Irish On Your Own

Rating:
Summary: Great Beginners Intro to Irish
Review: Compared to most of the 'travel-focused' language courses available, Irish on Your Own is a welcome change. The lessons are clear, and build on one another very well; the examples in the book and on tape are presented in a normal, 'everyday' atmosphere. Many different speakers, and many examples of pronunciation on the tapes outweigh the lack of pronunciation guidelines in the book (while the english translation is always given, it's often hard to puzzle out just how bhfuil is pronounced 'will', for example.) It does make it harder to learn written Irish; however, this course is not meant to teach you anything beyond conversation, I do not think. New words are presented as part of normal conversations, and are introduced a few at a time, and they are presented at normal speaking speed. Many other taped courses leave the learner with a painfully slow understanding of the language, and they often cannot function in a natural conversation. This is not a problem with the examples on the tapes. The book does present some grammer, although it is very low-key. It also doesn't address spelling or other peculiarities of the langugage well. However, for a casual speaker, these are probably not necessary. If you are looking for an indepth, serious study of Irish, then O'Siadhail's 'Learning Irish' is a good, although more daunting, choice. Irish on You Own is in the Ulster dialect, but understanding the other two main dialects is not that difficult. The lessons do not point out the differences in most cases. I'd definitely recommend this. It was my first introduction to Irish, and I was comfortable with the language very quickly--enough to hold simple conversations with confidence in my pronunciation and ability to communicate. A wonderful choice!!

Rating:
Summary: I dare say it's ideal
Review: Not bad at all. Once you grasped everything, you will be able to speak Irish with proper fluency. It's important, to have an aid even for Ulster dialect. I'm looking forward for an advanced course- eventually with videos ( it was originally planned for T.V. )

Rating:
Summary: Accessible and Academic All at Once
Review: Originally published as "Now You're Talking" and based on a popular television series of the same name, IOYO is a wonderful course for all types of beginners. As posted in another review here, the emphasis is on the Ulster dialect. However, I find that no cautions are needed. Ulster is a popular dialect for many learners in this day and age, and anymore you will be easily understood by any other Irish speaker. In fact, it was IOYO's excellent presentation, pacing, order, and audio quality that caused me to take notice of the formerly unfashionable Ulster sound. If you're serious about the language then this is a must-try, along with "Learning Irish" and "Teach Yourself Irish." If you're a casual learner you will find it immediately useful, and as you go you'll build a solid foundation of grammar understanding. The book's tone is lighthearted and when used for revision far from tedious. I would add that as with all language courses having the audio is strongly recommended, but IOYO boasts a particularly friendly and clear set of tapes.

Rating:
Summary: great paperweight-false advertising
Review: This course would PROBABLY be very helpful, with the audiocassettes. The nature of the Irish language does not allow for translation into English without pronunciation guides. It was NOT hardback as advertised, but paperback.

Rating:
Summary: Great Irish Course - probably the best for beginners!
Review: This is a great product! Very professionally done. As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is definitely the Ulster dialect of Irish, but that shouldn't scare off anyone. The book, and audio are very learner-friendly. It is a great book/audio combo to start out with in your adventure of learning Irish. I only wish that the video tapes that make up the originally aired TV program from which these audio tapes came were available for purchase. Short of that, this is best Irish course to begin studying Irish with that I have come across.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is an excellent course, and the one that finally broke me through to a higher plane of fluency in Irish. It is refreshingly modern, lively, and easier to listen to than many other Irish courses I've tried.

Don't be scared off by Irish spelling--it's actually very regular, once you get used to all the "h"s!

It is very, very important to spend a good deal of time listening to (and speaking) the material for each lesson BEFORE reading and writing it. Fortunately, this course is put together in a way that makes this possible--the English translations are given on the tape right along with the Irish, so there's no need to have your nose in the book all the time.

Listening and speaking the lesson FIRST will steer you around the eyes-glued-to-the-page pitfall that sabotages so many language learners. Learning without looking at the book might be unnerving at first, but it is well worth the effort. As your ears and brain do what they do best, your comprehension and conversational confidence will soar; learning by ear first is actually the most important step you can take towards becoming a strong reader and writer of Irish.

Ádh mór--good luck, and many thanks to Éamonn and Deirbhile for this wonderful course!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is an excellent course, and the one that finally broke me through to a higher plane of fluency in Irish. It is refreshingly modern, lively, and easier to listen to than many other Irish courses I've tried.

Don't be scared off by Irish spelling--it's actually very regular, once you get used to all the "h"s!

It is very, very important to spend a good deal of time listening to (and speaking) the material for each lesson BEFORE reading and writing it. Fortunately, this course is put together in a way that makes this possible--the English translations are given on the tape right along with the Irish, so there's no need to have your nose in the book all the time.

Listening and speaking the lesson FIRST will steer you around the eyes-glued-to-the-page pitfall that sabotages so many language learners. Learning without looking at the book might be unnerving at first, but it is well worth the effort. As your ears and brain do what they do best, your comprehension and conversational confidence will soar; learning by ear first is actually the most important step you can take towards becoming a strong reader and writer of Irish.

Ádh mór--good luck, and many thanks to Éamonn and Deirbhile for this wonderful course!

Rating:
Summary: IRISH ON YOUR OWN
Review: THIS WAS MADE SIMPLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND. I THINK IT IS AN EASY WAY TO LEARN A LANGUAGE. I WOULD PUT THE TAPE ON IN THE CAR WHILE DRIVING, AND AT HOME I WOULD READ THE BOOK AND FOLLOW LESSONS WITH HEADSET ON. I FIRST BOUGHT ANOTHER BOOK WITH TAPES, WRITTEN BY M.S. I DON'T WISH THAT BOOK ON ANYONE.....

Rating:
Summary: IRISH ON YOUR OWN
Review: THIS WAS MADE SIMPLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND. I THINK IT IS AN EASY WAY TO LEARN A LANGUAGE. I WOULD PUT THE TAPE ON IN THE CAR WHILE DRIVING, AND AT HOME I WOULD READ THE BOOK AND FOLLOW LESSONS WITH HEADSET ON. I FIRST BOUGHT ANOTHER BOOK WITH TAPES, WRITTEN BY M.S. I DON'T WISH THAT BOOK ON ANYONE.....