Read here for some information about this book and dvd.

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1250

If anyone has used this resource, feel free to comment here. When someone is trying to decide which resource would best suit his/her needs, it can be useful to hear what others think.

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This is an excellent resource for more advanced learners who need practice understanding the language at conversational speed.

One problem with many learning programs is that, by necessity, the audio supplied with them is very slowly and distinctly articulated. I say "by necessity" because this kind of slow, distinct articulation is what beginners need in order to be able to replicate pronunciation correctly. But at some point, practice with listening and speaking at normal speed becomes a must.

When people speak at normal, conversational, speed, things change radically. Words may be blurred together (think of a native or fluent speaker saying "go raibh maith agat"). Some sounds may be dropped or muted (particularly sounds at the ends of words and brief sounds, such as the vocative particle). Also, a person speaking naturally in response to an interview won't deliver a neatly scripted response...there will be stops and starts, "'um's" and "uh's" and "er's," self-interruption, slang or local terms, etc., all of which can make things more difficult to follow. Practice with this kind of thing is invaluable.

I find it works best to follow the instructions in the book: First listen to the recording without following along in the book, doing your best to understand as much as you can. Only after doing that a couple of times should you refer to the book (and you should only resort to the translations in the back of the book if you really, truly, can't get the gist after repeated listening and after reading the Irish).

Another nice things is it addresses various dialects. No matter what dialect you learned, you're eventually going to want to be able to understand people with other dialects, and listening practice really helps with that.

The one thing I don't like about the DVD is it's not possible to skip to a particular recording. Obviously you're not going to do the entire course in one day, and it's tedious to zip around trying to find where you'd stopped the day before. Having each recording on its own track would be a real improvement.

Redwolf

I bought that book/DVD a couple of years ago. I like the fact that you can hear dialects -- from most speakers.
However I would reproach the same thing as usual, I don't need to say what

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I have it but never really opened it, it was too advanced for me when I first got it, and now its just to much reading and listening, Id prefer more exercises etc

Yeah...it's specifically designed for listening/comprehension practice.

Redwolf

That was my problem with it! Its called 'speaking irish'!!

I agree with absolutely everything stated here, but couldn't have articulated it as well! It is very strange that they didn't have each item on its own track, surely a simple thing to do. I would love if they produced another one. I still find Ulster Irish much more difficult to understand than anything else and this is a gentler way to experience it rather than full-on radio/television/conversation.

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Might have been better if they called it "Spoken Irish" (or translated the title more directly as "Living Irish").

Redwolf