What do you want?

The invitation tool is a good idea - I know we can buy a 'plug-in' that will enable us to do that - but it costs nearly 3000 dollars!!! So we'll have to see if we can get a workaround system!

Glad you're enjoying the site and are happy to spread the word!

Slán anois,
Michelle

Last January I started learning Gaeilge with "Giota Beag" and moved onto "Giota Beag Eile" (BBC NI), currently working my way through Liam O Maoinlai's "Learn Irish CD" free with the Irish Independent.I think the best thing for novices to do is chat with what they know under the the watchfull eye of fluent speakers, which it seems this site is enabling.Thankyou very much for getting this resource up and running.

Keep up the good work team, na bunscoil need you

stefan

Ta me ag freastail ar an gaeilge i mBrighton, UK.

Nil aon ranganna a suil fos.

The daily irish words sent are not only helpful but also a reminder and a contact to talkirish. There was mention of a daily seanfhocal coming soon and was wondering if this is still planned ?

Best wishes for new year agus le gachdea ghui.   Gearoid

I have been learning Irish for a few years now, i do think it is a beautiful language and put a lot of effort into it. I have several CD courses which i have put on my iPod and i listen to them going to and returning from work while driving and sometimes while i am working as one of these posts has said there seems to be with every CD couse or book couse a use of different dialects to which it is not addressed in the forward as to which dialect is being used. In my opinion there should be books and CDs which differentiate the dialects being learned so one may choose which dialect they are going to learn for i do see a difference in the dialects and usage of words for the same phrases such as “Cé mhéid” and “Cá mhéad” being used for “How much/How many”. When i finish with one course i go onto another and the next course is using a different dialect for i notice this because i have learned to distinguish between the different dialects. But, still my dialect seems to be a mixture now because of it. Advice for your website would be to create different pages representing the 3 main dialects of Irish as to facilitate learners. For if you master one dialect it should be easy to master others and be able to switch between them or at least to recognize them. Not only are different words and phrases used to denote similar or same things but also the pronunciations of the same spelled words differ. This is my advice and only my opinion and i hope it will facilitate you in directing your endevors for this project.

Richard

BTW: My family came to America in 1751, four brothers William, Thomas, Samuel and Andrew Fleming from Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, Ireland (Derryloran Province).

I agree with Redsetterme that the proverbs are a sure way of learning a range of vocab quickly.The Giota beag series incorperated a range of proverbs relevant to the stage of learning and I found these most useful as you tend to remember them very easily.

Richard 1965, I have too noticed a difference in dialect whilst learning songs in Gaeilge.A traditional verse is ussually covered by many artists and the regional dialects become quickly apparent.I have found this is no different to nearly twenty years of working the building sites in London and hearing more accents, dialects and takes on the English language than you can shake a stick at.I find that the beauty of communication and is so interesting to see and hear non native speakers slowley grasp the fundementals of a language.

Comparing the two courses I have now done the first from BBC NI and the second free with the Irish Independant I have found the differences very subtle and only a matter of pronounciation and slight spelling difference.Would a studant be advised to stick with one dialect or if they didn't find it confusing carry on with all available resources open to them?

What I love about Talkirish.com is that:

1-The learner hears the word pronounced.  No other learning source is so complete in this way.

2-The learner hears the word used with the article and in a sentence (invaluable!).  This makes it usable.

3-It is a GREAT companion tool to folks learning Irish.  Multiple people can build vocabulary simultaneously, so they have a common data base of knowledge.

  I am referring it to everyone interested in Irish so we can all start talking.

4-The pictures with the word are so cute! (Only Michelle is cuter)  The pictures are wonderful and help the learning process!  I see them in my mind when I say the word.

What I'd like to see:

1-More varied usages of verbs in the sentences so we could learn verb vocabulary.  This could be used with common thoughts such as:  I wish that.....

I need......,   Do you want........., Do you need...........  This would complete the site so that a person could truly learn written and spoken Irish on the site.

2-A Game that would give flash cards with ALL of the words in the 365 data base so we could spend time reviewing in an easier way.  Flash cards could

also include a "verb thougts".  The verbal thoughts are so key to speaking a language that they would complete the site.  The site could benefit by having about

30 of the most commonly used verbs/predicate thoughts.  Many predicate thoughts in Irish are expressed with the approx 120 (I think) prepositional pronouns.

This site has been the centerpiece of the Irish I've learned thus far.  Michelle has created a huge contribution to the preservation and promotion of the Irish language.

I cannot say enough good about it.  Is iontach brea sin!  A Mhichelle, go raibh mile maith agat! Faber

Well, the quiz you have was very helpful.

I got 50/50 the second time and i now know that a builder is toglach. (or something along that lines) but its just words, you see it, you hear it, you click it. I think there should be more games on learning, spelling and remembering the words, not just picking them. If you get what im saying, and also, there needs to be more words, i did all three, and all the words were the same.

Hope i helped. Really like this site.

Fiona -x.

Also, there needs to be more games :] i can only find two x

Lil.Irish.Shamrock.

Have you tried any of these?

http://talkirish.com/media/p/4292.aspx

http://talkirish.com/forums/p/42/4301.aspx#4301 

http://talkirish.com/forums/p/1592/3642.aspx#3642

http://talkirish.com/forums/p/798/3403.aspx#3403

I am a beginner at learning Irish and I have found this site very helpful.  I would love to see games or activities that help with grammar as well.  I aim to be able to speak it and to write fluently.  Also, I would love to see a way to make contact with native speakers who are willing to be pen pals or Skype pals so that those of us learning have someone to interact with.  Again I love this site, and I am looking forward to seeing all that you are working on.  My daughter has found your games very intriguing and must have a natural gift for the language (she is 8) because she did better her first time playing the vocabulary games than I did after I had been practicing :)  

Thank you, (One day I will be able to post completely in Irish :) )

Sorry I haven't been chatting on the site recently - first of all I've had a nasty bout of food poisoning, and secondly I'm getting married in Paris on Saturday 9 January, so I've been wildly busy trying to keep both work and wedding preparations on track, in the middle of nasty weather conditions that have a lot of my Irish guests snowed in in Ireland.

I promise that when I get back to Ireland on January 18th that I'll be working on lots of new Irish language content - games and more traditional content. Thanks to the grant we received from UnLtd, I'll be able to take a good bit more time on the site, instead of being overstretched between it and my other work commitments.

Athbhliain faoi shéan is faoi mhaise daoibh!

Michelle

Michelle:

Congrats!  I am very very happy for you.  Please don't move to France and leave us all behind!

Le meas,

Faber

Go raibh maith agaibh! No danger of us moving to France - we hope to get our mí na meala in the Gaeltacht in Donegal if we can afford it...a whole month capturing audio and video for the website, and working on my Irish!

seano:

Tá brón orm, níl mé cinnte cad é atá i gceist agat anseo. (Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean here). You seem to be asking how to write urú in the message box. Urú doesn't require any special characters - i ngeall, i mbliana are examples of urú. I think you probably mean the fada, which is the acute accent on vowels. This can usually be done in one of three ways - you can insert a special character, use AltGr + the vowel, or ctrl + alt + the vowel. If this isn't what you mean, let us know!

typing a fada on a PC
http://talkirish.com/forums/p/25/58.aspx#58 

typing a fada on a Mac
http://talkirish.com/forums/p/26/59.aspx#59