It’s pretty easy to be scared away by any language’s grammar system.
If you are a native English speaker, what doesn’t help is that the English language became much more simplified during the last millenium. It lost many aspects that you’ll see in other languages, such as the gender of nouns (le or la in French), and declensions (e.g., in German).
But there’s no avoiding grammar if you are learning a new language. While maybe complex, grammar does makes sense. Obvious patterns will emerge when you study how Irish sentences are formed. You will have lightbulbs going click! over your head when you figure out different rules.
There’s no easy and fast way to learn Irish grammar. Over at Irish Gaelic Translator.com you can pick up your free PDF download (no registration required) of Wombat’s Irish Grammar Guide. Wombat goes through the basics of Irish grammar, in a style that’s aimed towards non-linguists.
Apart from online media such as TG4 television, and Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Irish language can also be found on social media sites such as YouTube.
YouTube is a great place to find people speaking and practicing Irish. You can also reply to a video with your own video, allowing you to practice with others.
Take a look at this video of two Conemara men talking with a tourist beside them. With my own Munster Irish, I find it very hard to even catch a couple of words. They’re speaking faster than you’d normally hear on Raidió na Gaeltachta:
The Irish language has flourished online, and allows people who were once isolated from eachother to now converse. No wonder that Irish language communities have increased in size and activity over the last few years.
In the world of social communities, an Ghaeilge has its own place in the big online social networks. For example, search on Bebo for Irish language groups that anybody can set up. Thankfully, TG4 has been active in creating various Bebo identities for their TV shows.
Traditionally, not many useful Irish dictionaries have existed, and those that have existed - while being of highest quality - may not have been updated in decades. The world of the Internet (an Idirlíon) has given a new place for the Irish language to exist. Learners and speakers of Irish who may have been once isolated can now communicate online. Online Irish tools have also been developed.
Below I list the big Irish word reference sites that you can use for translations.
EnglishIrishDictionary.com is probably the most popular Irish English dictionary online. It’s quick to use, and contains most common-day entries. It seems to be based on the database of Collin’s Irish dictionaries. You can search quickly in both Irish and English.
Focal.ie is lead by Dublin City University, probably arising from their Irish-language entrepeneurship centre called Fiontar. Focal.ie is quite extensive, and contains many everyday words, but brands itself as a “terminology database” rather than a full dictionary. It is great for science and technology terms. Focal.ie has a bi-lingual interface, and you can search for terms in both English or Irish.
An Foclóir Beag is a dictionary hosted by the University of Limerick, and has an Irish-only interface. It is an Irish-Irish dictionary, and is especially useful for its verb tables.
Acmhainn.ie is another searchable Irish terminology resource. It’s an Irish-only interface, and classifies terminology for subjects such as biology, health and media.
Potal Focal is a personal project by a Czech couple. Its strength is in detailed grammatical information and usage samples. (Go raibh maith agat, a Pheadair.)
