Having the ‘cúpla focail’ is easier than ever thanks to a variety of fresh and fun ways to re-learn our native language
Language app
If you’ve been using Duolingo or Babbel to learn French or Spanish, why not see how much you remember and start learning Irish with it? You’ll fly through the first few levels and probably surprise yourself with how much you’ve retained from your school days.
Watching shows on TG4
With so many channels, not to mention streaming platforms, at our fingertips, it can be easy to forget that we have our own Irish language TV channel that is brimming with excellent content and, most importantly, subtitles, so we can follow everything being said in the various accents from around the country. Go onto the website’s player and check out the Fleadh Cheoil 2023 episodes for an extra injection of Irish culture and craic.
Listening to a podcast
There are lots of Irish language podcasts to choose from – depending on your ability or what you’re looking for. If we had to recommend one for beginners, it would be How to Gael with Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, Louise Cantillon, and Síomha Ní Ruairc. The ladies bring us with them as they explore life bilingually and you can tune in whether you’re fluent in Irish or just getting started. It’s not all boring verb conjugations and homework either. The podcast promises “bilingual bottomless brunch, car chats with your cairde, agust an stuff atá i do ghrúpa whatsapp”.
Irish-speaking influencers
Have you heard of Múinteoir Mollie? The Irish teacher has over 145K followers on Instagram from all over the world, keen to learn more about our beautiful language. Through short videos, fun graphics and plenty of patience, she gives a wonderfully rounded approach to Irish from how to say the most basic phrases to why we say certain things in English differently to the rest of the world! She also has paid courses you can sign up for if you plan to take your learning further.
Creidim Ionat (I believe in you): 8 April – 8 May
Foras na Gaeilge and RTÉ are celebrating the return of Creidim Ionat, an innovative and collaborative online initiative aimed at nurturing widespread awareness and the everyday use of Irish that begins this month. It calls on everyone with an interest in Irish to pick a language goal to work towards, with the help this year of online classes and a wide range of resources available on forasnagaeilge.ie. Goals can be as simple as using some new phrases, learning a song as Gaeilge, or reading an Irish-language book.
