[hotreds]

The main difference is between Scottish and Irish. Different dialects are just that. British English vs American English vs Aussie English, etc. Pretty similar. Or Castillian vs South American Spanish. Similar enough to be understood by each other.

There was a time when I wanted to learn dozens of languages, but have found it's not worth the trouble. I speak five fluently, and wanted to learn Arabic and Japanese or Chinese- but it REALLY takes a lot of work. I think that here in the US of A, Spanish is becoming quite important- I think I'd look into that before Gaelic.

Interesting about Rosetta Stone. They are quite expensive even on Ebay! I understand that Berlitz does a good job.

Understand, I'm not knocking your wanting to learn Gaelic! Heck, I wanted to learn Sioux or Apache and even hieroglyphics- but thought better of it. I guess I'm saying that to really learn a language requires a lot of time and, frankly, money. So, if you can find a book of Gaelic phrases for cheap I'd say go for it. But, if you really want to learn another language that would also help you, time and money on Gaelic is not the way to go.

Sorry, but languages are dear to my heart, and I wanted to give you the best advice I could. But, being free, it's worth as much as it cost you. Good luck! Sláinte agus táinte!