one problem with 'spelling it the way it sounds' is that gaelic includes sounds that don't exist in english. i was taught a song by joe heaney, who wrote out the gaelic, a transliteration (spelling it the way it sounds), and a word-for-word english translation, and sang the song to me. i recall one word (there were probably others) whose sound did not at all match what he had written. it contained a sound like a french 'r'. there was no english equivalent. transliterations help, but you really need to hear the words spoken slowly.