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

Michelle - I am in Hertfordshire.  I am way past school age so I think taking Irish GCSE would be difficult for me to achieve.  I would need to find somewhere that taught it and then find someway of getting tuition in the evenings (I work all day).  Another solution will find its way to me. :)

I am glad I found this forum since I would really really love to learn the language. I have been travelling to different countries now and the only thing that inhibits me is the language barrier. I hope I could learn the language so that I could interact with the communities I visit. Thanks 

Juan Osborne

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Hi Michelle, on the online lessons, it is mentioned that it will be available in the Winter of 2010 still we're not able to access it to buy it.

Thank you,

Roland

Hi, You're right about learning every day. That's the key. Even if you only learn one single word a day, in three years you will have a vocabulary of over a thousand words. You can say a lot and do a lot with a thousand words! Never let a day go by without doing a little studying, without learning a word or expression. Before you know it, you'll be talking away.

Roland,

It is indeed February now, which I believe makes it officially Spring - so we are late.

We're behind schedule because I've had a bit of ill health recently. Almost back on track now though - I'm currently proofing the built course to make sure it all works as it should, while our coder is hard at work at the back end, making sure the website can host, launch and track each lesson.

Can't wait to get the course out myself - hope you can hold on for a short while more.

Beir bua,

Michelle

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!

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

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

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

I really hope yous like it. 

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!

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

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.  :)

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.

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