Resources

I’m writing this blog to motivate me to keep going with learning the language and to help others who might like to see someone going through the same process they are. Everything on this blog will have already been covered (more comprehensively) by someone else, somewhere else, but here are a list of sites or people to follow that I’ve found over my last five months learning Irish.

Dictionaries:

• Teanglann.ie – Teanglann is my first stop every time I encounter a word I don’t know. Entering a word (in either Irish or English) will bring up search results from each of the five databases below (if applicable).

Navigation of these five different tabs can show you the dictionary definition, synonyms, grammar (including conjugation of verbs in all tenses) and pronunciation in the dialect of your choice, for most Irish words. The grammar wizard is also incredible. This allows you to take any noun and adjective, preposition and noun, or preposition, noun and adjective from the dictionary and combine them to ensure you make sure your grammar right. For example, the grammar wizard will make sure you’re getting scoil mhór instead of scoil mór, and gives the singular and plural for the nominative and genitive cases, too. I’d advise using the English version of the site until you become familiar with it (Gaeilge/English can be toggled in the top right hand corner of the page, see black box on fig. 1) but from then on, try to use it as Gaeilge. Little things like that can help to build your confidence with the language.

• Foclóir.ie – A new English to Irish dictionary that would be my next port of call for translating words from English to Irish, which for me goes hand -in-hand with,

• Tearma.ie – The National Terminology Database for Irish. This also has an advanced search option for those “I-know-roughly-but-I-can’t-quite-remember-what-it-is” moments. Both foclóir.ie and tearma.ie will be more up-to-date than teanglann.ie in terms of modern terminology. The famous example is the word for selfie – féinín. Both Tearma.ie and foclóir.ie give the term for selfie, selfie-stick (maide féinín, in case you were wondering) and foclóir.ie even gives us an example in a sentence: glacaimis féinín le cheile! Let’s take a selfie together! Teanglann.ie, comes back with nothing. However, as Ó Dónaill’s dictionary was first published in 1977, I think it can be forgiven for not having the 2013 word of the year.

Pronunciation:

• The Dictionaries – Teanglann.ie and foclóir.ie both have pronunciation options available for the three major dialects -Connacht (C), Munster (M) and Ulster (U). Clicking on the respective letters on foclóir.ie will give the different dialect’s pronunciation of a given word. A similar format (and often the same audio file) is available on teanglann.ie – even if the entry for a certain word does not exist in any of the hosted dictionaries, so always check all 5 tabs (if data is available the little tab will be in colour).

• Abair.ie – When an audio file is not available on either of these two sites and I still can’t quite work out the pronunciation myself, I’ll head to abair.ie. Our earlier example, féinín isn’t voiced on either platform. Typing the word into abair.ie and selecting a dialect (Gaoth Dobhair =  Ulster, Conamara = Connacht, Corca Dhuibhne = Munster) you can hear words and phrases pronounced, generated using a synthesiser. It may sound a little robotic sometimes, but it’s a really fantastic tool and it’ll give you enough of an idea to be on your way.

• Ask someone – if you’re lucky enough to know someone with more Irish than you have, ask (within reason, I’ll not be responsible for Gaeilgoirí beatin’ the head aff ye for blowing up their DMs). A friend of mine is a few months ahead of me in her learning so if I’m stuck I’ll ask her, or make a note to ask my Irish teacher when I see them next. But please don’t try to use Irish speakers as a dictionary or translation service, I mean this purely if you’re friends and you’re really stuck.

Duolingo & Memrise:

We all know all about Duolingo by now. But if you’re struggling with Duolingo, what can you do? Memrise. Some truly amazing individual has taken all of the vocabulary from Duolingo and plugged it into Memrise, a free, online flashcard platform with an accompanying app. I personally benefit from repetition and Memrise is a great way to test your memory, and in particular your spelling – it’s very easy to avoid spelling on the Duolingo app if you try. Another added bonus of Memrise is that for this course, all the words have text files attached – even where they’re missing from Duolingo. This becomes particularly useful near the end of the Duolingo course as, as the course progresses, fewer exercises have voice files. I’ve also started a course (with permission from Marcas) for the vocab I learned from my Level 1 class at Queen’s University Belfast, taken through the language centre, which can be found here. You can find many other Irish courses on Memrise to supplement your learning, but be aware that all courses are made by individuals and may contain mistakes (my own included).

Books:

• The Dictionaries – I promise not every resource on this page will start with “the dictionaries,” but having a pocket dictionary can really help if you’re trying to read a book as Gaeilge. My Irish teacher says that you take much more away from having to rifle through a book to find your word, rather than just typing it into a search bar. Physically highlighting a word in your dictionary helps you to see at a glance where you’ve already been and re-learn every time you stumble upon the highlighted word, jumping out as you skim through the book looking for something else.

• Textbooks/Workbooks – As part of my Irish classes I’ve encountered a few books: Irish for Beginners by Angela Wilkes, another I don’t have the name of just now and Progress in Irish by Máiréad Ní Ghráda. I’ll admit – textbooks aren’t my bag. The first two are really meant to be worked through with a teacher. But Progress in Irish is one I enjoyed as it’s mostly exercises you do yourself, either written, out loud or both. It’s old school, but it works for me better than a Trícolor-style textbook.

• Kids’ books – If, like me, you’re completely starting from scratch with Irish, kids’ books are a really good way of getting stuck into something familiar (or indeed unfamiliar) and seeing the concepts you’ve been learning used “in the wild.” I’ve just ordered An Féileacán agus an Rí by Máire Zepf and I read Ulchabháin Óga over Christmas. You won’t be ready for these at the very start, but once you’ve covered the major tenses, you should be able to make a good stab at it.

• Books about Irish – People talking about their experiences with, and love for Irish always motivates me to keep going and push harder. Books like Darach Ó Séaghdha’s Motherfoclóir and Craic Baby and Úna-Minh Kavanagh’s Anseo that I’ve managed to read this year have been a great motivator in a time where I keep hearing that the Irish Language is “dead.”

A note: If you’re hoping to get some books to get stuck into, please try and get them locally, or support Irish language sellers if you can’t. An Ceathrú Póilí in Belfast and An Siopa Leabhar in Dublin are two that I use regularly, but I know there are more. You can order online from both of these stores, so please try and support them instead of the usual suspects. Also, send me book recommendations, please and thanks.

Podcasts:

• Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin – Cultúrlann Doire have 23 short episodes uploaded to their website to help you cover everything from greetings, things you like and dislike, and ordering food and drink. The basics and really the equivalent to a level 1 course. This is great if you’re not feeling confident enough yet to get out to a class, or there isn’t one in your area, plus you get to hear those sweet northern accents.

• Bitesize Irish Podcast – These episodes are 10-15 minutes long and cover the language itself, rather than being a direct learning tool.

• Motherfoclóir – Starting primarily as a vehicle to discuss the language, the podcast now branches out into wider Irish culture and life (but always has the Irish language at its core). A great way to find out about people living, working and creating through Irish.

• Beo Ar Éigean – This podcast, entirely through Irish, is still too quick for me. My Irish reading isn’t bad, but my listening and speaking are appalling. However, if you’re a little further along and want to push yourself, BAE is three friends discussing the week’s craic and from the amount of laughter I hear on it when I tried to give it a go, it sounds like a hoot.

A quick tip: If listening on Spotify (and perhaps other platforms) you can slow the listening speed down. This can help if your listening is good but not quite there yet. Although be warned, listening at 0.5x speed, it absolutely sounds as if you’re listening from the bottom of a well on acid.

Instagram:

• @muinteoirmeg – Múinteoir Meg is a meánscoile teacher who post loads of Irish language content to her feed. However, the real boon here is her stories. She posts about her daily life in her instagram stories, often just chatting to the camera about her day. This is great for just listening to Irish if (like me) you don’t get to hear Irish too often and as an added bonus, she puts all of the vocab from her clips in the bottom corner of the screen – great if you’re trying to reconcile written Irish with spoken Irish.

• @gaeilge_vibes – lads, we all love a meme. When you’re learning Irish, it can be easy to forget that this is a language that people live and work in every day, especially if you don’t have Irish in surroundings. Bilingual memes or memes as Gaeilge are a way to see how people use the language in their everyday life and that it’s not as dead or useless as people absolutely love to tell you it is. Plus, they’re gas, and you get a real sense of accomplishment when you start to understand them.

• @gripswitgaeilge – An account run by another teacher and certified translator, this page is largely educational and often posts about those things that get you every time. It also posts helpful tips for remembering when to use different constructs (e.g. It is a = Is, It is = tá) and loads of handy little tips for remembering the things that will trip you up the most. They also take requests, so if one thing in particular is catching you out, they can make a post about it. Plus, on instagram you can save post to an all-Irish folder to come back to later with ease.

• @cuplafocal_ & @cuplafrasa – similar in concept and exactly what they say on the tin. However, @cuplafocal_ has the added benefit of having the pronunciation in the next pic when you swipe right.

• @clodafoto – A regular contributor on the Motherfoclóir podcast mentioned above, Clodagh posts bilingually in her stories and on her feed. She also publishes a zine, Zín – two tongues, one zine, which you can find via her instagram bio. It features a bilingual interview, agallamh trí Ghaeilge and a really handy glossary at the end, among other things. You can join the mailing list for this via her instagram for a great lunchtime read.

Twitter:

• #DiYGaeilge –  Started by @OsgurOCiardha, this is an amazing way to find basically everything I’ve already posted above and loads, loads more. There’s even a swipe-able twitter moment for you to use instead of scrolling the hashtag. Can’t recommend enough.

• @TheIrishFor & @Motherfoclóir – The twitter accounts that started the podcast. @TheIrishFor posts regularly “The Irish for X is Y.” Usually done at the peak of a viral moment for maximum impact, it often features translations you’d never dreamed of googling, such as claidheamh soluis being the Irish for lightsabre. @Motherfoclóir is the account associated with the podcast and features a new curator every week. It’s a great way to hear about how others came to learning Irish or how they use Irish every day.

• @NuachtTG4, @MeonEile & @ AimsirTG4 – Short clips and video of news, events and the weather, you can get an idea of what’s happening in Ireland right now trí Ghaeilge.

Honestly, I’ll leave the twitter section here. Irish twitter exists and yet you’d be hard pressed to define it exactly. Go forth and follow.

TV & Video:

• TG4 – I’ve grown up in the north with no Irish-speaking friends or relatives and always called it Tee-Gee-Four. Who knew that the rest of the country called it Tee-Gee-Ceathair or even Tee-na-Gee? Everyone except me, apparently. But, regardless of what you call it, TG4 on TV or its online (and much, much better than RTÉ) player has been unreal. Watching Cúla4, the kids station, or even having Ros na Rún, the Irish language soap, on in the background is a great way to get a feel for the language. Most beginner’s classes or things like Duolingo only give you small snippets of the language, so it’s great to hear it flow on TV. You can’t beat Spongebob as Gaeilge, and Hector’s documentaries like Ó chósta go cósta are great for getting bilingual content if you’re easing in to Irish.

• Youtube – I often listen to old Irish language songs on Youtube, but I’ve now started using it for kids stories. There are a handful of stories on Youtube with both the text on screen and the story being read out, for example Na trí bhéar. Honestly, once you start you’ll go down a hole, so just be careful that you’re listening to Irish and not Scot’s Gaelic like I did that time, nothing knocks the confidence like it.

Finally,

There are loads of things I’ve missed, but these are what I’m aware of right now. If you think something absolutely integral is missing, send me a message and I’ll be sure to add it in. Also, aside from Kneecap, my knowledge of Irish language music is poor – I only listen to about three albums and two of them are pre-2000. If anyone has a list of Irish language music they’d like to share with learners, hit me up!