This is the first volume in a series of textbooks designed to take the academically-minded student from beginner (or near-beginner) level to a stage where he/she has all the tools to achieve fluency. Attaining actual fluency will still depend on the student's own investment, in both time and energy. There will be five volumes in the series, with volumes 2, 3 and 4 due to be published in 2012 and 2013. A series of CDs to accompany the course will also be published in 2013. Answer files for the exercises in the book are available on the book's website: http://www.progressivegaelic.com. Progressive Gaelic is designed to support lessons with a qualified teacher, and is not a stand-alone or teach-yourself course. The material in this first volume is equivalent to the first half of Level 1 in the beginners' Gaelic course at the University of Aberdeen