IMPORTANT: Please read this description fully, as it contains critical information to ensure successful download.

See the note at the bottom of the page for browser issues with download.

For most new learners of Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) one of the first challenges is being able to hear and discern the sounds of the language, many of which are not used in other languages.

Training your ear using this minimal pairs deck will help you to hear the individual sounds, and will help you to associate those sounds with the spelling of Gàidhlig words.

Anki is a powerful multi-media flash card app that is free to download on your desktop or laptop. You can download and install the app from the Anki website. There are smartphone apps available for iPhone AnkiMobile Flashcards app (there is a cost for the iPhone app) as well as the Ankidroid app.

You can read more about the Anki System and how to use the decks here.

Once you’ve downloaded it and installed it, you can upload this Gàidhlig Minimal Pairs - Ear Training Deck.

Anki uses spaced repetition, so each time you see a particular card, you can indicate how easy it was to answer correctly. The easier it is for you, the longer the interval of repetition will be.

For the audio files, I’ve collaborated with Fiona Smith and Rich Hill, two fantastic Gàidhlig language teachers from Colaisde na Gàidhlig.

You can learn more about how spaced repetition and Anki can massively accelerate your language acquisition by reading the book “Fluent Forever” by Gabriel Wyner (also available as an audiobook on audible).

This is the first of several Anki decks I’ll be releasing, and is the easiest to use. Stay tuned and join my mailing list to ensure that I can let you know as new decks are released.