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LearnGaelic.scot has a lot of good resources including a dictionary with IPA and sound files and a good free beginner's course.

BBC Radio nan Gàidheal do weekly programme for learners called Beag air Bheag which is available on iPlayer or as a podcast from iTunes etc. A lot of it will be beyond an absolute beginner, however they have compiled four downloadable beginner's specials, linked below:

• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 1
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 2
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 3
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 4
  
• All the individual clips with Grammar notes
  
  Also well worth watching is Speaking Our Language, a dated but still good learner's TV programme which is archived on LearnGaelic here with transcriptions.
  
  If you want to spend money, the best learner's books imo are:
  
  
• Teach Yourself: Complete Gaelic (Conversation / dialogue focused. Get the version with audio.)
  
• Scottish Gaelic in 12 Weeks (Hopelessly misleading title but very good grammar focused book. Get the version with audio.)
  
• Probably the best print dictionary for a beginner is the Essential Gaelic Dictionary
  
  And if you want to get serious, have a look at An Cùrsa Inntrigidh at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

The almighty r/gaidhlig copypasta beckons:

LearnGaelic.scot has a lot of good resources including a dictionary with IPA and sound files and a good free beginner's course.

BBC Radio nan Gàidheal do weekly programme for learners called Beag air Bheag which is available on iPlayer or as a podcast from iTunes etc. A lot of it will be beyond an absolute beginner, however they have compiled four downloadable beginner's specials, linked below:

• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 1
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 2
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 3
  
• Beag air Bheag: Blasad Beag Special 4
  
• All the individual clips with Grammar notes
  
  Also well worth watching is Speaking Our Language, a dated but still good learner's TV programme which is archived on LearnGaelic here with transcriptions.
  
  If you want to spend money, the best learner's books imo are:
  
  
• Teach Yourself: Complete Gaelic (Conversation / dialogue focused. Get the version with audio.)
  
• Scottish Gaelic in 12 Weeks (Hopelessly misleading title but very good grammar focused book. Get the version with audio.)
  
• Probably the best print dictionary for a beginner is the Essential Gaelic Dictionary
  
  And if you want to get serious, have a look at An Cùrsa Inntrigidh at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

I own a few dictionaries, but the one Fedak has recommended is definitely the best price wise and small enough to carry around to classes etc without any trouble. It also has a very good quick grammar guide at the back of it which is useful. It will have almost all words you should need -I've only come across a few that were missing.

If you want to spend a bit more on a dictionary to keep at home I'd highly recommend http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gaelic-English-Dictionary-Scottish-Gaelic/dp/0415297613/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331851354&sr=8-2 This one not only has more than the smaller one but it contains examples of how to use each words in sentences which is very useful for trickier constructions. It is a bit larger though so less mobile (but not excessively so).

None of these are native ones, they're all translations of English but that can also be of an advantage if you know the English one.

There's:

Alice in Wonderland

Some beatrix potter books

Asterix and the Picts

Tintin and the Dark Isle

The Gruffalo

Grimms Fairytales

The ones of these that I own, I got from Amazon and the rest are all sitting in my Amazon wishlist.

If you have a look, you'll probably be able to find quite a lot of poetry collections like this if you'd prefer reading that instead of prose.

There is no “easy” way, but the easiest is to buy a dictionary, and a basic course and work through it until you’re able to follow basic speech. Then follow the BhBC Letter and youtube courses. Then advanced coursework like TAIC or Akerbeltz. Then travel to Nova Scotia or Sabhal Mor Ostaig in Scotland and get immersed.

^^^^This. You might want to have your friend check out this book. Think before you ink. The Scottish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook: Authentic Words and Phrases in the Celtic Language of Scotland https://www.amazon.com/dp/0995099804/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Nf3wxbWGG771C

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00PWM8YTU/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1420635234&sr=1-3&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

Not for children or poetry but quite a recent kindle book that I'm sure you'll could work up to!

Part of the problem with learning Gaelic verbs is (a) the tenses and usage don't quite line up with English and (b) the commonest verbs are irregular.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Gaelic-Dictionary-Teach-Yourself/dp/1444103997

This dictionary is good in its own right and even better, has some very handy appendices on verbs, including all the irregular verbs.

• https://www.amazon.com/Gaelic-Verbs-Systemised-Simplified-Colin/dp/1904246133
  
• https://gaelicgrammar.org/~gaelic/mediawiki/index.php/Verb_Inflection
  
  It's the irregulars which give most foiks the fits. Just accept that like any child even learning its native language, mistakes in tense, even the regulars, will be made ... e.g. "I taked the fork" rather than the more correct "I took the fork".

Hello,

I am currently taking a language/culture course on Gaelic and currently use http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Gaelic-Dictionary-Yourself-Dictionaries/dp/0071752684/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

You should learn about the terms "broad" and "slender". Take a look here: Unofficial Guide to Pronouncing Gaelic. This will explain what you think you are hearing (the 'Y' sound in particular). For example, The L in "leisgeul" is slender. The GH in "gheur" is slender too. The R is a tapped R.

Have you checked out books such as Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks? Most of these type of books will have a pronunciation guide near the start.

There's a number of sayings in this book, which I've found to be well worth the price if you're into that sort of thing. Unfortunately, my copy's all packed up for the move, so I can't help you directly.