Learning Irish

Rating:
Summary: Learning Irish
Review: Date: Sunday, February 06, 2000

As someone who had started before on various other courses, I found LEARNING IRISH simply excellent. You get the feeling from the beginning that the author is building your confidence while introducing you step by step to the Irish language. The boxed-off tables in the initial lessons are particularly useful. The build up of the vocabulary and the gradual introduction of the two verbs 'to be' and the handling of the noun are all outstanding. The texts attached to each lesson give it a life and context which is most helpful.

This is a course with no gimmicks. It's demanding but it works. The cassettes which accompany the book are clear and natural and I found them very helpful. I recommend LEARNING IRISH heartily to anyone who wishes to learn the Irish Language.

Rating:
Summary: Watch out! Book and tapes are sold separately.
Review: I bought the audio cassette edition for obvious reasons (I'm trying to learn on my own without the benefit of a native speaker to guide me and drill pronunciation with me.) The quality of the spoken recordings is very high, though I was somewhat irked to find the book absent (the cassettes are pretty much useless on their own); so I had to buy the book separately. That makes a total of over 50 dollars - but still,I guess that's a pittance for lifelong access to the magical kingdom of Irish language and literature!

Rating:
Summary: Good for lists and grammar
Review: I have been studying Irish for the last 2 1/2 years from a top professor in the area here in the states. At first we used the "Teach Yourself Irish" book and tapes for an into, and then she made her own materials. This book I have found is a good resource for finding lists of grammar, conjugations, vocab etc. I highly reccomend that since it is such a difficult language to find a qualified teacher who you can work with face to face, since much of the pronunciation is difficult and varies from county to county. But, if that isn't available to you or you have moved on from a class and want to study more, this is a great resource to reflect on! It has more mechanics than the conversation driven Teach Yourself, and goes more in deapth than any other book or book/tape set I've seen. Also, if you're looking for additional resources, check out www.readireland.com
Good luck! lena gra geal mo chroi, slan!