Dia Dhaoibh...

This is a long shot, but it can't hurt to ask!
Obviously, immersion is the best way for one to learn a language....
Are there any opportunities for foreign youth to apply for - like summer programs - for a chance to travel to the UK and Ireland and stay in Gaelic (Scottish or Irish) households for a bit of time?

Any information or suggestions is great !
A

You might inquire of the Fulbright bunch: http://www.fulbright.ie/

There are also residence programs throughout Ireland. The one I'm most familiar with is Oideas Gael: http://www.oideasgael.ie/en/

When I was there a few years ago, one of the girls in my house was an American college student.

Redwolf

Go raibh maith agat!

You might like to have a look at this list -
www.europa-pages.co.uk/ireland/irish.html

THANK YOU!

There are also semi-immersion weekends held each year in about a dozen larger or college towns in the US (maybe Canada too?), which always have beginner classes. If you google Deireadh Seachtaine Gaeltachta you should be able to find links to any of those which are near you.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Daltaí does a bunch of them, mostly on the East Coast (www.daltai.com).

It's a growing thing on the West Coast as well. When I first started going to the DSG in San Francisco, it was the only one out here, but now they have them in L.A., in Portland, Oregon, and in Butte, Montana (there's one in Texas too, I think, but I don't know where).

The Daltaí ones tend to be cheaper, as they're usually on college campuses with self-catering accommodations, but I wouldn't trade ours in SF for anything...it's so like being in Donegal for a weekend, I'm sometimes surprised to step out of the UICC after a session and realize I'm still in San Francisco!

Redwolf

Daltai's immersion events are held at a retreat center and meals are provided. No self-catering needed thankfully. There are also weekends held in Canada. Check www.daltai.com for events and schedules

Thank you for the Canada links!

The University of Montana also does a 1-2 week long immersion course in the summer, in Butte (although UM is located in another city, they use a campus in Butte for this). If you're in western Canada, that might be reasonably close to travel too. I've been twice and it was very good. There is no web site dedicated to the course, but you can contact the Irish Studies folks here:
http://www.cas.umt.edu/irishstudies/default.cfm

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.