Colloquial Irish: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)

This book is excellent for a complete self-taught beginner, an adult education class, or Irish 101. After working through this volume, the student can continue on with Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workbook which I have also bought. That volume was also published by Routledge in 2008. The two books teach a standard form of the language with a regional preference for Connacht Irish. The authors of Colloquial Irish are all teachers which is a big plus. One of them is a native speaker of the colloquial form modeled in the book and her voice can also be heard on the CDs along with other native speakers. I have always wanted to learn the Irish of the western part of Co. Galway, but all that was available was Learning Irish. I couldn't make it past Chapter 5 of that book. I guess translating hundreds of sentences from Irish to English and English to Irish just wasn't my thing, yet I realize it works for some. Colloquial Irish has a lot of engaging and fun exercises that make me use the language instead of just analyzing it. I also love the cultural notes in each chapter that I don't remember seeing in any other Irish language textbook.