Many of the members of this forum are learners of Irish so I thought it might be useful to compile ideas that people have found to be successful in their own learning. We all learn differently and we might pick up a tip that someone else has found helpful. Please add anything that has worked for you or something that you think someone else may benefit from.

1. I have found children's books very useful as the language tends to be relatively simple. Even when there are words new to me, they are generally surrounded by words which I know so I am not overwhelmed by pages full of words I don't know. (I've never used that smiley before!)

2. Children's programmes are also an excellent way to learn Irish as the presenters tend to speak more slowly than on programmes made for adults. TG4 has a considerable range of children's programmes.

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3. Asking questions on this forum is a great way to learn. There are a lot of people around here who are very generous with their knowledge.

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I too have found children's books extremely helpful this year to keep my Irish fresh and growing. In addition, I Skype a few learners who are a bit more advanced than me. I had an hour conversation today with a guy in Ireland and we spoke only in Irish. That is incredibly helpful. We keep it very very basic and that helps. Thirdly, I find if I teach someone else what I know it cements it in my mind. I have been teaching about 8 college students what I do know and that has helped me enormously as well. In addition, I now listen to several hours a week of Raidió na Gaeltachta on my cell phone. They have an application that is free. If I'm going to drive a long way somewhere, I just listen to it over my car radio. It is live and it helps to just hear sounds.

I hope this helps
Bíonn mé ag obair liom,
Féabar

Some things I had my students do when I was teaching (most of which I blatantly nicked from mhwombat):

Buy some post-its and label things in your house. I used to give my students a room each week, so for the living room, they might have "tolg," "cathaoir," "teilifís," etc.

Practice reading aloud, every day if possible (even if it's only exercises from the text book or nursery rhymes from children's books)

Listen to some spoken Irish every day (TG4, RnaG, CDs, etc.). Don't worry about understanding everything you hear...just listen and let your ear absorb the rhythm and sounds of the language.

If you can get a group together, play Fiche Ceist (I actually had it set up so it could be played by absolute beginners)...great way to learn the difference between the copula and "tá"!

Practice things such as counting and describing things while you're shopping. For example, count the apples as you put them in your bag, then describe them ("tá siad buí, tá siad mór, etc."). If you don't live in Santa Cruz, and thus are concerned about people seeing you talking to yourself, wear a bluetooth headset and tap it occasionally so they'll just think you're talking to your friend in some exotic foreign country.

Use what Irish you have on telemarketers, petitioners, and aggressive panhandlers.

Redwolf

Redwolf

or on the Gardaí if arrested here! Apparently you have the right to be arrested in Irish, but they are not all fluent!

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Politely tell annoying people to go away (We can't help it if they misunderstood us for rude!), or write down a long description of how boring whatever class you're in is.

Casually look around you and see what you can name.

If you're reading a book, see if you can translate some of the sentences, even if it's just,
"Hello!" Gemma said.

(What are some good children's books?)

I had a friend from the 6 counties who told me: "next time I receive a tax form, I'll write "ní thuigim" on it and send it back"

I think in this case they would have no difficulty to find a translator...

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

I'm not sure whether I've already posted this up here or elsewhere, but anyway here it is - O'Brien (which is now an imprint of Frances Lincoln, which makes ordering easier) have children's books in Irish in their catalogue and some of them are also available in English, so that you can put one next to the other. There's also an audio cassette available for two of the books. In Fairy Nights/Oícheanta Sí the chapters in Irish and English follow each other so that the pages in the two languages aren't face to face, which I think is a pity. You might like to download their Billeoga Saothair.
http://www.obrien.ie/category.cfm?categoryID=46
http://www.obrien.ie/book549.cfm - Glac Sos - Uimhir a hAon
You can download the An Gúm catalogues where there's lots to choose from and quite a few of their books have accompanying CDs -
http://www.irish.ie/dynamic/file/Catalo ... 202012.pdf - Catalóg Leabhair agus ábhar eile do dhaoine óga - for example. (but I can't get any of it)
Here's the website of Máire Breathnach, where you can scroll down to see the collection of CDs for children -
http://www.mairebreathnach.com/ (this link isn't working - but you click on childrens on the lefthand side)
And of course there's Futa Fata - http://www.futafata.com/ - where you can download their catalogue and lastly -
Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne - http://www.oidhreacht.ie/foilseachain.asp where you can scroll down to find among other things -
Rahblaí Rabhlaí
Tídil Eidil Éró
Scéilín ó Bhéilín

I've always found songs to be the best way to learn. Talking, listening and reading are all good, but nothing burns new words and phrases into your memory like singing does.

If there's a TV program that you find difficult to follow, read the subtitles to get a good grasp of what's being said. Then immediately watch it again, but this time without reading any text. The TG4 website is great for this, as you don't have to bother recording the program.

This last one works best if you live in Ireland. Stop saying please, thanks and bye when you're in shops and pubs. Instead say más é do thoil é, go raibh maith agat and slán. Just about every Irish person understands these three phrases, and most won't even notice you switched languages. But you'll be surprised how often this attracts attention from other Irish speakers. (You'll be even more surprised at how easily the foreigners catch your meaning).

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Táim ag foghlaim fós. Fáilte roimh gach aon cheartúchán.

That would be a really good idea for a Seachtain na Gaeilge idea. Asking people to just do that much would not be intimidating and would obviously encourage some people to go further.

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