I was wondering if anyone knows of any schools or anything that will teach the Irish Gaelic language around the Western NC area.
Your best bet would be to check out the teachers/classes listings at Daltai.com:
http://www.daltai.com/classes.htm
Another option is to check out the languages department of any local college/university. Even if they don’t offer Irish as a course option, they may have people in the department who speak the language and would be interested in offering classes.
Redwolf
Thanks for that info. I will have to ask around some of the Universities.
Also, how would you rate the “Teach it Yourself Irish” book/cd? I know they are a big company, but that is what I am worried about. It might be a bit too commercialized.
It’s a decent starter set. I wouldn’t worry about the “commercial” aspect of it. There are some errors (mostly errors of omission…for example, they teach “seomra suite” for “sitting room,” and then later in the chapter have a crossword puzzle that requires you to use “parlus” for “sitting room” even though you haven’t learned it yet), but for the most part it’s pretty solid. It’s what I started with, for whatever that’s worth.
My favorite beginner’s book is “Now You’re Talking,” but I don’t think they’ve ever updated it to CDs…the last version I saw still used audiotapes.
Here’s a new one, that’s really good for learning the basics. I know the people behind it, and they’re really brilliant teachers:
Redwolf
Thanks Redwold! I also found an Irish professor that teaches for free near by thanks to that site!! I appreciate the help, thank you.