I've found this one of the hardest sounds to teach people, no matter how carefully I model it. It's hard to explain what you need to make your mouth do in order to form it, unlike broad T or broad CH, which you can pretty much coach people through.

Any suggestions on how to teach it (other than continuing to repeat it) would be greatly welcome!

Redwolf

Taking Gael as an example . . .

You could try breaking it up into two syllables "guh-ale" (I was doing earlier with Gaelainn, but I'm not sure that it came across too well). You could also start with "gwale" and then tell them not to move their lips when they make the "w" sound.

But you're right about it being hard to explain. Repeating the sound is the best way.

A few days ago, a Polish friend was trying to teach me how to trill my r's. The results were hilarious. Sometimes I think it's impossible to learn a foreign language without the help of a speech therapist.

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

This could be wrong, but the way I think of it is that the w sound is sort of an "by-product" of trying to make
a broad g, but then following it by a slender vowel, something that's made as your tongue moves from one position
to another. Maybe?

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

try to pronounce luh-EE with a very short uh sound, or tuh-ee, guh-ee, etc. Getting the -uh- as short as possible.

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

I think it is closer to goh-ee, toh-ee, loh-ee, etc., for English speakers.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

Maybe I know how to pronounce them but I'm not sure about the best way to transcribe them so that English speakers manage to pronounce them
grma

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

I'm in the same pickle. The closest way I've found is what someone else suggested...start to make the "w" then don't make it.

Doing the "uh-ee" thing could work too...I'll have to experiment with that.

Redwolf

That's how it works natively, of course, but you have to really have the positions of the broad and slender variants of each consonant fully differentiated before that process kicks in properly.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).