[.ca] Irish On Your Own (ISBN 084422619X)

Excellent!:
This is an excellent course, and the one that finally broke me through to a higher plane of fluency in Irish. It is refreshingly modern, lively, and easier to listen to than many other Irish courses I've tried. Don't be scared off by Irish spelling--it's actually very regular, once you get used to all the "h"s! It is very, very important to spend a good deal of time listening to (and speaking) the material for each lesson BEFORE reading and writing it. Fortunately, this course is put together in a way that makes this possible--the English translations are given on the tape right along with the Irish, so there's no need to have your nose in the book all the time. Listening and speaking the lesson FIRST will steer you around the eyes-glued-to-the-page pitfall that sabotages so many language learners. Learning without looking at the book might be unnerving at first, but it is well worth the effort. As your ears and brain do what they do best, your comprehension and conversational confidence will soar; learning by ear first is actually the most important step you can take towards becoming a strong reader and writer of Irish. Ádh mór--good luck, and many thanks to Éamonn and Deirbhile for this wonderful course!

great paperweight-false advertising:
This course would PROBABLY be very helpful, with the audiocassettes. The nature of the Irish language does not allow for translation into English without pronunciation guides. It was NOT hardback as advertised, but paperback.

IRISH ON YOUR OWN:
THIS WAS MADE SIMPLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND. I THINK IT IS AN EASY WAY TO LEARN A LANGUAGE. I WOULD PUT THE TAPE ON IN THE CAR WHILE DRIVING, AND AT HOME I WOULD READ THE BOOK AND FOLLOW LESSONS WITH HEADSET ON. I FIRST BOUGHT ANOTHER BOOK WITH TAPES, WRITTEN BY M.S. I DON'T WISH THAT BOOK ON ANYONE.....

I dare say it's ideal:
Not bad at all. Once you grasped everything, you will be able to speak Irish with proper fluency. It's important, to have an aid even for Ulster dialect. I'm looking forward for an advanced course- eventually with videos ( it was originally planned for T.V. )

Great Beginners Intro to Irish:
Compared to most of the 'travel-focused' language courses available, Irish on Your Own is a welcome change. The lessons are clear, and build on one another very well; the examples in the book and on tape are presented in a normal, 'everyday' atmosphere. Many different speakers, and many examples of pronunciation on the tapes outweigh the lack of pronunciation guidelines in the book (while the english translation is always given, it's often hard to puzzle out just how bhfuil is pronounced 'will', for example.) It does make it harder to learn written Irish; however, this course is not meant to teach you anything beyond conversation, I do not think. New words are presented as part of normal conversations, and are introduced a few at a time, and they are presented at normal speaking speed. Many other taped courses leave the learner with a painfully slow understanding of the language, and they often cannot function in a natural conversation. This is not a problem with the examples on the tapes. The book does present some grammer, although it is very low-key. It also doesn't address spelling or other peculiarities of the langugage well. However, for a casual speaker, these are probably not necessary. If you are looking for an indepth, serious study of Irish, then O'Siadhail's 'Learning Irish' is a good, although more daunting, choice. Irish on You Own is in the Ulster dialect, but understanding the other two main dialects is not that difficult. The lessons do not point out the differences in most cases. I'd definitely recommend this. It was my first introduction to Irish, and I was comfortable with the language very quickly--enough to hold simple conversations with confidence in my pronunciation and ability to communicate. A wonderful choice!!