Hillers B., Kimpton B. Buntús na Gaeilge. Cuid a hAon. Irish for Adult Learners

Harvard, 2007. — 201 p. — (Textbook for Introductory Modern Irish course at Harvard University).This textbook, developed specifically for the year-long Modern Irish course at Harvard University, is intended for beginners with no previous exposure to the language. Its title, Buntús na Gaeilge `the basics of Irish', is programmatic. It aims to give complete beginners a grasp of the operative principles of grammar and syntax and provide them with the essentials of lexis and idiom to achieve basic fluency within the year.
This textbook was developed to fill a recognized gap in the teaching materials for complete beginners in third-level education. Most people in the Republic of Ireland, and many in the North of Ireland, are introduced to the language during primary or secondary education, and there is a wealth of textbooks, many of them modern and attractive, for school children. The market for adult learners – particularly complete beginners – has not been as well provided for. The need to improve teaching materials for adult learners is increasingly recognized, reflecting a revival of interest in the language on both sides of the border, and the realization that many of those exposed to Irish at school have not achieved fluency in the language. Replacing the virtual monopoly of the classic Buntús Cainte (1967), experienced educators have in recent years added substantially to the materials available.
Most adult learner textbooks are designed for what we may think of as the part-time learner, typically within the setting of an evening class, and for all their laudable emphasis on colloquial, conversational Irish, they are not suitable for students in full-time third-level education.
Buntús na Gaeilge addresses the needs of intensive language
instruction in an academic environment. The target audience are university students, and the choice of milieu and subject matter, as well as the pace and style of instruction, is geared towards this audience.