The Learning Irish/General Queries Thread.

deise go deo

Tá curtha ina n-iarrfaidh cothrom cúpla ar chomhairle cabhair/maidir le foghlaim na Gaeilge le déanaí.
There have been a fair few requests for help/advice with regard learning Irish recently.

Seo roinnt leideanna agus naisc más main leat an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim
Here are a few tips and resourses if you want to learn Irish,


Ranganna Classes.

Conradh Na Gaeilge.

GaelChultúr

Foras na Gaeilge



Ciorcal Comhrá Conversation Group


Creidim go bhfuil Ciorcal Comhrá an rud is fearr nuair a bhíonn tú Gaeilge a fhoghlaim. Is féidir leat éisteacht le daoine eile ag caint ar an teanga agus is feidir leat do focail nua a úsáid.
I have found one of the most helpful things when Learning Irish is a Ciorcal Comhrá(Conversation Group). You can listen to others speaking the Language and can use new words you have learned.


Is Leor Beirt


Foras na Gaeilge


Leabhair Books.

Tá go leor leabhair chun cabhrú leat Gaeilge a fhoghlaim
There are many books out there to help you learn Irish.

Buntús Cainte

Teach your self Irish


Naisc Idirlín Internet Links.

Learn Irish with Liam

BBC



Tá i bhfad níos mó ná seo. Más main leat chuie suas rud ar bith gur chaill mé
There are many more resourses than this. Feel free to post up anything I missed.


Go n-eirí an t-ádh leat.:)

AWard

www.talkirish.com

They have Buntús Cainte in a format for your iPod, iPhone, iPad, i.....whatever....

60 lessons, seems to be pretty good so far... not as interactive as the web-based sample...?

And thanks again to all the kind souls who have been helping me with this project of mine

mulvihill67

My concern is, is it better to send a 10 year old to a residential course or to the course where they live with a family, this will be his 1st outing to an Irish college and I'm unsure what to do and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this, more than likely he will be going to a Munster based Collaiste as this is the type of Irish we learned ie Baile Bhuairne in Cork run by Geal Linn, any thoughts really apprecialte.

deise go deo

Coláistí Gaeltachta-Gaelthacht Courses.



Gael Linn

Comhchoiste Náisiúnta na gColáistí Samhraidh

Oideas Gael

Coláiste Naomh Eoin, Dublin

An Rinn

mulvihill67

Thanks again deise go deo, B

deise go deo

Ceachtanna Bheaga - Abair Leat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmHaVK_XFOY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmoCUCBCzs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0tPvEesbZY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC0VaU-_4ho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2F-mXFsvy0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz7Bp08Ofb4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4CuAM-2hNM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF964dBpS4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSgG8TntcZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A1ea87RVrg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwJcayq0yZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFScNbWg-Jw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziILNzOw_FM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsUTUhN-FZ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OyU69P9C3k

dhayashi

Does anyone here speak Irish and want to practice on Skype? I would looooove that! Pretty please? Message me your username if so.

Toyota_Avensis

Tá Facebook ar fáil trí gaeilge...Tá sé ann leat chun do gaeilge a úsaid!

dhayashi

My Irish is horrible, but I am guessing that you're saying that Facebook has a Gaeilge group that I could/should join?

deise go deo

dhayashi wrote: »

My Irish is horrible, but I am guessing that you're saying that Facebook has a Gaeilge group that I could/should join?

It means that Facebook is available through Irish


If you go into settings and go to the languages section, you can choose to display Facebook through about 30 different languages, Irish is one of them.;)

Bob123123

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Say-A-Few-Phrases-In-Irish

Asry

Is é seo go maith do ghramadach?

phatrat1982

Hello everyone I am new here and I am a total newbie to the Irish language. I currently live in the US in Nebraska, and my family and I are all learning Irish. Part of the reason I found this place was in my search for Irish speakers. My goal is to become completely fluent as much as possible and pass it on to our kids. I am currently teaching my nieces and nephews as I learn but since I am a beginner myself I am always worried I could be saying things wrong.

Aard

There's an "as Gaeilge" forum too if you're up to it http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=904

Mind me asking how you're all going about learning it? Do yous use books, or is there a Gaeilgeoir among you?

phatrat1982

Right now we are using the internet mostly. We listen that BBC program Giota Beag and I have all the mp3s from Talk Irish 365 on my ipod and there is BYKI, um let's see we have been checking out other websites also, Youtube has been helpful. As for starting out it's all kind of rough at the moment, we got the kids saying please and thank you in Irish and we taught them their colors so far that's it for the kids since we're all learning also it's kind of rough at the moment.


Hm I thought this was the forum for learning maybe I got lost there are so many forums on this site.

Aard

The one I linked to is for posting in Irish only in a discussion-style. This one is for asking about the language and is more of a Q&A.

eire4

Translate.google.com

Is féidir a bheith cabhrach google translate.

Insect Overlord

Google Translate is a fecking disaster. Seriously.

phatrat1982

Ok I guess I misunderstood so I was in the right board ok. I am a long ways away from being able to read and write anything right now I can listen and understand some and I can sort of say a few phrases and words but nothing really useful yet.

Aodh Rua

Anybody who has not yet downloaded the free An Gum Irish-English/English-Irish dictionary to their android/Samsung phone yet, can do so here:

http://www.samsungapps.com/topApps/topAppsDetail.as?productId=G00005726168

It's quite excellent, although the difference between 'dílse' and 'dílseacht' in it is the reverse of the difference between both words in Ó Dónaill so I'm not sure which of those words is correctly 'loyalty' as in 'love and loyalty'.

Piliger

Are there any free Irish classes in or around Ranelagh/Rathmines area or in the centre of Dublin that I could attend ?

SONIC2008

Hi,

The name Collins in Irish I believe is O'Coileáin.
If I want to speak of a female, do I write Máire Ní Choileáin or Máire Ní Coileáin. I just dont know if the Ní always adds a h behind the second letter of the surname when it begins with a consonant.

Thanks

sunshine2007

Hello,
I am looking for a private teacher of Irish. Do you know anyone who delivers 1 to 1 classes or where can I ask?

thank you.

Sunshine2007

uch

Best thing to do is go to your local Library and find the nearest Ciorcal Comhrá, then ask there

sunshine2007 wrote: »

Hello,
I am looking for a private teacher of Irish. Do you know anyone who delivers 1 to 1 classes or where can I ask?

thank you.

Sunshine2007

Darth Rabbit

Hey, I'm interested to know how everyone is getting on. Im in my 'mid 30s' and have recently began trying to refresh my leaving certificate Irish. For the majoriy of my time in school I wasn't interested in Irish because outside of school it had no practical use but toward the end of my secondary schooling and through a greater understanding of Irish history I began to appreciate this language. Having been abroad numerous times and see other live here whom are comfortably bi-lingual I wanted this for myself We have an Irish station I would like to be able to properly understand without subtitles and when I visit those remote parts of Ireland I want to be more confident engaging in conversation as Gaeilge.
At the moment I'm using the book Gaeilge Gan Stró and have one of the CDs in the car. I'm amazed how quickly it is all coming back to me and how I'm expanding my vocabularly. If this is what I'm seeing after 1 month I can't can't wait to see where I'll be in 1 year so I'm interested to see how other people have got on?

MRnotlob606

Darth Rabbit wrote: »

Hey, I'm interested to know how everyone is getting on. Im in my 'mid 30s' and have recently began trying to refresh my leaving certificate Irish. For the majoriy of my time in school I wasn't interested in Irish because outside of school it had no practical use but toward the end of my secondary schooling and through a greater understanding of Irish history I began to appreciate this language. Having been abroad numerous times and see other live here whom are comfortably bi-lingual I wanted this for myself We have an Irish station I would like to be able to properly understand without subtitles and when I visit those remote parts of Ireland I want to be more confident engaging in conversation as Gaeilge.
At the moment I'm using the book Gaeilge Gan Stró and have one of the CDs in the car. I'm amazed how quickly it is all coming back to me and how I'm expanding my vocabularly. If this is what I'm seeing after 1 month I can't can't wait to see where I'll be in 1 year so I'm interested to see how other people have got on?

I'm using duolingo at the moment. It's helping me at the moment.You could go to a ciorcal comhrá once and a while too.

eire4

AWard wrote: »

www.talkirish.com

They have Buntús Cainte in a format for your iPod, iPhone, iPad, i.....whatever....

60 lessons, seems to be pretty good so far... not as interactive as the web-based sample...?

And thanks again to all the kind souls who have been helping me with this project of mine

The focal an lae link in there is a great one I enjoy as well.

castlebarian

I have very basic irish I just about passed ordinary level in my leaving cert 10 years ago . I never had the intrest in it at a younger age but as of recent i would like to learn it and be able to speek it . I travel a 2 hour commute everyday and think this could be a good time to try learn it as I just listen to the radio anyway im just wondering is there any MP3 or CDs in which I can get to help me start all over again and learn the language. Id like to start from scratch. Even though I know words and responses I can't put a sentence together or use the right form of a sentence can anyone advise me on my best options ?

Thanks

eire4

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

I'm using duolingo at the moment. It's helping me at the moment.You could go to a ciorcal comhrá once and a while too.

I am using dulolingo now as well and highly recommend it. Very easy to use and enjoyable way of learning.

Rabo Karabekian

I was just wondering if anybody could recommend or advise on podcasts that might help with the Irish. I'm taking classes, but was thinking that it might be an idea to listen to some (preferably basic!) podcasts as Gaeilge on the commute into work. I've had a look around the iTunes store, and am really only seeing language classes or podcasts specifically for the leaving cert. Any ideas? I'm learning Connacht Irish (I think: Connemara).

sryanbruen

What's the difference between dá and má?

Insect Overlord

"Má" tends to be followed by the past or the present tense (with a séimhiú on b, c, d, f, g, m, p, s, t) and something that will/will not happen as a consequence.

Examples:
- Má cheannaím arán, íosfaidh mé é. (If I buy bread, I will eat it)
- Má bhuailim le mo chara, labhróidh mé léi. (If I meet my friend, I will chat with her)
- Muna théim abhaile anois, beidh mé déanach. (If I don't go home now, I will be late)

"Dá" requires the use of the conditional tense spellings, and an urú, and outlines a would/if situation.

- Dá gceannóinn arán, d'íosfainn é. (If I were to buy bread, I would eat it)
- Dá mbuailfinn le mo chara, labhróinn léi (If I were to meet with my friend, I would chat with her)
- Muna rachainn abhaile anois, bheinn déanach (If I were not to go home now, I would be late)

sryanbruen

Go raibh míle maith agat, An File!

sryanbruen

When do you use (h)aon, amháin, ceann, céad?

Insect Overlord

A haon - the number one. Used when counting (like in a game of Hide & Seek and you have to count to 50, or whatever)
Aon _____ amháin - one [thing]
Ceann amháin - one thing
Aon _h___ - any [thing/stuff]
An chéad _h___ - the first thing
Céad [thing without a séimhiú] - 100 things

sryanbruen

Do you know when to use "Ar" instead of "Ag" for "at"?, for example:

Ar scoil - At school

sryanbruen

Anybody know how to say modal verbs in Irish other than the following:

Is féidir - To be able (present) (can)
Ní féidir - Not to be able (present) (can't)

Don't mind "would" as I know you use the Modh Coinníollach for that.

Aineoil

Tá sé ar mo chumas.......

Níl sé ar mo chumas.....

sryanbruen

Aineoil wrote: »

Tá sé ar mo chumas.......

Níl sé ar mo chumas.....

What...?

Aineoil

Tá sé ar mo chumas é a dhéanamh. I can (have the ability) to do it.

Níl sé ar mo chumas é a dhéanamh. I can't (don't have the ability) to do it.

sryanbruen

Aineoil wrote: »

Tá sé ar mo chumas é a dhéanamh. I can (have the ability) to do it.

Níl sé ar mo chumas é a dhéanamh. I can't (don't have the ability) to do it.

I said does anybody know any other modal verbs in Irish other than the verb To be able (féidir)

Insect Overlord

sryanbruen wrote: »

I said does anybody know any other modal verbs in Irish other than the verb To be able (féidir)

Have you checked the usual resources like www.tearma.ie or www.teanglann.ie or www.potafocal.com ?

turnikett1

Here's something that I've never figured out. I can never seem to understand what the infinitive for verbs are, when in use in a sentence. Let me try to explain myself.

For example, in English. "I want to see him", "I like to eat". Or in French, "j'aime lire", "je peux le voir". In both these examples there is a set pattern for every verb that indicate it's infintive (to + verb in English, verb+er/ir/re in French).

But when I look up verbs in Irish I don't seem to get this. Instead, I get the root word that you conjugate, for example, déan, cuir, feic, fág, etc, yet my understanding is that you wouldn't use these in the type of sentences above. You would say "an bhfuil aon rud a dhéanamh?", or "an bhfuil aon rud a feicáil?" The only reason I know these is because I just know them, it's how I learned it.

Is there a set pattern for using the infinitive? Or do you just have to learn them along with the verb? And if so why don't dictionaries ever tell you what they are!? Hope I'm explaining myself clearly...

sryanbruen

turnikett1 wrote: »

Here's something that I've never figured out. I can never seem to understand what the infinitive for verbs are, when in use in a sentence. Let me try to explain myself.

For example, in English. "I want to see him", "I like to eat". Or in French, "j'aime lire", "je peux le voir". In both these examples there is a set pattern for every verb that indicate it's infintive (to + verb in English, verb+er/ir/re in French).

But when I look up verbs in Irish I don't seem to get this. Instead, I get the root word that you conjugate, for example, déan, cuir, feic, fág, etc, yet my understanding is that you wouldn't use these in the type of sentences above. You would say "an bhfuil aon rud a dhéanamh?", or "an bhfuil aon rud a feicáil?" The only reason I know these is because I just know them, it's how I learned it.

Is there a set pattern for using the infinitive? Or do you just have to learn them along with the verb? And if so why don't dictionaries ever tell you what they are!? Hope I'm explaining myself clearly...

Well of what I have seen, you can use the infinitive of a verb (ordú in this case since Irish verbs don't have infinitives). For example,

Bí ag scríobh - Be writing
Tóg amach - Take out

However, if the verb (that you use the infinitive for in English) is not the first word of a sentence or phrase, you use the verbal noun form (without "ag" of course).

Chuaigh mé go dtí an chistin chun mo bhricfeasta a dhéanamh - I went to the kitchen to do my breakfast
Is léir go bhfuil an téama seo le feiceáil - It is clear that this theme is to be seen
An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithris? - Can I go to the toilet?

If you say "that" (or just infinitive) and an infinitive of a verb or a verb form without a pronoun or subject in English, in Irish, you say "a" followed by the verbal noun form of the Irish verb. Another example:

Gheall siad ticéid a cheannach don cheolchoirm eile - They promised to buy tickets for the next concert

If you say "to be" and an infinitive of a verb in English, in Irish, you say "le" followed by the verbal noun form of the Irish verb. Another example:

Bhí neart duiseanna le buaite - There were plenty of prizes to be won

I hope that this makes any sense to you?

turnikett1

Yes, absolutely, go raibh míle! Seems so obvious now... My ability to form sentences in Irish has suddenly improved I feel I'm just missing some key grammatical concepts, along with some more vocabulary, before I can be a competent Irish speaker. I have no problem understanding individual words forming a sentence when I hear Irish, it's just a matter of knowing what they all mean then being able to construct a phrase in response! I find that I underestimate my ability too. 14 years of learning does leave it's mark, however subtle.

The next step for me is clauses and conjunctions... Ie "the book that I read", "the woman in the garden who has a big arse", "the thing which is quite unnecessary", etc... If anyone wants to give me a low down feel free to :P I'm waiting on my partner to return my Teach Yourself Irish book (which I found really helpful), but until I have to find my own resources, and there really doesn't seem to be many resources for Irish grammar online...

Insect Overlord

turnikett1 wrote: »

I'm waiting on my partner to return my Teach Yourself Irish book (which I found really helpful), but until I have to find my own resources, and there really doesn't seem to be many resources for Irish grammar online...

Daltai.com might be a useful place to start. It might be a bit too simple in places, but their forum is a goldmine of useful info and advice.

I'm also a big fan of this site: http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/gramadac.htm It looks horribly dated, but the info is spot on.

sryanbruen

turnikett1 wrote: »

Yes, absolutely, go raibh míle! Seems so obvious now... My ability to form sentences in Irish has suddenly improved I feel I'm just missing some key grammatical concepts, along with some more vocabulary, before I can be a competent Irish speaker. I have no problem understanding individual words forming a sentence when I hear Irish, it's just a matter of knowing what they all mean then being able to construct a phrase in response! I find that I underestimate my ability too. 14 years of learning does leave it's mark, however subtle.

The next step for me is clauses and conjunctions... Ie "the book that I read", "the woman in the garden who has a big arse", "the thing which is quite unnecessary", etc... If anyone wants to give me a low down feel free to :P I'm waiting on my partner to return my Teach Yourself Irish book (which I found really helpful), but until I have to find my own resources, and there really doesn't seem to be many resources for Irish grammar online...

I also use Nualeargais.ie as my preferred site like An File. It really helps. Here is my bang at some conjunctions / adjectives for you.

"That"

That object - An ___ sin (e.g. An leabhar sin - That book)
That verb - Go / gur / nach / nár (depending on tense and positive / negative sentence) _____ (with eclipsis) (e.g. Go gcuireadh mé, gur scríobh tú)
That infinitive - A ____ (verbal noun form of the verb) (e.g. A fhanacht)

"And"

Agus (e.g. Mé féin agus mo chara)

"But"

Ach (e.g. Ach, fuair mé i dtriobláid)

"However"

Áfach (e.g. Áfach, sroich mé in am)

"During"

I rith (e.g. Rinne mé staidéar an ghearrscéal 'An t-Ádh" le Pádraig Ó Conaire i rith mo chúrsa)

"Because"

Mar (e.g. Rachaidh mé go dtí an siopa mar caithfidh mé a cheannach roinnt bia)

"Don't"

Ná (déan) (e.g. Ná déan dearmad)

"Or"

Nó (e.g. Luaigh cén fáth ar mhaith leat an cluiche nó luaigh dhá pointe eolais faoin gcluiche)

"Only"

Ní... ach... (e.g. Ní raibh mé sásta ach inné) (negative clauses this is)

"Like / As" (not the verb)

Mar a (e.g. Tá sé ag sneachta inniu mar a bhí sé inné)

Are there any particular conjunctions / adjectives you like to know about?

turnikett1

Thank you, all these little things really help. It's amazing what even just a few hours work can do! It's all coming back to me now, all those memories of being bored out of my mind at school with the faint drone of my teacher explaining something in Irish ("how many times do I have to tell ye CAOL LE CAOL AGUS LEATHAN LE LEATHAN!?")

The conjunctions that I'd really like to know more about are those that introduce a new clause, such as whose, in which, that, etc. But from what I've learned it's simply "a+verb" (an doras a dhún sé?), correct? Or "go" in my dialect (Munster) (an leabhar go raibh i mo teach?). This changes though depending on whether it's negative or a question, correct? I actually have no idea, I'm just piecing together what comes from my non-Irish speaking brain.

Nualeargais.ie is great by the way. Very full on in terms of it's terminology for explaining grammar, but extremely valuable nonetheless. I'm learning so quick it's kind of stunned me If I've learned this much in a few weeks I wonder where I'll be in a few months!? Especially when I'm back in Ireland practising it with all my Gaelgeoirí friends!

Another question: Any good audio/video resources for learning Irish? There is of course TG4 and RnaG, but the former tends to have things subbed in English whereas I feel I'd learn a lot better if it was in Irish, and the latter, well, I'm simply not able to understand detailed conversation without context just yet.

Cheers!

kevIOI

Another new website for Irish Grammar is <snip> It's only just started up so it doesn't have everything on it yet but its got a good lot of the grammar topics with videos and what not. Unfortunately, I can't post the link because i'm newish! If anyone else more settled finds it maybe they could post the link

Insect Overlord

kevIOI wrote: »

Another new website for Irish Grammar is <snip>. It's only just started up so it doesn't have everything on it yet but its got a good lot of the grammar topics with videos and what not. Unfortunately, I can't post the link because i'm newish! If anyone else more settled finds it maybe they could post the link

Mod note: Nice try, Kev, but signing up just to advertise your own website is against the rules here. Good luck with it, but please don't try to use this forum for free advertising.

NCW feen

An bhfuil difríocht ar bith idir na briathra ceap agus smaoinigh agus cad faoi braith agus mothaigh ?