Irish On Your Own [Audiobook] [Paperback]

Eamon Donaill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 084422619X | ISBN-13: 978-0844226194 | Publication Date: March 11, 1998 | Edition: 1

The most complete Irish course available today, this text/audio program is ideal for those who plan to travel to Ireland or who want to get in touch with their Irish roots.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (March 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084422619X
• ISBN-13: 978-0844226194
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Celtic Languages

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Beginners Intro to Irish, August 29, 2001

By 

Robin N. Fingerson "phouka" (Erie, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Irish On Your Own (Paperback)

Compared to most of the 'travel-focused' language courses available, Irish on Your Own is a welcome change. The lessons are clear, and build on one another very well; the examples in the book and on tape are presented in a normal, 'everyday' atmosphere. Many different speakers, and many examples of pronunciation on the tapes outweigh the lack of pronunciation guidelines in the book (while the english translation is always given, it's often hard to puzzle out just how bhfuil is pronounced 'will', for example.) It does make it harder to learn written Irish; however, this course is not meant to teach you anything beyond conversation, I do not think. New words are presented as part of normal conversations, and are introduced a few at a time, and they are presented at normal speaking speed. Many other taped courses leave the learner with a painfully slow understanding of the language, and they often cannot function in a natural conversation. This is not a problem with the examples on the tapes. The book does present some grammer, although it is very low-key. It also doesn't address spelling or other peculiarities of the langugage well. However, for a casual speaker, these are probably not necessary. If you are looking for an indepth, serious study of Irish, then O'Siadhail's 'Learning Irish' is a good, although more daunting, choice. Irish on You Own is in the Ulster dialect, but understanding the other two main dialects is not that difficult. The lessons do not point out the differences in most cases. I'd definitely recommend this. It was my first introduction to Irish, and I was comfortable with the language very quickly--enough to hold simple conversations with confidence in my pronunciation and ability to communicate. A wonderful choice!!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 10, 2003

By 

Sile Shigley (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Irish On Your Own (Paperback)

This is an excellent course, and the one that finally broke me through to a higher plane of fluency in Irish. It is refreshingly modern, lively, and easier to listen to than many other Irish courses I've tried.

Don't be scared off by Irish spelling--it's actually very regular, once you get used to all the "h"s!

It is very, very important to spend a good deal of time listening to (and speaking) the material for each lesson BEFORE reading and writing it. Fortunately, this course is put together in a way that makes this possible--the English translations are given on the tape right along with the Irish, so there's no need to have your nose in the book all the time.

Listening and speaking the lesson FIRST will steer you around the eyes-glued-to-the-page pitfall that sabotages so many language learners. Learning without looking at the book might be unnerving at first, but it is well worth the effort. As your ears and brain do what they do best, your comprehension and conversational confidence will soar; learning by ear first is actually the most important step you can take towards becoming a strong reader and writer of Irish.

Ádh mór--good luck, and many thanks to Éamonn and Deirbhile for this wonderful course!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well done, but be careful of the accent!, December 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Irish On Your Own (Paperback)

This is indeed a well thought and well presented outline for speakers BUT!! The whole shebang is brought to you in Ulster dialect and it's not the Munster form that's taught in schools or the Connaught you'll hear in the west Gaeltacht. It's not that you'll be unfathomable to general Irish speakers, but you'll have some comprehension problems due to the difference in vowels and sometimes accents. Be careful!