Abair Leat!
How to Learn Irish (and other languages)
As part of Seachteann na Gaeilge you might want to revise your Irish. Here are a few good tips to learn Irish and any other language.
1. Become Familiar with the language and its pronunciation
The best way is to listen to the radio and watch TV. You will find good TV channels to support you when learning. Watching the news or series and listening to radio shows while you are doing your daily work is also a time saving way to practice if you don’t have much time. We recommend:
-The programme “Bernard Dunne’s Bród” Club on RTE1 Monday (7.90pm)
-”Radio Rí Rá” is an online radio Station for young people that uses Irish. It’s also available as a free application if you have a smartphone.
– Radio WDAR 98.fm with Cá Bhfuil an Obair? radio Program http://wdar.ie/
2. Learn the Vocabulary
The average number of necessary words to speak in everyday life is about 400 to 1000. So you will have to take a while to learn them so that you will be able to use them to talk with anyone. When you become fluent you should be able to use the idioms of a language. To make it easier use Mnemonics to link words.
Use your imagination. So when you learn a new word the best way to memorize it is to have visualized it or even to create a short story with it.
The word serendipity which can’t really be translated in French by the way -“heureux hasard” can be related to Newton discovering the law of gravity. This example of discovery is in fact serendipity.
3. Practice the language
Join or create a conversation group to talk with on a regular basis. Learning a language is easier when using it every day. You will be surprised to see how fast you learn without even noticing the effort.
As suggested by Eoin, it is also a good idea to search YouTube for Irish language covers of pop songs. Try to find the Irish versions of your favorite songs.
4. Using the Internet
The internet is a wonderful source of content to find tools that can help when learning a language. So here is a useful list of indispensable websites that can help you to practice and improve your Irish.
-http://abairleat.kontain.com/ : The website is in Irish and you can learn and chat in Irish with the other website users. Good way to practice and to find support.
- http://www.rte.ie/easyirish/ : Learn by listening to MP3 audio file and studying conversations.
-http://www.bbc.co.uk/irish/features/8/gaeilge/ : The website is in Irish and provides various contents to learn Irish whatever your level in Irish is.
-http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/education/features/learn-irish-with-liam-o-maonlai-692551.html : Learn Irish with Liam O Maonlai thanks to its MP3 file and written content.
- Bitesize Irish http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/ : This website offers content to learn and improve your irish.
-You can also listen to our Irish Word of the day videos on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/startranslation. and if you like them >> Share them!
If you know someone interested in learning Irish or some other languages share this article. If you know any other good websites to learn and practice Irish leave us a comment so we can add it to the list.
