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looking for a crash course (of sorts)

  • 10-04-2007 7:47pm
    #1
    flogen
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 10,247 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I'm sure I've posted something similar to this before, but I find myself with more free time lately and it's no longer a question of "when I have the time I'll start to learn Irish" but rather a question of "now that I have the time, what's the best way to learn Irish?"...

    My education in Irish peaked at LC, where I got a C something in Ordinary - it's probably declined since then although I'm hoping a little bit of a refresher will help me dig up all or most of the stuff I think I've forgotten.

    My aim is to become aurally, orally and textually fluent in Irish as quickly as possible - don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for a quick and easy route to learning the language because I know that doesn't exist, I'm just looking for the most effective and highest intensity route, which I appreciate will only make things more difficult, albeit for a shorter period of time.

    I'm based in Dublin and would prefer to study there rather than having to move somewhere for a period of time. I don't feel confident enough in my current ability to attend those conversational workshops, but instead want to find a practical and logical course (ie one not created by the Government) that will teach me Irish as a living language and not a subject which must be memorised and regurgitated from time to time.

    My reasons for learning - partly because I feel hard-done by having gone through the education system. I was limited by the uninspiring Government curriculum and as a result I allowed myself to grow a distaste for the subject - all in all I hated Irish until it wasn't being rammed down my neck in such a mind-numbing way. My other reason, however, is a career one. I'm starting out in journalism and feel that having Irish fluently would widen my prospects considerably (from TG4 to RnaG to Lá to an Nuacht etc.) as well as give me a useful edge in most English-dominant publications which dabble in Irish (for example, The Irish Times' Teanga Beo supplement).

    Any suggestions on the route I should take? Anyone have any accounts of their own experiences in a similar situation?


Comments

  • #2
    dranoel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 531 ✭✭✭dranoel


    This might interest you - http://www.gaelchultur.com/ - Irish classes based in Temple Bar. I'm not based in Dublin so I haven't tried it out but they have the key ingredient of having different classes for different levels of ability.

    I would recommend you to look for material on subjects that interest you that are available in the Irish Language media. For example pick and choose programmes to watch from the tg4 archive; order an Irish language book online on your favourite subject; if journalism is your thing download the daily Lá pdf or take out a subscription to Foinse.

    If the subject interests you enough then it will greatly encourage you to pick up a dictionary to figure it out. You will then have some living, breathing Irish.

    Hope this helps


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