The Pros and how it works
Basically if you want to learn any language go to Duolingo first. Duolingo has an amazing amount of languages you can learn. They have the basic ones: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, and then they have other not so common ones: Turkish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Welsh, Hebrew, Vietnamese....and the list goes on and they are always adding more. Irish is, of course, one of them.
The site is FREE! Yes FREE! How long it will stay that way, I don't know. Usually the online things that are free at first end up charging you after they get big and Duolingo is one of the best language learning sites there is out there so don't be surprised if it eventually starts charging.
Anyway, what happens when you pick a course on Duolingo is that you get a "tree" which is basically a big bunch of buttons which is your language broken down into manageable categories--too many to list here. You click on one and you start your learning. Duolingo does not really have a "lesson" to it. There is a "note" portion on each section where they try to tell give you some information and you definitely want to read all the note sections. Then you click on Practice and it basically quizzes you. It might give you a sentence in Irish and you have to write it in English or vice versa. It might give you a multiple choice question or one where you listen to the Audio and have to write down what it says in English or Irish. At first you won't know anything but don't worry, it will give you them again and eventually you will know them. Yes, it is a bit frustrating at first but it works and once you get used to it, you learn at a fairly good pace. Each section can also have several sub-sections. And once you finish a whole section you can "Review" but in these reviews they aren't going to give you all the same words or sentences. They are going to get harder and sometimes they will give you things that there is just no way you could know them from the previous lessons. And it is REALLY frustrating but you will either get to know them eventually or move on. Each section has a set of little gold bars around it. You are supposed to keep the bars full. So if one goes down in a section you must review again to fill it which gives you the repetition you need to really remember the lessons.
Duolingo also has a system where you pick how much XP you want to get in a day. The most you can is 50 which means you will have to do or review at least 5 lessons. If you get to your XP number you get a "streak" day added at the top of the page. It counts your "streak" days. This is supposed to be a incentive for you to come every day and practice.
They also have "levels". After you get a certain amount of XP (I don't know how much) you move up a level which also is an incentive to keep coming and getting to a higher level. The levels only go up to 25 though, apparently after that they feel you should have finished your "tree".
Then there is the Forum. There is a link on every single quiz question where you can go to the forum and ask anything you don't understand. It is a wonderful feature and Irish has several very knowledgable people on the forum who are helpful.
On Duolingo you can do as many languages at a time as you want. I myself am doing French (which I had in school) along with my Irish but I am sure if I did too many it would get a bit confusing. There are definitely other languages I want to learn there though.
The Cons
Duolingo can sometime come up with the stupidest sentences you have ever heard of. It is likely to help you remember better but I really find it does the opposite. Yes you remember the sentence better but you never really remember the words without the stupid sentence. Paul may have put the dog in the fridge but I never could remember the word refrigerator without Paul and the dog so really it is a silly technique that doesn't work but complain all you want. They aren't changing it.
The Irish forum can be a great place to go get answers to things that are not explained in the lessons and there are definitely very smart people on the Irish forum. I like to think I am a fairly smart person myself but I am sure the people on the Irish forum all think I am an idiot. I don't know my parts of speech and parts of speech are ALL they use in their explanations. Instead of just saying the Irish word "an" and "na" they are going to say "the indefinite article", EVERY DAMN TIME! Instead of saying the Irish word "Is" they will say "the copula". Most of the explanations you won't have the slightest clue what they told you. Most people just say "Thank you" and move on BUT not me. I have to ask them what each part of speech is and to please give me simple explanations. I don't think they understand that here in America (USA) we take 4 years of English in school and months later we have forgotten it all...let alone YEARS later.
You also cannot complain on the Irish forum. They can be real ASSES to you if you do. They don't like complaints. The service is free so you should appreciate it even when it is stupid or wrong.
They also don't like chit chat. I tend to be a bit of a chatty person and was trying to share my frustrations and experience while learning and that was not acceptable to them. Apparently the people answering questions on the forum think it is just for them and if you don't have a question you shouldn't be there. It is a shame that it can't be more open to people sharing their experiences. I have noticed that the French forum is not that way and there are LOTS of people leaving messages on it that aren't strictly questions and there is quite a bit of complaining on the French forum that no one gets nasty about.
The streaks. The streaks are definitely an incentive....at first. And then later they become a burden. The higher your streak gets the more of a burden it becomes. My suggestion is that you not pay any attention to your "streak". If you need a day off, take one, because learning Irish is HARD and sometimes you need a day or two off. It will still be there when you get back to it. Just don't take too many days off.
Closing
Really the cons aren't that big of a deal. Duolingo is still the best place to learn Irish that I have found so far. It isn't a "complete" program. There is no such thing. You won't be fluent when you finish your tree but if you compare it to learning a language in school you will have over a years worth of language...at least...and you never had to leave your computer.
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