How can we help?

Getting started and choosing a dialect

Download Scéal from the App Store or Google Play and create an account with your first name, email and a password of at least 8 characters. You’ll be asked to confirm that you’re 16 or over, or that a parent or guardian is setting the account up.

Then choose the Irish you want to learn:

• Ulster: the Donegal Gaeltacht.
• Connacht: the Galway and Mayo Gaeltachtaí.
• Munster: the Kerry, Cork and Waterford Gaeltachtaí.
• Leinster (School Irish): what’s taught in schools and used in books outside the Gaeltacht.

If you’re not sure, pick the one your family speaks or the one you learned at school. You can change it any time in Settings → Dialect.

Resetting your password

1. On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password? and enter your email.
2. Open the email on the phone that has Scéal installed and tap the link. Scéal opens and asks you to set a new password.
3. Choose a new password (at least 8 characters), and you’re in.

The link only works on a phone with Scéal installed; opening it on a computer won’t work. Links expire after a while. If you see “This link has expired”, ask for a new one from the sign-in screen. Can’t find the email? Check your spam folder.

Cúilíní

Cúilíní are Scéal’s reward points. You earn them by learning: answering in your lessons, playing the county game, reading the day’s seanfhocal and stories, and sharing. Speaking practice doesn’t earn cúilíní; it’s there for you to practise freely.

You can spend cúilíní on rewards from businesses taking part in Scéal for Business. They have no cash value and can’t be transferred or sold. See our terms for the details.

Speaking practice

On a speaking line, hold the microphone button and speak, then let go to stop. Slide your finger off the button to cancel. Play your recording back next to the native speaker’s, then tap Arís to try again, or move on.

The first time, your phone asks for permission to use the microphone. If you said no, you can turn it on in your phone’s settings under Scéal. Speaking practice is optional.

Your recordings stay on your phone. They’re never uploaded, we never hear them, and they’re deleted when you move on. More in our privacy policy.

Daily reminders

Scéal can remind you once a day to do your lesson. Set the time, or turn reminders off, in Settings → Reminder time.

Not getting reminders?

• Check that notifications are allowed for Scéal in your phone’s settings.
• On Android, some phones hold back notifications to save battery. In your phone’s battery settings, set Scéal to Unrestricted.

Deleting your account

In the app, go to Settings → Delete account and confirm. This permanently deletes your account, progress, streaks, cúilíní and reward history from our database straight away, and clears Taisce and your settings from that phone. Copies in our daily backups are gone within 7 days (see our privacy policy). It can’t be undone.

Can’t open the app? Email hello@sceal.studio from the address on your account, ask us to delete it, and we’ll confirm when it’s done. Deleting the app from your phone doesn’t delete your account.

Business accounts. A business account has no Settings. To delete it, tap Delete account at the bottom of the business screens in the app and confirm, or email hello@sceal.studio from the account’s sign-in address and we’ll delete it for you. Your sign-in, address, Irish story, booking link, redemption email and the details you gave us to check your business are deleted straight away, and your offer ends. Copies in our daily backups are gone within 7 days. We keep a closed record of the business (its name, its city, its past offers and our decisions on its applications) so that learners’ history stays correct; see our privacy policy. It can’t be undone.

Scéal for Business

Irish businesses offer rewards that learners unlock with cúilíní. To use one, open Rewards in the app and choose an offer. Each business sets its own terms, shown on the offer.

• In person: show the QR code to staff, or give them the code under it. The QR works for a limited time; if it runs out, get a new one.
• Book online or by email: after you redeem, the app gives you the booking link or email address with your code. These codes last 30 days.

Staff see “Scéal learner”, your code and the offer, not your name or email. If you book online or send an email, the business sees what you enter or send, as the app tells you. More in our privacy policy.

If a business doesn’t honour your code, email hello@sceal.studio and we’ll sort it out.

Run a business? Sign up in the Scéal app: on the sign-up screen, choose “Are you a business? Join Scéal for Business”. Questions? Email hello@sceal.studio.

More

Read our privacy policy and terms of service, or email hello@sceal.studio with anything else.