Hello everyone,

I have recently started learning to read Irish and now think it's time I should become more actively involved. I came across this forum and think it would be good for me to see conversations in action.

I don't have the confidence or knowledge to write it myself yet. I'm still very confused about spelling, and struggle to recognise many written words, especially recognising where the endings change with the different tenses. And there are so many 'h's everywhere! And, is it a noun? Is it a verb? As you can tell, I'm a very, very beginner.

I live in the UK, in Kingswinford, in the West Midlands, not too far from Birmingham. Ideally I would like to meet or correspond with an Irish speaker, but I think that by trying to follow the forum posts it will help enormously with my understanding. It's hard just trying to do it alone, from books (and a bit of help from YouTube).

I'm looking forward to eventually being able to join in some of the conversations here.

Christine

Thank you to whoever left me a private message, following my last post.

I am not being rude by not answering, but I am not authorised to read private messages. I assume it's because I haven't posted enough yet.

I'll get it one day.......

Christine

ah that was just me, warning you that they are all a bunch of jerks here

I was just offering my help and some of the learning materials i have if your interested.

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

Thank you,



Fore-warned is fore-armed!

I'm a bit of a grammar freak, so I've spent the time I've been learning so far mostly on things like word order, question forms, negatives and the like. I'm now looking at regular verb endings in the different tenses - it's probably geekish, but it's helping me to recognise what type of word I'm looking at - I spent my first two weeks of learning in a state of total confusion (and very nearly gave up) - I couldn't make head nor tail of any of it.

I need to expand my vocabulary, a good dictionary is what I need. I love books and want a hard copy. I know there are translators on the internet but I've seen comments online about some of their accuracy. Can you recommend a good Irish dictionary? I went to Waterstones, but they didn't have one on the shelf.

I began learning by using Erin's Web - excellent for pronounciation help - and am still using it. I also listen to some of the many videos on YouTube.

And the different dialects, and their different spellings. Does it matter if you mix dialects? And how do you know which dialect is being spoken - they rarely say.

Questions, questions......... any pointer to a good resource, and any answers to my million-and-one questions would be very gratefully received.

Christine

a lot of courses ive found teat grammar as something you will get the grasp of somehow without actually learning the rules, that doesn't work for me, i need to know why something is said in a certain way. Having said that, if you concentrate too much on grammar i find you dont learn enough phrases and vocabulary to compare the grammar rules too.

I normally do 45 mins of Vocab and phrases ( this includes pronunciation ) and 45 of grammar and phrases which demonstrate the grammar rules im learning. ( also with some pronunciation practice) .

As to mixing dialects, most learners do, so i wouldn't worry to much if you go that way. However i found for myself it was easier to pick one dialect and not get confused by the different pronunciation , words and spelling.

I found learning to pronounce things right , or at least better, from the beginning really helped my confidence when trying to speak, as people more readily understood me. You wont get it right from the beginning, but if you are aware of it and keep practicing as you learn you slowly get there. I still have trouble with getting the R's right and consistent. But good Audio files, for which ive found lots for the dialect i am studying really help.

Best hard copy Irish dictionary to get is Foclóir Gaeilge Béarla by Niall Ó Dónaill.
I love the cork Irish dictionary because its in Munster Irish AND its a pdf so I can type in words and search the results much quicker (http://corkirish.wordpress.com/my-irish ... ictionary/) . Some of the free resources ive found i have printed the PDF off and had them bound, as i like having a book i can carry about as well.

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

Welcome, maidofkent!

I agree that Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (fondly known as FGB) is a must-have, but remember it only goes in one direction! Ultimately you're going to want it De Bhaldraithe's English-Irish dictionary as well.

For day-to-day use, I'm finding that I'm using my smart phone version of Collins Irish Dictionary quite a lot (it's more convenient for quick look-ups than the big hard-bound dictionaries, since I almost always have my phone handy). It's available for both iPhone and Android, and is well-worth the $9.99 it cost me. It's not as in-depth as the big guys, but it's dead handy.

When I was in Ireland and without my iPhone (because there was no way I was going to pay overseas roaming data charges!) my go-to, quick-look-up, dictionary was Foclóir Scoile.

Redwolf

Dia dhuit a chara,
The nearest to your place that I've found is the Sandwell Irish Community Association - Langley Lodge. They do have Irish Language on their list of activities and there's The Irish Centre in Birmingham but that might be a bit too far away for you.
The people at Sandwell might know of someone who could help you nearer to where you live.
www.sandwellirish.org
and there's also the Irish Network Britain (but I can't seem to get to their website)

Many thanks everyone,

There's lots to be looking into there. I saw the Foclóir Gaeilge Béarla on Amazon earlier, I'll order that today.

Sandwell isn't too far from me, and Birmingham isn't really. So thank you all again.

I haven't seen this mentioned on the forum, but something I have found potentially incredibly useful (and should use a lot more) is Anki and Ankidroid. On Anki you can create your own cards to test yourself. English word on one side, flip it over and Irish on the other. So you create cards to learn specifically whatever you want to learn.

It's not just for languages, but for any purpose where you might need to learn facts and/or figures. It's also free.

Ankidroid is the Android version - you download the cards to your phone from the PC or laptop, and sync them whenever you add new cards. I use Ankidroid when I find I have time to kill - coffee breaks, lunch time, etc.

For me, it's an excellent learning tool, and I need to get in the habit of using it more often.

Christine

I use Anki too on my computer , I find it indispensable as it allows me to test myself.

I use Forvo for sound files, I have also broken all the sound files for the Munster version of teach yourself Irish (free) and other sources in to small one word or one phrase sound files which i then use on ANKI, so every question has some audio i can practice along with, if you or anyone would be interested in getting those files just let me know. As breaking them up yourself will be incredibly time consuming .

I often do two questions, English one side and then the Irish and Audio on the other and then sometimes Irish or just the Irish audio on one side and English on the other. see if I can recognize it. obviously i put those ones on random, or it would be too easy haven just done the word

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Bíonn rudaí maithe mall

I'd not heard of Forvo, and also didn't realise that audio files could be used on Anki. So I've spent some time looking at both of them, and yes, I would be grateful for audio files to use.

Pronounciation is that hardest thing of all, so these would be more than useful.

Christine