This online-learning package from Talk Irish consists of 60 lessons and is an unbelievably good deal. If you are studying Irish, get it.

Seriously.

First of all, it costs only about $9 per month (you pay in euros through PayPal), and that is for a cute, friendly, cheery multimedia experience with great vocabulary and an introduction to many basic structures—and, most important from my point of view, plenty of Irish pronunciation.

This application has history, too. It is based on a popular television program called Buntús Cainte that was first broadcast back in 1967. Besides the series, there was a companion booklet as well as vinyl records. There was also a three-volume book series.

According to the Talk Irish website, “Buntús Cainte is the most successful course in Irish ever, and despite its vintage, is in continual demand. We’ve use [sic] the original audio and text to create two brand-new versions of this course for the tech-savvy modern learner.”

One of these is the online course that is the subject of this review; the other is an MP3 product, to be reviewed later.

At this price, in all seriousness, you can’t go wrong, but I wouldn’t recommend it so highly if I didn’t also think it was really useful.

Each of the 60 lessons is about half an hour long and includes lively graphics, vocabulary, conversation, grammar, and quizzes.

For me the key Irish-learning challenge right now is matching the crazy letter combinations I am seeing on the printed page with actual pronunciation. I would never, ever get it right without help. It is mindboggling how things are pronounced.

You do not have to commit for life or anything wacky like that. When you finish using the product, you can just go cancel.

This is seriously one of the best language-learning deals I have ever seen. I would still supplement with other sources (which is what I always do, for any language), but it is a fantastic little Irish gift for the budget-conscious and budget-oblivious alike. 

I feel relieved to have found it.