The Gaeltalk.net course

The primary aim of this course is to provide you with the basic ability to converse in Irish.

Diligent study will enable you to apply these fundamentals of the Irish language constructively. After completing this course, you will be able to continue improving your speaking and comprehension skills through either more advanced courses and/or independent study.

Lessons 1 and 2 are slightly shorter than the subsequent lessons to allow for the study of introductory information and the sound system. Grammatical terminology is introduced gradually as needed and kept to a minimum.

We recommend that you allocate approximately 15 hours of study per lesson.

Lesson 1

Read the informative introductory essays: 'Ireland and the Irish Language' and 'A Brief History of the Irish Language.' Study and practice pronunciation with the 'sounds' study tool.

Listen to and follow an illustrated dialog which introduces you to basic conversational skills like: greeting another person, introducing yourself, finding out the other person's name, occupation and residence.

Grammar and vocabulary summaries as well as related exercises teach you how to form various phrases. These are mostly based on the Irish verb 'to be', i.e. 'tá' in combination with a simple but useful verb form that enables you to express what you're doing.

Learn to ask basic questions starting with 'how', Irish 'conas', and 'what', Irish 'cad'.

Start to use a special Irish word-form where the personal pronoun (me, you, he, she, we, etc) and prepositions (to, with, from, in, etc.) are combined in one word forms called 'prepositional pronouns'.

Enjoy the Cultural Capsule on the belief in fairies and Background on typical features of the Irish language.

Lesson 2

It is important to continue the study of the sounds which you started in Lesson 1. Practise by repetition.

Follow an illustrated description of a trip to the local Post Office in a Gaeltacht area. Listen to the dialog and learn how to buy stamps and post cards in Irish.

Grammar, vocabulary and related exercises teach you to use the negative and question forms of 'tá'. This enables you to answer questions positively and negatively and to make simple statements with the Irish for 'no'/'not', i.e. 'níl' or ask a question starting with the Irish for 'is / are'? i.e. 'an bhfuil'.

Learn how to form the present tense of the verb in Irish. This widens your conversational skills, as you will be able to make statements based on verbs other than 'to be', i.e. come or 'cost'. You'll also learn how to express things which usually or repeatedly happen as opposed to things which are or happen at certain moments in time.

Learn more question words: 'who', Irish 'cé' and 'where is?', Irish 'cá bhfuil'.

Continue getting to know the many Irish prepositional pronouns: 'with', Irish 'le' and 'at', Irish 'ag'. These prepositions enable you to express possession and ownership.

The Background info relates the story of Irish as a written language and tracks how the written language has changed over the years.

Lesson 3

The illustrated text and dialog help you to find out more about the facilities around the village; the local shop and guest house. Learn how to say what you are looking for or need.

Grammar and vocabulary summaries and related exercises deepen your understanding of the present tense of the verb (continued from Lesson 2). Learn how to make a simple statement about what happened in the past, using the past tense of 'to be' and its negative or question forms. Learn some essential standard expressions like the Irish for 'ok', 'can I help you' and saying 'good bye'.

Continue to expand your knowledge of the prepositional pronouns and learn to apply them in phrases: 'in', Irish 'i' and 'from', Irish 'ó'.

Learn to say what's yours, his, hers etc. by using the possessive pronouns and understanding their influence on the initial sound of the following word.

The Cultural capsule takes you through the experience of an Atlantic storm as it hits our Gaeltacht island in an account by New York born island resident Chuck Kruger. The Background info takes you through some 1500 years during which Irish has incorporated influences from other languages.

Lesson 4

The purpose of this lesson is to go back over the present and past tenses of the verb and deepen your knowledge of them. Therefore we take a break from the usual lesson structure.

Learn lots of useful new vocabulary, which will enable you to exchange a few words in Irish with everybody's favourite subject in the Gaeltacht: the weather. This lesson also teaches you to talk about travel, food and drink. You get a chance to revise and practice your knowledge of the present and past tenses of the verb.

Grammar and vocabulary sections and related exercises show you how to handle masculine and feminine nouns. You'll start to learn how to use the article i.e. the Irish for 'the' and you'll also learn to make the necessary changes when the noun follows a preposition, i.e. 'in (the)'. You'll learn the useful expression 'in the course of .....' to add to your ability to express yourself more concisely.

A large summary list of verbs you have encountered thus far, in present and past tenses, is provided for study and reference.

The Cultural capsule includes the history aspects of seafaring around the Carberry coast in the early 1900s geared towards a beginner's level.

Lessons 5 and 6

The illustrated text and dialog show you how to settle into your Bed & Breakfast accommodation and describe the rooms in the house. Practice talking to your host about your plans for the next day, using the future tense of the verb.

Grammar and vocabulary summaries and related exercises will make you more flexible in the use of the verb in all the tenses you've learned so far.

Ask questions with the Irish word for 'when', i.e. 'cathain'.

Continue to expand your knowledge of the prepositional pronouns and learn to apply them in phrases: 'towards' Irish 'chun' and 'from', Irish 'de'.

Learn numbers and how to count things.

The Cultural Capsule will introduce you to some traditional boats and fishing in the earlier part of the 20th century. Background info gives an account of the differences between Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

 

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