Saoirse wrote:
Bábóg baby is a cute Irish speaking teddy which would make a lovely gift for your younger child. Not perfect sound, but a lovely idea.
http://www.babogbaby.com/index.php/buynow/I would buy it in a shop rather than pay the mad postage and packing. An Cultúrlann on the Falls Road certainly stocked it the last time I was there. I think it may be fairly widely available in toy shops - probably depends where you are for that one though!
It might be better to send people to the test page, rather than the "Checkout window".
http://www.babogbaby.com/index.php/interactive/For those to whom it matters, this product is in Urban Irish, so you have anglicised non-native pronunciations, such as saying
teac /t´æk/ (chack) using an incorrect k sound, instead of
teach /t´æ(:)x/ (chakh) with a
ch, or pronouncing
sé with a diphthong /sei/, instead of a long
e /se:/.
Cartoons on tg4 also tend to be in Urban Irish.
The CDs and DVDs franc 91 mentioned above have a better representation of native Gaeltacht Irish.
For a good products for parents aiming for native Gaeltacht pronunciation, I recommend Gaschaint:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1636&p=14424(This is similar to the BunGhaeilge series franc91 mentioned above. The recordings are excellent. The only thing missing, perhaps, is an index, but it is divided into everyday situations.)
If in doubt about which dialect to use, the Connemara dialect is regarded as the closest to a median of the native dialects, and it is closer to the old Leinster or "Dublin" Irish than any anglicised "reconstructions". So, if your aim is to carry on the tradition of the language, it is better to choose Connemara Irish rather than Urban Irish.
Small children need to be exposed to the sounds more than the writing. There is no real need to introduce them formally to reading or writing in any language until about seven years of age. (That is not to say that you should in any way discourage them if they do take an interest, but most children respond much better to playful learning until about that age.)
It is more important to read to them, to talk to them, and to interact with them as much as possible. Nothing accelerates early learning like "doing something with Mummy" (and to a lesser extent "with Daddy"). Children can associate better with the language in a warm atmosphere of cuddles and bonding, than in a cold forced regimented atmosphere such as that of a school classroom.
If you are not confident of your own pronunciation, I would recommend getting some picture books with CDs like those from
Futafata or [url=www.litríocht.com]Litríocht[/url] and look at the picture books together with the kids while you listen along to the CD. Having the younger one even just sleeping nearby will allow the baby to hear the sounds together with a sense of security.
Personally, I read to my kids (4 and 6) each night. Their favorites at this age are a bilingual picture dictionary and Buntús Cainte (they like the cute cartoons in this one). We also have some other bilingual animal books from Futafata.
Older kids like to relate new knowledge to what they already know. Although translations are not as good as books written natively, I find bilingual books are good for my girls because they can learn both English and Irish at the same time. (Their first language is Japanese.)
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This is brilliant and deals with all dialects.