is there a good site I can use to help with pronunciation? I am new to Irish and new words keep popping up and I don't know how to say them. for example I was sent an email with 'le meas' at the end. I know it means regards or similar but how do I say it. I was told fáilte - welcome, when I joined this forum but how do I pronounce it. any help would be appreciated.

http://forvo.com is a great resource for pronounciations of words.

I recommend choosing which dialect you want to learn and then going to Forvo.

Here's the link for fáilte, for example:
http://www.forvo.com/word/f%C3%A1ilte/#ga

I'm learning Munster Irish, so I personally go with Conchúr's pronunciation.

And here's the link for le meas from Bríd:
http://www.forvo.com/word/le_meas/#ga

* edit: aargh, I don't know why the first link doesn't work, but you can just type fáilte into the search box on Forvo. Sorry about that

thank you

And there's - www.fuaimeanna.ie/en/Recordings.aspx and there's the English-Irish Dictionary where if you browse they also give you recordings of some of the words in the three dialects C M U (Conamara, Munster and Ulster) - you can go there directly or through the Pota Focal dictionary where it's listed on the bottom of the page (Foclóir.ie) along with several of the other on-line databases.

As far as "le meas" goes, it's roughly "leh mass."

Redwolf

oh dear... I have to learn dialect!

No need to fret over it.

Connemara pronunciation is the most dialect neutral - between the other two major dialects (Ulster and Munster). Follow Bríd on forvo.com

Talk Irish has an online course in standardised Connemara Irish: http://talkirish.com/mp3-irish-course/

It is based on the course Buntús Cainte, which is also available in book form with CDs (ISBN 1-85791-065-5). http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_i ... ts_id=3164

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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).

Irish has no spoken standard, so the only pronunciations available are the dialectal ones. There is a written standard.

That said, nobody really uses the standard grammar when speaking. My experience is that native speakers and some learners use a dialect, while most learners and a good few native writers use a mix of Munster and Connacht Irish without the deeply dialectal features of either, even though they might think they are using the standard*.

The grammatical standard is mainly a blend of Connacht and Munster grammar, with some classical 17th century grammar (this causes one or two mistakes in the standard, because occasionally they incorrectly guessed what the 17th century grammar was).

*If anybody wants examples of this I can supply them. Many people think they use the standard but actually don't. They use what you might call "Generic Irish".

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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

Saved, great stuff. Thank you for this.