Bitesize Irish Podcast

Since we started Bitesize, we met and interacted with a lot of amazing people who wanted to learn Irish Gaelic. Some people had a really proactive attitude and started right away, but others had some doubts before joining the Bitesize community.

Most of their concerns were focused around being too old to learn a new language and lacking the time to do so. Over the years, after talking to a lot of people interested in the Irish language, we learned that’s just not true. While learning a new language isn’t as easy as it when you were younger, technology and organisational skills made it so much easier.

Yes, you can’t learn a new language when you’re older, if you use the same tools you used in school. That’s why we turned to technology when developing the Bitesize method. You’ll notice that all our courses and information is presented in easy-to-understand “bitesize” pieces, using content that stimulates your learning desire and potential. We have text-based, video and audio lessons so you can assimilate the content however you like to.

Technology helps us develop tools and you to immerse yourself in Irish. In this rebroadcast of the 4th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, we’re talking to Prof. Kevin Scannell who used technology to learn Irish Gaelic, and would like to help you achieve this as well.

This is a re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic, 4th episode, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

Millions of people come every year to Ireland to visit this beautiful country and meet the people. Some of them are interested in the Irish culture and language while others are more attracted to the amazing landscapes, great beer, and Irish cuisine.

Whatever your reason may be, you should aim to take a trip to Ireland at least once in your lifetime.

No, we’re not a travel company in Ireland, but we take every chance to promote our country and language whenever we can. As more and more people visit Ireland and the Gaeltacht, they discover Irish Gaelic through the people who still speak it. Even if for a little time, a spark grows within these people, and encourages them to learn more about the Irish language.

What is there to do in Ireland? We couldn’t be 100% impartial when answering that questions, and that’s why we asked Jody Halstead of Ireland Family Travel to join us for the 3rd Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode. Jody has made a lot of trips to Ireland from the U.S., and she has a few recommendations for your visit.

This is a rebroadcast of the 3rd Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

We need to acknowledge the large role that mobile devices play in our day-to-day life. Many people see this as an addiction, but if you look at the phenomena closer, you’ll notice this is quite far-fetched. The truth is that mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops) give us so much more than we realise.

With the evolution of phones to smartphones, the World just became a bit more accessible. You can use your smartphone to look at maps when you’re travelling, to listen to music, to watch videos, and more importantly to learn something new.

Irish learning apps are a thing of the present, and next to Bitesize Irish Gaelic’s tools (text, audio, and video), they are welcomed by our community. That’s one of the reasons why we decided to talk to Terry Simmons who works in Silicon Valley about the best iPhone and Android apps to learn Irish Gaelic.

In this rebroadcast of the 2nd Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language, we discover what’s it like to travel to Ireland to take the TEG Irish Language exam, and find a list of Irish Learning apps for mobile devices.

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You probably don’t think it’s real but learn Irish Gaelic in Ireland isn’t such an easy task. There’s a weird mix of bureaucracy and people’s mentality that makes learning Irish Gaelic to look like a chore and not as a right.

But even if the number of Irish speakers is decreasing every year, there still are a lot of people who want to learn the language. Looking at our activity so far, we can say we’re proud to play our part in keeping the Irish language alive. It may not seem as much, but every member of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic community is doing his part in helping Irish Gaelic not to become extinct.

In this Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, you can listen to a conversation between Eoin from Bitesize and Liam Ó Briain in Limerick, Ireland. They discuss people’s interest in learning Irish Gaelic, traditional song and dance in Ireland, and the movement of Irish language learners in Ireland.

This is a re-run of the 1st Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

You all know about the thought experiment called Schrödinger’s cat, right? This scenario presents a cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead, a state referred to as a quantum superposition, as a result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.

The Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast is in the same position. Some people may see it as being finished while others just start listening to our first episode.

In this rebroadcast of the 67th Bitesize Podcast, Eoin sits down with his son – Liam and let us know what you should expect after the last episode (66th) of our online show. If you’re going to listen to this episode, you’ll find out how to sign up to our member-only Facebook group and what to expect if you’re subscribed to our Podcast on iTunes or somewhere else.

The connection between the Bitesize Podcast and Schrödinger’s cat is that while we’re not going to make any new audio content, the audio show is still alive thanks to new people who are subscribing daily and starting to listen. That’s why we’re running rebroadcasts which are basically re-runs of the original episodes that spread over two years of hard work.

Next week we’ll restart the re-runs with the first episode. Until then, you can listen to the current rebroadcast of the 67th episode of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast, in the English language.

As a small bonus, you’ll also learn what Eoin and Liam had for supper after they recorded this podcast episode

Learning Irish Gaelic is definitely easier if you get a chance to practice it. Seeing how the number of Irish speakers isn’t growing, finding someone to practice Irish with can be a little harder than expected.

You’ve probably heard about Irish language immersion weekends that take place all over the World (especially the U.S.), and you probably think that these events are only for Irish speaking people. That’s not entirely accurate. Immersion weekends are organised mainly for individuals who don’t speak the language (just yet), but they want to.

We’ve written a lot of blog posts about U.S. Irish language immersion weekends so we’re not going to add any extra information to this article, but we’re recommending you to listen to the Bitesize Irish Gaelic 65th episode where we talk to Ramona Reeves (founder of Los Angeles Immersion weekend events) about going to Oideas Gael, in Ireland, and about organising immersion weekends.

If you want to find out everything there is to know about Irish language immersion weekends, listen to this rebroadcast of the 65th Bitesize Irish Gaelic Podcast episode, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

The moment you sign up to Bitesize Irish Gaelic, you have access to a lot of audio, video and written resources. But your Irish Gaelic learning experiencing doesn’t stop there since we’re doing our best to provide you with questions to your Irish language questions while also organising live events to help you learn & practice. 

Since we started Bitesize we had the pleasure of meeting many people that have learned Irish Gaelic by using our methods or others’. They usually make a habit of traveling to Ireland to put their Irish language skills to the test of live interaction. But is that possible? With fewer and fewer Irishmen speaking Irish Gaelic, would you have any chance to speak Irish Gaelic across Ireland?

That’s the topic for our Bitesize Irish Gaelic podcast – episode 64, where Eoin talks to Caitriona Weafer. She is originally from Mullingar in Ireland but she lives in California. Caitriona visited Ireland and she thinks that you can use the Irish language anywhere in Ireland as long as you speak slowly.

She also provides you with a few ways to improve your Irish language learning effort. Listen to her in our Bitesize Irish Gaelic 64th podcast episode, in English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

We all know that learning Irish Gaelic isn’t a regular “walk in the park” but at the same time, the feeling that you know to speak such a beautiful language (that not many people still speak) is really amazing. The journey of learning Irish Gaelic is as hard as you make it.

There’s no easy way to learn Irish Gaelic, there are no shortcuts and you can’t learn it overnight. But, what you could do is to learn it at your own pace by using the Bitesize method. Take your time, learn at your own pace and don’t forget to have fun! That last part is quite important because if you’re doing it as a chore, you won’t get too far before giving up.

We invite you to listen our Bitesize Irish Gaelic 63rd podcast episode where we talk to award-winning e-learning and social media consultant Jojanneke van den Bosch about her love for the Irish language and how you can learn it and have fun at the same time.

Just click play and listen to the re-run of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic podcast episode in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.

Even if many Irishmen don’t really like their country to be remembered because of this historical event, we should acknowledge it as one of the biggest events in the history of the human race, not just Ireland’s history.

Yes, we’re talking about The Great Irish Famine and how this event affected millions of people from all over the World. 

If you were going to search our blog, you’d see we’ve mentioned the Famine Times a few times in our articles, but did you know we’ve also done podcast episodes about it? In this rebroadcast of the Bitesize Irish Gaelic podcast 62nd episode, we’re talking to Minnesota-based author Rachel Britz who researched The Great Irish Famine for her book “Good-bye, Lover“.

Her family originated from Donegal and moved shortly after the Famine Times to the United States of America, sadly with the loss of some family members. Rachel came back to Ireland in 2014 and told us a little about her trip here.

In this re-run of the Bitesize podcast, episode 62nd, in the English language, you can learn more about The Great Irish Famine, County Donegal and the Cliffs of Moher.

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When it comes to learning Irish Gaelic, you can be sure you’ll need some extra tools and motivation. While Irish Gaelic is a beautiful language, it’s not quite the easiest to learn. This isn’t a bad thing though since you’ll come in contact with other parts of Ireland’s culture while you learn the language.

For example, some people who successfully used Bitesize Irish Gaelic to learn the language also used other sources of information, and that’s a good thing. We’re always telling our students to immerse themselves in Irish – create a mini-Gaeltacht, if you may. You can do this by using active & passive listening, reading Irish literature or listening (and practising) to Irish music.

If you’re a bit unsure about using Irish music to help your Irish Gaelic learning efforts, we recommend you to listen to this rebroadcast of the 61st Bitesize Irish Gaelic podcast episode where we talk to Dawn Lange. Dawn shares her “can do” attitude and tells us how she used Bitesize Irish Gaelic to learn Irish Gaelic and YouTube to teach herself how to play the bodhrán (Irish traditional music instrument).

This is a re-run of the 61st episode of Bitesize Irish Gaelic podcast, in the English language.

Please comment on the original episode.