Colloquial Irish 1 & 2 . 
Colloquial Irish 1 & 2 .
Colloquial Irish (1): Text written by Tomás Ó h-Íde (Ihde), Máire Ní Neachtain, Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew and John Gillen. CDs feature Póilín Nic Chonaonaigh, Máire Ní Neachtain, Josie Ó Cualáin, Seosamh Ó Neachtain and Mícheál Mac Lochlainn.
Colloquial Irish: The Complete Course for Beginners is written by Irish-language instructors who have taught complete beginners in Ireland and the USA for many years. This book is the product of a collaboration of four research fellows affiliated with the Center for Irish Language Acquisition Research, part of the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies. The chapters were originally drafted by Tomás Ó h-Íde, who is Professor of Irish at Lehman College, CUNY. Tomás's own interest in the Irish of County Galway is a result of his native Irish-speaking grandfather who was born and raised in Cill Fhursa on the eastern shores of Lough Corrib. Máire Ní Neachtain (Coláiste Mhuire Gan Smál, Ollscoil Luimnigh) provided essential native speaker input as well as overall pedagogical and grammatical editing as each chapter was completed. She also coordinated the selection and taping of native speakers. Máire was born and raised in Cois Fharraige where she still lives and remains active in the Irish-speaking community. Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew (University of Pennsylvania) and John Gillen (Hostos Community College, CUNY) each provided grammatical input on the drafted chapters. Additionally, Roslyn shared her many years of pedagogical experience with teaching Irish to adults in America, and John provided expert dialectal knowledge for the chapters and grammar appendix.
At the US launch of Colloquial Irish (from left to right): Tomás Ó h-Íde, John Gillen, and Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew (Monday, October 27, 2008 in the CUNY Graduate Center Skylight Room).
The native speakers on the two CDs that can be found in the package are Póilín Nic Chonaonaigh, Máire Ní Neachtain, Josie Ó Cualáin, and Seosamh Ó Neachtain. The narrator is Mícheál Mac Lochlainn. Póilín Nic Chonaonaigh lives in Baile ‘n tSagairt in An Spidéal. She is Cathaoirleach (chairperson) of Aisteoirí an Spidéil and acts and directs shows with this active community-based theatre group. Máire Ní Neachtain is from Baile ‘n tSagairt, An Spidéal. In addition to her role in third-level education, she has been commonly heard on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta as well as the occasional television program on TG4. Josie Ó Cualáin is from Indreabhán. Josie is a professional actor and plays the role of Mícheál Seoighe in the popular soap-opera, Ros na Rún on TG4, for the past 15 years. He is also a daily broadcaster on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. Seosamh Ó Neachtain is a native of Coilleach in An Spidéal. Seosamh is one of the best-known exponents of the sean-nós style of dancing and is in great demand at music and dance festivals worldwide as well as on television. He is also a talented box-player. The narrator, Mícheál Mac Lochlainn, was born and brought up in London and now resides in Baile ’n tSagairt, An Spidéal.
At the Irish launch of Colloquial Irish (from left to right): Dr. Séamas Ó Diréain, Josie Ó Cualáin, Tomás Ó h-Íde, Mícheál Mac Lochlainn, Máire Ní Neachtain, and Seosamh Ó Neachtain (Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at the Park Lodge Hotel in An Spidéal, Co. Galway).
Colloquial Irish (1) was published by the Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis in 2008 and is widely available from on-line bookshops and at some local bookstores.
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Colloquial Irish 2 (Gaeilge Chomhráiteach 2) : Text is being written by Thomas Ihde, Máire Ní Neachtain, and John Gillen with additional contributions from Úna Ní Fhátharta and Eimear Ní Cheallaigh .
Colloquial Irish 2 will be know by its Irish language version name, "Gaeilge Chomhráiteach 2" though it uses the same format as Colloquial Irish (1) with Irish being taught through English. This volume follows Syllabus A2 of the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG). Tomás Ó h-Íde began writing the book in the spring of 2010 with Úna Ní Fhátharta (of the Aran Islands) while they were teaching a course at that level at Lehman and Queens Colleges. Máire Ní Neachtain and Tomás first met in April 2010 to go over the first six dialogues upon which the initial units are based. As Tomás completed writing units in the summer of 2010, John Gillen began editing the text of the complete units. It is expected that the volume will be available initially in two parts, Part A (Units 15-21) & Part B (Units 22-28) and eventually in one volume (Units 15-28). Part A was used by Lehman College students in autumn of 2010 in an online (Blackboard) version. We expect Part A will be available for the general public in late 2011. Part B will be available soon after that. As would be expected, the CDs for the entire volume will not be recorded in Cois Fharraige by native speakers of that dialect until Part A & B are completed. However a demo by Siobhán Ní Mhaolagáin with sound files for Part A are currently available availble for Lehman students. Colloquial Irish 2 will be published by the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies and available through its website, www.irishamericanstudies.com .
Future project: Irish Intermediate
It is expected upon the completion of Colloquial Irish 2, Tomás Ó h-Íde will lead a team once again to produce another Irish language textbook; this time for intermediate level learners. It is expected that the volume will once again be published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis. The volume will follow Syllabus B1 of the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG).
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