AGA Online Courses - Feedback

[EowynAnduin]

Tha mi neònach umpa cùrsa.
(What I am attempting to convey) --> I am curious about these courses.

A bheil bheiream do neach orra eòlas?
(What I am attempting to convey) --> Can anyone give me any feedback on them?

Mòran Taing

Kim

[faoileag]

Sgrìobh sr3nitygirl rudeigin mun chùrsa AGA aicese:

Sr3nitygirl wrote something about her own AGA course here:

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2242&p=15798#p15798

As with all classes, the success or otherwise of a Skype-based class will depend on good chemistry, a helpful teacher, and your own willingness to work hard!

Beagan ceartachaidh - a bit of correction:

neònach = odd, strange (wrong kind of 'curious')
feòrachail or ceasnachail mean curious=inquisitive, enquiring
feòrachas = curiosity, spirit of enquiry

eòlas = knowledge, familiarity
eòlach air = familar with, knowledgeable about

To keep things simple, you could say:


Tha mi feòrachail / Tha feòrachas agam mu na cùrsaichean seo. - I'm curious about these courses.
A bheil neach sam bith eòlach orra? - is anyone familiar with them?

[EowynAnduin]

Mòran taing faoileag.

For the information and the correction

[sr3nitygirl]

I can't believe that there's only one week left on the course, but I am thinking of taking the summer course (review and more conversational).

Either way, my friend Sineag and I are in the process of mapping out a study plan of our own to try and get a wee bit of a jump on next (intermediate 1) year

[EowynAnduin]

I am on the list for the AGA course this fall. Let's see what happens. I have picked up the suggested book, Complete Gaelic plus Blas na Gàidhlig. Both of which add to the resources I have found online. I am the majority of the way through (reading/some of the exercises) of Colloquial Scottish Gaelic but just had my iPad stolen so I am frustrated as all get out.

All of which makes me stop and think my way through writing in Gàidhlig. I am a slow starter but have a strong finish... sort of tortoise like . At least now I have some sound files so I can hear it, which makes it easier reading. I talk in my head while reading.

I have what some may see as a strange approach. I gather many resources and then pool the information. So I am not learning from one place entirely. Eventually I pair it down to a few for the majority of the time and then put in some supplements.

Mind you this leads to many questions .

This is going to be a good year

[GunChleoc]

I never stuck to one single resource while learning - every book has its strengths and weaknesses, and you can pick and choose the information and ways of explaining that are of most use to you personally

[sr3nitygirl]

Just FYI...

2012-13 AGA Classes start the week of September 24th according to the email I received from them this morning.

[EowynAnduin]

I begin class Thursday.

Tha mi tòisich clas DiarDaoin.

[faoileag]

Gur math a thèid leat!

Good luck!

[GunChleoc]

Tha mi 'n dòchas gun còrd e riut!

I hope you will like it

[faoileag]

Am bi sibh a' dèanamh chùrsaichean AGA am bliadhna cuideachd?

Tha mi a' smaoineachadh gum bi iad a' tòiseachadh a dh'aithghearr, aig deireadh na Sultaine.

Will you be doing AGA courses this year as well?
I think they'll be starting soon, at the end of September.

[EowynAnduin]

Tha, tha mi a' dèanamh Eadar-Mheadhanach 1. Tha mi "Gàidhlig lapach" a-nis. Bha mi ag obair an samhradh fada cus seo. Tha mi glè toilichte a-nis . Tapadh leibh a faolieag.

[Ceid]

Tha mi an dòchas gum bidh e còrdadh ribh. But a little warning from someone who took 4 years of classes with them:

I started at the intermediate level and continued up from there. The first two years were great. The third, so-so. The fourth, just terrible. They didn't really know how to put together an effective advanced level course, to help students gain genuine fluency and from what I heard about the Advanced Plus classes last year, they haven't really fixed it. Specific problems I had:

--way too much English was used in the advanced classes
--material was not presented in a way that would really cultivate fleuncy. Instead it mostly cultivated boredom for me. Additionally I had Bob Leonard, who's on the AGA board, as a fellow student in both my last two classes and he was very insistant that we follow a certain structure in our one-on-one time that I found stifling and boring. He seemed more interested in making students cover all the mateiral methodically rather than them just gaining confidence using Gaelic. But what can you do when one of the guys running the thing wants it that way?
--I always had problems with getting them to schedule classes in time slots that were workable for me, but this got worse and worse as the classes advanced and the number of students decreased, requiring there be fewer classes at that level. By my 4th year I ended up being stuck with a class where I could only attend half of it (yet paid full tuition), because they were far more concerned with accomendating other students they wanted in their program (like Scottish students or people more closely connected to their AGA community) more than someone like me, even though I had been with them for several years and proven myself a dedicated student
--they gave us a test after selling their program as a low-pressure and test-free. There were a lot of issues with the test itself too: the test wasn't announced until over half-way through the year, it wasn't made clear what the test would be covering, despite them claiming it would not be a test on that year's course material it ended up being exactly that, we had only one chance to take it, no make-up times offered, I didn't get my graded test back, I wasn't told who graded it and how, and when I protested my score, which they said was just 2 points too low to get into the next class (conveniently), I never got a response back from them about it. All and all, highly unprofessional and infuriating.
--in addition to never getting a reply back about my test, I can honestly say I never got a satisfactory resolution to any issues I raised with them, especially in that last year. The teacher apologiezd often for all the English in class but that never improved. I complained that in my 4th class there were too many students and I felt I couldn't participate or ask questions and they simply said that was the class size they were aiming for and no effort was made in class to rein in students who were talking over others. I complained about the class time and they just made excuses and assured me that attending half the class was OK, even though we ended up being tested on the material covered in class. And so on.

My advice is if you're happy and not having any issues, great--stay with it. But if anything ever seems not very kosher with you, don't hesistate to consider other options. I don't think any Gaelic student should have to go through what I did in my last year with AGA. That's no way to promote the language.

[GunChleoc]

Tha mi duilich a chluinntinn gun robh a leithid de thrioblaid agad!