My speaking as a rank beginner of the Irish language, just where, and with what lessons, could a beginner begin?
TIA
Well, if at all feasible, a teacher or class is the absolute best way. Failing that, though, there are some decent self-teaching programs out there. Which works best for you will depend on your personal learning style. Often a combination of methods is the ideal…perhaps a book method to give you the nuts and bolts of the language, combined with a computer program to help with speaking.
We review some of the most popular self-teaching programs here:
http://www.learnirishgaelic.com/productcomparison/
I started with “Teach Yourself Irish” (book and CD set) and “TeachMe Irish Gaelic” (computer program).
Redwolf
Aha, I see you once again, Redwolf, at the above site, and the reference is to http://www.irishpage.com/irishpeople/!
So, apparently it’s time for me to temporarily excuse myself from this forum, and to get through the 120-odd lessons there, first.
Perhaps that way, on my return I could then be in a position to ask some intelligent questions.
I thank you!
Oh, I live over there (at IGTF, that is)! It’s where I’ve learned most of my Irish, and it’s still a daily learning experience. Nice bunch of folks over there as well.
Redwolf
Cork, don’t leave here - you can hang out with us while going through lessons, and use what you use!
avanutria,
I’m not going away, but it looks as though there are about 128 lessons to learn over at http://www.irishpage.com/irishpeople/
However, I’ll have questions as I go along, no doubt.
Thanks!
BTW, the fíche ceist game that avanutria started is a great way to use some of your Irish, and is well-suited to even basic beginners. The site she linked to shows you how to ask the basic questions you’d need, and an on-line dictionary should provide the rest (or we can). It’s a great way to build vocabulary, to learn comparitive structures, and to learn how to ask and answer questions.
Redwolf
Also, I am basing my answer construction on the questions she forms…I wouldn’t be able to say half that stuff without the prompting!
The site I mentioned, [u]The Irish People’s Lessons[/u], was designed especially for independent study, which assumes that a beginning student could have no access to a teacher and other materials, and pares the language into its essentials, as to not favor any particular dialect or region, which helps to take the pressure off of learning the language. My immediate goal is to learn to read and write the language, but the lessons strongly emphasize the spoken language, and so it’s likely that I’ll pick up some pointers on that, too. Of course, there’s only so much ground which could be covered in 128 brief lessons, but now after the first several lessons, I’m finding myself getting comfortably settled in.
Excellent! Tús maith leath na hoibre. (A good start is half the work.)