be fluent in Irish send them to a Gaelscoil where the results are heard within a month. The children come home teaching their parents what they have learnt in school.

Unlike remote mountainous Wales Ireland was an attractive place for colonists. There was good agricultural land and the conquerors made repeated efforts to "plant" the best land with loyal followers of their own. That was how they paid their armies. Ownership of land in Ireland changed three times during the war-torn 17th Century from the Battle of Kinsale 1601 - through the Cromwellian campaign to the Battle of the Boyne 1689 (??)

Thus was English established as the prestige language in Ireland. Irish speakers were banished to the mountains and the poorest boggy areas. In the most remote of those they were left to their own devices. Starvation was never far from the door. When they got the chance of literacy and emigration they took it with enthusiasm.

Hence the commonly held view "What good is Irish when you go to ..."

When coal and slate etc were discovered in Wales the Industrial exploiters of the poor did not care what language they spoke. There were jobs in the Valleys and the language prospered among the workers.

Wales and Ireland have had quite a different history.

I suspect there are far fewer learners of Welsh than of Irish but far more native speakers.

That's my tuppence-worth anyway ...

...and a good tuppence worth it is, too!

In addition, I would add that while the Welsh accepted the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, the Irish didn't which called their loyalty and trustworthiness into question. This, in turn, disadvantaged the Irish with regard to access to education and literacy. There never was much of a Gaelic book industry in Ireland until the Gaelic revival, but by then the damage was done.

Welsh does seem to be doing quite well. I would guess that the main reason the Irish are having such trouble is a couple of reasons:
1. It is an obligatory school subject. This makes it seem like merely a class, which leads people to dispise it... like claculus for me, haha.
2. There are opposition forces to it, such as many people who say it is a Gypsy language, or that it is old and useless. Or the unionists in the North who see it as a threat to them (while catholic numbers and increasingly Irish unity senitment slowly grows).
3. There are certainly others that I havn't named but you get the idea.

Wales however, has never had it as a subject... they simply speak it. It is their language.

Personally I think the gaescoileanna are the best bet for the future of the language, and I see hope as their numbers continue to grow.