I myself have created a "class" on Quizlet called Learning Irish . It is basically a flash card type of class and it has no sound (because the sound part is not free on Quizlet) but it has really helped me learn my vocabulary from the Future Learn courses and I thought it might helps others as well. You can use them as regular flash cards or you can use the "write" option so that you can learn to spell your words as well. (They have changed the flash card option so it does several different things and keeps at you until you learn the word. SO much better!)
I add to my Quizlet class whenever I get the chance or whenever I am learning something new and need flash cards. Anyone can join the class that wants to use the card. I don't get anything for doing this, no one pays me for it.
Just a note--I shared it with Duolingo and one of the former nasty people on the Irish course (they all seem to have left) pointed out (very nastily I might add) that one of them was wrong. Well hell, I'm not perfect. If you see one wrong, let me know. I haven't found any others so her trying to say it wasn't a good resource just because it had one wrong....isn't exactly the case. I really hate people who think they are so damn high and mighty.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Future Learn
Future Learn had several little Irish language courses. I think they are great if you have the time to sit around and memorize vocabulary because that is what they mostly are, pages and pages of vocabulary and then a page now and then on Irish language history. They only give you a certain amount of time to view the course- free- and if you want to view it after that you have to pay for it. I have saved most of the vocabulary in quizlets and have taken some time to learn several of them. It has helped my understanding immensely but is basically a lot of memorizing. I have now gotten to 105 and they are reviewing some which is really helpful. I think the courses are fine if you have time on your hands and don't mind memorizing but I wouldn't recommend them to beginners. I think you will get burned out really fast if you are a beginner trying to do them.
The Living Language Series
I bought the whole Living Language series on Irish a while back. It comes with 3 books, CD's and a notebook of paper.
I bought it because I heard it had lots of writing exercises for each lesson and I really feel that writing exercises are important for me. I can't learn how to spell anything if I don't have writing exercises, just like I can't memorize words unless I know how to pronounce them. It is just the way my brain works.
I am about half way through the first book and have found it to be pretty good. Not really as many exercises as I had hoped for but a lot more than you get with some other books. It seems to build one lesson on the other but you do have to study the vocabulary.
The only flaw I see in it is that it tells you the prepositions but doesn't give exercises for them, it just kind of glides on past them and you see a preposition later once in a while. Prepositions are not my strong suit so I had hoped to get more practice at them but it isn't going to happen with these books.
I listen to the CD's in my car and that has helped me to understand what I hear quite a bit better. It's a pretty good series to get and I recommend it.
I bought it because I heard it had lots of writing exercises for each lesson and I really feel that writing exercises are important for me. I can't learn how to spell anything if I don't have writing exercises, just like I can't memorize words unless I know how to pronounce them. It is just the way my brain works.
I am about half way through the first book and have found it to be pretty good. Not really as many exercises as I had hoped for but a lot more than you get with some other books. It seems to build one lesson on the other but you do have to study the vocabulary.
The only flaw I see in it is that it tells you the prepositions but doesn't give exercises for them, it just kind of glides on past them and you see a preposition later once in a while. Prepositions are not my strong suit so I had hoped to get more practice at them but it isn't going to happen with these books.
I listen to the CD's in my car and that has helped me to understand what I hear quite a bit better. It's a pretty good series to get and I recommend it.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Mango
Found this one just yesterday. Mango. Was very excited when I saw they had an Irish course. It is free if your library has paid for it and ours had. This is definitely a great place for beginners as the lessons are pretty easy. They only introduce one or two new words at a time and then they connect them with other words you have already learned to make sentences. And yes, it is very basic stuff but I still have learned how to say two new things in the first seven lessons and, unlike Duolingo, they are useful things. It has a LOT of repetition but we all need that in order to learn a language but it is a little boring if you already know most of the words. Still, I am hoping it gets harder and I learn more as I go along and even if I don't, it is still reinforcing vocabulary that I have had before but haven't used in a while. What I would love for it to add is a writing component. All of these courses except IsFeiderLiom are missing that element and even IsFeiderLiom only has very limited writing. I think writing the words yourself is really the key to learning how to spell them. Anyone can recognize a word when they see it but that doesn't mean you can spell it.
Anyway, check out Mango for some reinforcement on what you may already know and to add a little vocabulary and if you are a complete beginner, this is definitely the place to start.
Anyway, check out Mango for some reinforcement on what you may already know and to add a little vocabulary and if you are a complete beginner, this is definitely the place to start.
Great Video!
https://www.facebook.com/northernvisionsnvtv.belfast/videos/1068271089946227/
Everyone should watch this video on how the west Belfast Gaeltach got started. Great video in Gaeilge but with subtitles.
Everyone should watch this video on how the west Belfast Gaeltach got started. Great video in Gaeilge but with subtitles.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Is Feider Liom
On my quest to find a better site than Duolingo, I ran upon this one. http://www.isfeidirliom.ie/ What a great site for beginners! The lessons give you vocabulary and you can hear the words spoken. It gets into grammar some but not so much that you get frustrated. Then it has games to play to reinforce what you are learning. I really have enjoyed it and love the easy, slow pace. I am kind of amazed at how much I really do know after being so confused all the time on Duolingo.
Keep in mind that the lessons take a couple minutes to load so don't give up when you get a blank page, just wait and it will bing at you when it has loaded.
Keep in mind that the lessons take a couple minutes to load so don't give up when you get a blank page, just wait and it will bing at you when it has loaded.
New Thoughts On Duolingo
What happens as you take a large online course like Duolingo is that as you go along your thoughts about it change. I am now on level 16 with 10 more lesson sections to go on my Irish "tree" on Duolingo, and it isn't nearly as good as I once thought. For about the first 10 lessons everything was great and it goes right down hill from there on. Oh I am sure if you are really dedicated, write down all the words and all the strange odd exceptions, then study for hours on end....you could probably learn it...but most of us don't have time to study 40 words at a time...and this is the problem from about the 10th lesson on...the work just gets way too hard. It is as if the "course creators" as they call them on Duolingo, got together and had a competition to make the most difficult...useless...sentences they possibly could...and also use the hardest words they could find-----and then we aren't going to give them that word again for the next twenty lessons and let's see if they still remember it....
Or in the next section we are going to give them 43 new verbs (Verbs Present 3 section) but we really will only use about 6 of those verbs ever again and never enough so they can really remember them.
It just isn't a course for beginners. I wouldn't even call it a course for intermediate learners. It's an advanced course.
I really believe that in order for a beginner to really get a handle on a language, they have to start with easy sentences that they are going to use..a LOT...repetition is the key and you aren't going to get that at Duolingo no matter what they say. The Irish course has way too many words for that.
For a while I thought it was just me. Those moderators on the Irish boards sure did have me thinking I was the stupid one because I don't know all the parts of speech. I wonder if they realize how many people they drive away from the course with that? But it wasn't me. I tried the French course. Nice course. WAY, WAY easier! I am getting a lot out of it. I am on level 13 in the French course and haven't been on it for very long at all. I tried the Spanish course. Never had any Spanish in my life! I so far am not finding the course that terrible but I am only on level six. I tried the Welsh course. I thought I should try something closer to a Celtic language to really see if it wasn't just Irish that was hard. I haven't gone far on the Welsh course but already I love it. Short lessons without a million words in the lessons. Welsh is going great!
I'll still stick with the Duolingo Irish tree, see if it gets any better but I am not taking it too seriously.
Or in the next section we are going to give them 43 new verbs (Verbs Present 3 section) but we really will only use about 6 of those verbs ever again and never enough so they can really remember them.
It just isn't a course for beginners. I wouldn't even call it a course for intermediate learners. It's an advanced course.
I really believe that in order for a beginner to really get a handle on a language, they have to start with easy sentences that they are going to use..a LOT...repetition is the key and you aren't going to get that at Duolingo no matter what they say. The Irish course has way too many words for that.
For a while I thought it was just me. Those moderators on the Irish boards sure did have me thinking I was the stupid one because I don't know all the parts of speech. I wonder if they realize how many people they drive away from the course with that? But it wasn't me. I tried the French course. Nice course. WAY, WAY easier! I am getting a lot out of it. I am on level 13 in the French course and haven't been on it for very long at all. I tried the Spanish course. Never had any Spanish in my life! I so far am not finding the course that terrible but I am only on level six. I tried the Welsh course. I thought I should try something closer to a Celtic language to really see if it wasn't just Irish that was hard. I haven't gone far on the Welsh course but already I love it. Short lessons without a million words in the lessons. Welsh is going great!
I'll still stick with the Duolingo Irish tree, see if it gets any better but I am not taking it too seriously.
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