I'm in the States, but have Irish ancestry and am trying to learn Irish. Only have a few words so far, and one thing that's slowing me down is the rules of spelling in Irish.

English certainly has its own examples (many) of words that aren't said the way they're written, but with only knowledge of English, Irish comes across the same way.

Is there a book, even one meant for children, that would help me learn the rules of Irish spelling and also how to pronounce aloud words that I see in written/printed Irish?

It's one thing to use an English/Irish, Irish/English dictionary, but when you don't know how to say aloud the Irish words listed, you can't get too far.

Anyone know of anything that could help me? (I got a so-called "phonetic" English/Irish dictionary thru Amazon, but it was badly described and offered no help at all in knowing how to pronounce the Irish words.)

I want to do this, from the bottom of my heart, but am sort of stuck at this point.

Help?

This is a computer generated syntiser. And it is done in Donegal/Ulster irish -
http://www.abair.tcd.ie/?page=synthesis&lang=eng

Forvo is also good. And you can request individual words. No sentences allowed.
http://www.forvo.com/languages/ga/

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It is recommended that you always wait for three to agree on a translation.
I speak Connemara Irish, and my input will often reflect that.
I will do an mp3 file on request for short translations.
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Here's one suggestion that you can find on the Naíonra website -
http://www.naionrai.ie/tacaiocht/ceachtanna/index.en - where once you've read the Introduction you can click on - Long vowels, The Language, Greetings, Praise and Encouragement and Everyday Words - where it's all presented with soundfiles in the different dialects. I hope you'll find it useful - there's also - Useful Links on the Foram/Forum that you might like to have a look at as well.
Slán
Franc

Hi hakavon, there are a number of very active members here who are also based in the U.S. What part of the states are you in? There may be classes near you. I know there are immersion weekends in various locations in the U.S. and they could be fun too.

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Our resident Wombat has posted a few useful phrases and help with pronunciation on another thread:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=826&p=6268#p6268

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And this thread might be helpful as well: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=830

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賢いふくろぐま
Seans Eile - free software to help you practice your Irish
Scéala na Wombait - Muddle-headed Memes and Musings

You were enquiring about if there was any book that would help you with pronunciation and spelling.

Well, Yale University Press published a book called "Learning Irish" which includes four CD's. The beginning of the book puts a heavy emphasis on how to pronounce Irish. It's heavy going, (the first part), and some would say you should skip that part and go on to the rest of the book. You'll have to be the judge of that, however. The book was written by Mícheál Ó Siadhail and its IBSN is 0-300-12177-6. He uses the international phonetic alphabet to guide learners through pronunciation.

Another book which includes 2 CD's is called "Irish" published by Teach Yourself, written by Diarmuid Ó Sé and Joseph Sheils. It's similar to the first book I mention. Its ISBN is 0-340-87075-3.

Lastly, there's one published by RTÉ called "Turas Teanga" which includes 3 CD's and an optional DVD. The ISBN is 0-7171-3759-7 for the book and CD set. It's aimed at adults who learnt Irish at school and who want to go back and learnt it afresh.

If you don't have immediate access to a native Irish-speaking teacher (there aren't too many around) or Irish classes in your town, and are going it somewhat alone, then I recommend the first book above.

There are two summer schools for adults in Ireland that I know of: Oideas Gael (in Donegal), www.oideas-gael.com, and Feicim (in Inis Oirr island, off Galway), www.feicim.com, if you're interested.

When I was a child learning Irish in school, they drilled it into us, the rules regarding spelling. There are rules to it and it becomes second nature after a while: the spelling seems far more complicated than it, perhaps, is.

My advice is not to worry about the spelling so much, just to accept that Irish words change their spelling in many different situations and in various ways (both at the beginning and the end of the word) and simply to enjoy watching out for whenever they do.

It something that I much enjoy.

Go n-éirí an bóthar leat,

Dáithí.

Looks like sound advice there from Dáithí. (Welcome to the forum. a Dháithí. )

I hadn't heard about the course in Inis Oírr. That may well become central to my own next trip to Ireland.

And I agree that Irish spelling is actually not as complicated as it seems at first, but you have to break out of some English or Latin habits. In some ways it is more regular than English.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

This is good counsel from Brendan. He told me this when I started studying and I thought he was a crazy man from Oz or something, but he was right. Stick with the spellings and study the pronunciations closely. In time it will become very predictable. In addition you might want to sign up to get a word each day on http://www.talkirish.com That way you can click the audio file and look at the sentence for the day. It'll get you used to the spelling. It worked for me.


Ag obair liom i gconaí,
Féabar

You mean he's not?

Hakavon, you've gotten good advice here. I know it seems impossible at first, but Irish spelling really is regular, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be surprised at how much easier the spelling is than what we have in English. For me, taking a few classes in Irish singing is what really unlocked the mystery of Irish phonics.

This isn't a free program, but it's very affordable, audio-rich, and aimed at people in the States. The pronunciation is Munster, but the program does try to be as dialect-neutral as possible. I've been involved with lesson development for them, and the goal has been to make it very approachable for people who don't have access to the resources people in Ireland might have.

http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/

Something you might want to try, anyway.

I'm in California...I may be able to help with resources for the west coast, if you're in this neck of the woods.

Redwolf