General

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

seano — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:10:42 GMT

I am not a learner but I am a complete idiot when it comes to computers!

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

Bama — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:45:36 GMT

Hi Allen . I'm a learner as well so you are not alone ;-)

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

allen — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 01:48:31 GMT

Hello everone im new here so bare with me. Not to mention im also still learning the computer, i have my work cut out for me :)

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

Dale D — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:35:27 GMT

Hello, Tentaclezoom. (Interesting name....) Where in the US do you live? I also am in the US, but as people often told us when I was in Ireland, "You could fit this country (Ireland) into a corner of Texas!" I live in the Sacramento area of California, and would like to have someone to use as a buddy for helping me learn. Anyway, let me know. If I can help, or if we can be of mutual assistance, that would be great! Dale D.

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

spraoi ville — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:06:51 GMT

Check out www.spraoiville.com it is used in schools for teaching irish in a fun way!

Have fun!!!

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

lindajamison76 — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:34:57 GMT

Well, great work! You have helped me to improve my knowledge about this field. Thank you so much for sharing.

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

newyorkdd — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:29:50 GMT

Maith thú! Great advice Aindriu!! And I am a true believer that any language is learned just like you said...listen, repeat, memorize. It's how we all learned to talk no matter what language we speak.

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

cowfarmer — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:13:40 GMT

Hi, I'm a beginning Irish student as well. I am using the courses here because our toddler loves the cartoons (we're learning it together). I am also working with a private tutor once per week via Skype. I live on a rural farm in Florida so no chance of any native speakers near me, either. However, I can call anywhere in the US (I have a cheap calling plan) and I have a webcam for Skype. If you, or anyone else, is interested in practicing Irish over the phone or via Skype, that might be fun. :)

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

Iona_0820 — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:10:36 GMT

Thank you so much for this post. I've been having similar thoughts - I'm so happy that I can write about 40 sentences without misspelling, at the same time, I don't know if I'm saying them right. I've been wishing that I could meet native speakers in person to correct me as well. I haven't read all the comments yet but I'm sure they would be very helpful to me, too. I should go to sleep now but I'll read them when I get home from work.

Thanx again

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

bauer5152 — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:49:11 GMT

michelle:

Tá brón orm, Tentaclezoom. Bhí mé tinn, agus tá mé iontach gnóthach! Is dalta mé fosta. Tá sé an-suimiúil.

So. First things first. Doing a face-to-face course can be really good - but you can also learn online. Have you looked at the first free lesson of the online course we'll be releasing this winter?

http://talkirish.com/online_irish_course/

I bet you already know most of this Irish. Buntús Cainte is a really good, structured way to acquire Irish. You learn in small, bite-sized chunks, and you can choose to progress when you're sure you've learned each lesson.

And you can learn on the go if you've got an iPhone or iPod with our MP3 course: http://talkirish.com/irishcourse/

So that leads me to part 2 - giving yourself credit for what you have learned. I often get frustrated with my pace of learning. I work stupidly long hours, I have little time to study my Irish, even though I work every day on the website. Although I live in Ireland, I have very little free time to go out to language groups and talk to people. I beat myself up about how little I know, but you know what? I haven't found that helps me learn any more or any faster

However, I love TG4.ie - I find the programmes there are great, and even if I don't understand everything, I enjoy the content. And it helps me to learn the differences between the dialects. I think you can access this from the USA.

Another thing I'd say is that when your brain is stressed, it is harder for it to learn. The best conditions for learning a language and practicing using that language are for you to be relaxed. To enjoy it!

I think a thing that would really help lots of learners on this website is the ability to IM or voice chat other learners who are online. I'll take a look at that - if anyone has any expertise in this, let me know!

Would it be useful to you if we started a thread where we could just say hello and you could practice your Irish? A popular thread on this site is this simple word game started ages ago, when the site was very new!

http://talkirish.com/forums/p/42/123.aspx#123

Finally...remember that Irish is just another modern language. It's quite different to English, but it's perfectly possible to learn it, even from a distance

Such a very amazing link!

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

spraoi ville — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:50:52 GMT

Spraoi Ville is being launched next Saturday the 13th of August!

I really hope yous like it.

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

spraoi ville — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:49:43 GMT

Hi guys, this is for those of you who want to learn Irish or who want to give your children the opportunity to become fluent in Irish.

Spraoi Ville is an online virtual world for children to learn Irish, it is like an Irish version of Club Penguin, with voice overs throughout. Spraoi Ville consists of a school, theme park, food shop, clothes shop and a farm. The kids have to learn their subjects through Irish in the school and they are awarded coins for learning and getting answers right which they can spend in the other parts of the world. Tries to teach kids that if you work hard at school you can afford nice things in life! Gives children the chance to have their education in Irish!

Spraoi Ville was created due to the current debate regarding whether to drop Irish as a Leaving Cert subject in Ireland. Michelle the creator of Spraoi Ville felt that if children were taught Irish in a fun way in primary school they would become fluent in the language and subsequently love it. Also with the huge number of Irish families emigrating to America, Australia and Canada, she felt that it wasn't fair that these children would lose out on an Irish education because of our government. She didn't want them to be the so-called lost generation.

We should cherish what we have before it is lost.

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

stpadraig — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:48:00 GMT

Hi Brittany (tentacle zoom)

If you haven’t already found it online, the BBC, in the north of Ireland, put out an excellent free Irish course named Giota Beag (a little bit)

1 to 15 audio lessons - you can click on each lesson and listen online, it is really well done, one of the best I have come across - here is the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/learners/beag1/lesson1.shtml

They have further lessons available in Giota beag eile (another little bit - eile is said like ella, means another)

Each audio lesson can also be printed out.

Let me know if you can’t find it.

I recorded all the lessons to my computer, and burnt to a CD, to listen off line or in my car.

Pádraig
Galway

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

Rick — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:55:32 GMT

Dia daoibh go léir, is mise Rick,

Overwhelming indeed this beautifully sounding but strangely spelt language.

I'm in a very similar position to Loco. Based in central England and started learning seriously 3 years ago after a Coláiste na nGael day at Northampton Uni and joining a new self teaching group. Most are Irish born but some of us are second generation or only have distant ancestry but it's a great group and we always have a good time. We are lucky enough to have blagged a room to meet fortnightly and I also meet with the Milton Keynes group fortnightly at the Irish Centre. We too have had Dónal from Coláiste na nGael spend workshop days with us on several occasions. Dónal is a superstar.

I agree wholeheartedly with Michelle, do some every day however little, even if it is just the Talk Irish word per day in your email, and also with Loco, there is no substitute for learning with/from other people.

It does start to come eventually, a bit like trying to see those magic eye 3d pictures. You stare and squint and refocus for ages until one day it just suddenly clicks and you can see it clearly. I'm now reading books for 8-11 yr olds without too much trouble and am working my way up.

These are the things that have helped me so far. I hope they are of help here:

Join a learners' group for help, support and fun,

Reading - Learn the basic pronunciation, some basic words and the word order - Verb Subject Object (Chases the cat the mouse),

Buy some very basic children's books, it's very important to pick the right level, if they are too difficult go down to simpler books and come back later (try Cochaillín Dearg / Red Riding Hood etc. from Oideas Gael or Litríocht online)
do the painful task of looking up words in a paper or online dictionary and write them in pencil in the book so you don't need to do it again
for each one read it again and again and again until you know it off by heart
rub out the words you now know, read it again without translating into English in your head
work your way up to more difficult books as you now know more difficult words and phrases
go back and read the earlier books to check you are not forgetting

Listening - Buy any CDs that go with the books, read and listen at the same time to correct pronunciation, then just listen, listen and listen again until you can understand it all and don't have to convert it to English. (Fionn Mac Cumhaill box set).

Think in Irish, picture the thing, action or description in images rather than thinking of the equivalent English word
Watch subtitled tv programmes and films, again children's programmes are easier and slower - try www.tg4.tv and BBC2 NI on Sky if you can get it,

Speaking and writing will come naturally as we copy what we see and hear

Grammar - Apart from the very basics I really feel that this is important but it is 'polishing' for much later on.

We are also working our way through the BBC Bitesize revision reading practice so I think GCSE is not impossible even for those of us past school age (I'm 46).

Ádh mór oirbh

Rick

Re: I want to learn Irish but I'm so overwhelmed!

Loco — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:40:39 GMT

Dia Duit, this is my first time on the site but I'm looking forward to visiting often!

I am not Irish but I joined a group who were beginning to learn Gaelic about three years ago. We are all differente ages and with different backgrounds, some having been to school in Ireland, some like me are 'foreigners!' I absolutely love it although I'm not sure I'm making much progress. The experience is so enriching and I have some lovely friends and we always enjoy the craic! We are in the south-west of England and meet in eachother's houses, but once a month we have a teacher from Colaiste na nGael who comes and gives a Saturday workshop.

I guess what I'm saying is, the best way must be to learn with others, to learn the language as something living not just from books, csd, dvds, websites etc however good and helpful they are. There are only six of us who regularly attend our little group but we all help eachother and have become firm friends. Maybe for people who want to learn Gaelic, a letter to the local newspaper might result in meeting others who want to do the same?

Good luck!