Bitesize Irish Podcast

While learning Irish Gaelic can give you one of the best feelings ever, we do agree that it’s not the easiest language to learn. Because of that, we’re sure you’ll have a lot of questions. Maybe you’re reading some Irish language and you don’t have any clue how to pronounce it, or maybe you start discovering Irish dialects and want to know the differences between them.

Having a lot of questions about the Irish language is a smart tactic to learn it. Getting your questions answered however is another thing because the Irish speaking community isn’t that big. But, you don’t have to worry. If you have any questions about the Irish language you can contact us! We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Another great resource is, of course, the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast. While we’re not recording new episodes, we’re always re-broadcasting our older shows because they feature a lot of great questions from our audience – questions that we answered every single time.

For example, in this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 14, Eoin from Bitesize answers a lot of your Irish language questions such as “How to say <> in Irish Gaelic?” or “How to tackle Irish language dialects?”. As a bonus, you can hear what’s it like to attend a Riverdance show in Ireland.

This is a re-run of the 14th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

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Most people say that Ireland’s weather is unpredictable so you’d better pack accordingly. While that is true, we have to say that extreme weather is quite rare in Ireland. The most you’ll have to endure is going from warm weather to cold(er) and being forced to have a raincoat with you at all times.

What does extreme weather mean for Ireland? Well, mostly big storms and flooding, but these events are rare so you shouldn’t worry. But, if you are unlucky to visit Ireland and get hit by a storm, take all the necessary actions, and ensure your safety.

In this Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast re-run, we’re talking to Robert Todd who had the “pleasure” to visit the west coast of Ireland while the country got hit with a storm. He didn’t let it ruin his Irish vacation. Listen to the rebroadcast of the 13th Bitesize Podcast episode, in the English language, and learn more about travelling to Ireland, extreme weather, and exploring Dublin.

Robert also shares his experience of talking Irish with cab drivers, bus drivers and others.

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When learning Irish Gaelic, people often learn on their own time, without seeking help from others. While this isn’t the optimal path to learning a foreign language, just the fact that you’re doing your best to learn is helping the Irish language to stay alive and show its beauty to other people.

Depending on your preferences, enthusiasm, and (why not) financial status, you may choose different tools to learn Irish. You could try to do everything free and pick up bits and pieces from the Internet, but if you’re really passionate about this, we’re sure you’re going to look in discovering better options.

You have the options to sign-up for the full Bitesize Irish Gaelic program, created by native Irish speakers, where you will have access to a lot of impressive tools (text, audio, video, live-video, etc) or you can use mobile apps to try and follow their advice to learn Irish.

Whatever path you may choose, we would still want to help you, and that’s why we recommend you to listen to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast – 12th episode. You will learn about 5 great methods and tips that allow you to practice Irish on a daily basis.

You don’t have to be an advanced learner to use these methods. Listen to this re-run of the 12th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language, and learn how to make Irish Gaelic part of your life, not just a side hobby.

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If there’s something we learned while running the Podcast for over 4 years now, it’s that these episodes are a great tool for our community to get in touch with what’s happening in Ireland, to meet artists or other Irish language enthusiasts, but probably more important – to ask their questions about learning Irish Gaelic.

Q&A (questions and answers) is a basic method of getting things done, especially when you have a growing community. Questions have a big role in developing our Bitesize method because they help us understand what you’re interested in, and allow us to better tailor our tools to your needs.

If you’ve been part of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic community since we first launched our programs, you know that we answer each and every questions that we get. Basically it’s a win-win situation that we’ve successfully implemented across our community, and on the Podcast.

In this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 11, you can listen to Eoin answer several audience questions and talk some more about Irish phrases, Ireland’s weather and Irish language courses if you’re in Ireland.

This is a re-run of the 11th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

We interviewed a lot of interesting people on the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast. Most of these people were artists, entrepreneurs or teachers of Irish-American origins. Beside the amazing talks we had with them, we discovered that many of them visit Ireland several times each year.

Even more, they seem to be some of the best people to ask about planning a vacation in Ireland.

For example, in this rebroadcast of the 10th Podcast episode, we talk to Liam Hughes. He is an Irish-American artist, singer and designer who grew up in the States but comes to Ireland several times each year. Even if he spent a lot of time in the U.S., he did grew up in an Irish neighborhood – so Ireland has always been his second home.

Liam also has family in Silvermines, Tipperary so the trips between the U.S. and Ireland are more enjoyable than others. He’s also one of the best people you could ask about how to make the most of your trip to Ireland, since’s spending so much time here, but also because he probably knows has other valuable info about booking flights, local accommodation, places to visit, landmarks to visit, etc.

Listen to the re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast 10th episode in the English language, and maybe you’ll discover how to make the most of your trip to Ireland.

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Teaching is one of the most respectable life paths that one may take. There are several reasons why we think this. It all starts with the fact that personal skills aren’t enough to be a good teacher – you also need to have a passion for teaching. 

Next, you need to be smart enough to mix your teaching experience with communication skills and be sure to have the resources to understand your students. The bottom line is that being a teacher isn’t a piece of cake, quite the opposite. We don’t know if the above is the description of a perfect teacher, but it sure is a good try, don’t you think?

If you want to listen to a similar story – of a passionate man who went out of his way to become a teacher in Ireland, then go ahead and listen to this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, episode 9.

You will have a chance to meet Dr. Matt Wallen, the principal teacher of Limerick School Project, a school in Limerick City, Ireland. Matt’s story is worth listening to since he didn’t just move from the United States to Ireland to teach, but he also learned Irish Gaelic to do so. If you didn’t know, teachers in Irish elementary schools teach their students every subject – including the Irish language. That’s why all teachers need to speak Irish to some level.

Listen to this re-run of the 9th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language, and discover Dr. Matt Wallen’s story.

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One of the reasons why we’re rebroadcasting our old Podcast episodes is that people who just found out about Bitesize, or just started learning Irish Gaelic using our tools, may learn everything there is to know about us, and Bitesize Irish Gaelic.

For example, did you know there was a Podcast episode where Eoin from Bitesize swapped places with Mary Murphy, making him the guest of his own Podcast?

This was an exciting episode since, for the first time, people had the opportunity to learn more about Bitesize Irish Gaelic, how the idea started, and connect with Eoin on a more personal level. Take a moment and listen to the rebroadcast of the 8th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode and learn more about us. If you didn’t know, Mary Murphy is an Irish singer, songwriter, and author.

Listening to this re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language also gives you some insight of how the Irish language is publicly perceived, and how that changed in Ireland’s history.

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Between 1820 and 1930, over 4.5 million Irish arrived in the United States. Even more, in the 1840s, Irish immigrants comprised nearly half of all immigrants to this nation. Today, there are 34.5 million Americans who list their heritage as either primarily or partially Irish – more than 7 times the population of Ireland! But what do these numbers tell us? 

Most Irishmen left Ireland during hard times, seeking a better life across the ocean. While the situation is totally different today, we can’t overlook the fact that a lot of Irish immigrants arrived in the U.S. and most likely played a major role in this country’s history.

While the number of Irish citizens that moved across the ocean has diminished over the years, there are still many who seek for a better life on American soil. This is also the case of Mary Murphy’s family who has strong roots in Wexford, Ireland but is now living in Canada. Before moving to Canada, she spent a large period in New York.

Mary is now a singer and author focused on Irish song, dance, and storytelling. Could all this travelling between Ireland, United States and Canada influence her career and art? Listen to the rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode 7, where Eoin talks to Mary about her work, what it was to live in New York as an Irish immigrant, and how travelling back to Ireland puts life in perspective.

This is a re-run of the 7th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language.

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Do you have a place to call “home”? We’re not talking specifically about a house, apartment or something like that, but more like a place that’s close to your heart. That place may be your home town, somewhere new or maybe just a hidden spot in the countryside.

These places have a powerful impact on us, being here gives us strength, and having so many things around us that seem familiar helps us to calm down or to think things over.

There are other places similar to what we described above. Called them the “second home” or whatever you like, but they do exist. Have you ever went on a trip and ended up somewhere that looked so much like home? We don’t know why we feel that way even if we’re in the company of people we don’t know, and in the middle of unfamiliar places. But, somehow, it still feels like home.

In this rebroadcast of the 6th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, we’re talking to Felicity Hayes-McCoy who had a connection with Corca Dhuibhne (the Dingle peninsula) from an early age. This place, where Irish is the language of the locals, became a second home for Felicity. She had such strong feelings about this place that she bought a house, with her husband, and now spend part of their time there.

Listen to the re-run of this Podcast episode, in the English language, and learn why the Dingle peninsula may have such an effect on people. Is it the people? The landscapes? Listen to the podcast and see for yourself.

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If you are even a bit interested in Irish Gaelic, you know that it’s not the easiest language to understand. On top of that, it has 3 main dialects so it should be even harder to learn, right? Well, not really. 

There’s a little mistake that people often make when trying to learn something new – they get lost in details. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to think about language dialects before you start actually learning the language. Our advice is to start slow, take your time and see what can you catch on by immersing yourself in the Irish language.

It’s fine if you don’t get it right in the first time, you don’t have to get a 100% score on your first Irish test. So don’t get too tangled in dialects at first. Start learning Irish Gaelic, and after a few months, try to test your skills. The ultimate test for any Irish Gaelic language learner would be to talk to people in the Gaeltacht and have a proper conversation.

But can you understand people in any Gaeltacht region if you learn standardized (traditional) Irish? What about dialects? Well, we tackled this issue in our Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast – so you can focus on starting to learn rather than all the details. In this rebroadcast of the 5th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, you can listen to Eoin discuss listener questions and emails around the Irish language (Irish Gaelic) in Ireland.

This re-run of the 5th Bitesize Podcast episode is in the English language.

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