English not preferred or spoken here
I beg the pardon of everyone who is a fluent speaker of Irish when I say that your language is damn near impossible and really, really HARD. Seriously. It’s enough to sometimes make me want to throw my lessons across the room and sometimes I just want to rock back and forth and cry.
I’m wondering if there’s anyone out there who has ever participated in the San Francisco Irish Immersion weekend to help with the learning. It seems pretty awesome but it is expensive, so if there’s anyone who has done it or may be interested in going and learning one of the most frustrating (sorry) languages ever, let me know or register here:
Choosing the Green 
Cá bhfuil tú i do cónaí? There are folks in Cascadia (Portland/Seattle) working to grow a grassroots language community here with regular meet ups. SF is 8 hours south of where I’m at, but closer and cheaper than Galway! Which dialect are you studying??
Mé i mo chónaí i Oakland. I have friends I see regularly in Seattle though – one of whom would be thrilled to know about your group. And you’re definitely a lot closer than Galway. Keep me posted if you will
I’m living in Ireland now, but trying to learn Irish on my own and it’s a really huge task. Trying to learn pronunciation without anyone to say it for you first. Madness.
It often seems insurmountable. I’m using Rosetta Stone – which I like a lot, except that it switches between Western and Northern pronunciations/dialects without letting the learner know…so not only is it just a hard language, I’m learning a mishmash of dialects and have no idea which is which.
Yikes.
Other than that though, Rosetta Stone is expensive but fun and I keep trying because of it
I’m so glad you’re trying. It’s inspiring me to do better. Especially now I’m in Ireland for good.