Experiences with An Cùrsa Inntrigidh
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:30 pm
I finished Cùrsa Inntrigidh in 2017, then spent a year taking a first year Gaelic course with another school (while reviewing all my Inntrigidh notes and files), and was recently accepted into An Cùrsa Adhartais to start this autumn. Prior to starting Cùrsa Inntrigidh in 2016, I had spent several years trying to “learn on my own” with books and materials available online. If you are serious about learning Gaelic, Cùrsa Inntrigidh is a good place to start. I think it was the best place for me to start. Here is my experience and some references I used while in ACI.
Cùrsa Inntrigidh is a 3 term course. I found it challenging and difficult – of course that depends on how much Gaelic you know going in and how much time you are able to spend on the course. I suppose like anything else, you will get out of it what you put in. If I had had any idea going in how difficult I was going to find it I probably would have thought it was all too much and I wasn’t smart enough – so I’m am very glad I didn’t know up front. I was also extremely pleased to get the certificate after successfully finishing entire course – I think more so than anything I have done in the last few decades.
Living in the middle of the US, I was unable to attend the supplemental weekends for face to face learning (travel costs are way too high for such a short time in Scotland) but classmates have said the weekends were very helpful. If you are outside the UK -- International students (like the US) pay quite a bit more for each term (foreign exchange fees, and unfavorable exchange rates on top of ~ double for the class in £), may pay more for the call, may have to call in at odd hours, have no tuition assistance or employer paid options, and don’t have the luxury of local Gaelic resources for help outside of class that UK students have. These are not a reason to avoid the class if you are not in the UK, but just something to be aware of so you aren’t surprised. Also, some US locations do have local Scottish Gaelic groups (there just aren’t any where I live).
Course materials are delivered online by passwords provided for each unit (Aonad) as you get to that point in the course. The materials are very well-organized. The online website (learning environment) works very well and staff will respond to emails if you have a problem. Each unit consists of the workbook with weekly assignments (conversation plus reading and workbook exercises), weekly Clas-fòn questions lists (covered in each week’s 1-hour tutorial), recordings (of the conversations plus listening exercises), and supplemental and “extra” files for grammar, additional practice work, vocabulary, and the unit index. End of term assessments include both written and oral tests.
All three terms can be very time-consuming on a weekly basis, depending on whether you are relatively familiar with the topics covered (or not), and how quickly you can finish the reading, listening, and Clas-fòn assignments. I found Earrann 1 relatively easy but still time consuming to get through all the work, Earrann 2 the most difficult and time consuming, and Earrann 3 a welcome relief (seemed slightly easier) from Earrann 2, but still difficult because it was all new material. Most weeks, I actually did all the assignments (including the recorded/listening exercises) in the recommended order.
To get the most from the class you likely need to set aside time every week to work on the assignments and prepare for the Clas-fòn. Don’t get behind. “Future” units assume you have learned grammar and vocabulary from prior units. I would recommend at least reading (and tr*nsl*t*ng if needed) all materials (including the extra “stuth” files) to be sure you are familiar with all the material. Translations are not provided for the materials written in Gaelic – you need to read the workbook Mìneachadh (in English), use the Faclair, and also use an extra dictionary. Although I suspect part of the SMO method is to get students to a point of just reading in Gaelic and then doing the work. The indices are good for reviewing the topics covered in each unit. At the end of each unit you are emailed a review page with a list of topics for which you should know how to ask and answer questions. I maintained electronic copies of all the files provided as well as printing hard-copies of everything (organized in notebooks) which made it much easier to do all the weekly work and refer back to prior materials when needed.
The teachers (tutors) are very helpful with answering questions in emails between tutorials. It’s also helpful to work with other students in the class through email exchange or skype (if time zones and availability can be worked out).
I think it was helpful to prepare for the Clas-fòn 1-hour tutorials. I wrote out answers to all the Clas-fòn questions the tutor had assigned and as many others as I had time for. This helped me quickly realize during the Clas-fòn tutorial whether I didn’t understand something. Some students don’t prepare (because they want “extemporaneous” practice), but that can make the weekly tutorial (the only hour we get) annoying for others because the assignment doesn’t get completed on the call and the teacher spends most of the time with the unprepared person. By all means call in and listen (if some weeks you can’t prepare) but please let the people who prepared use the hour to practice and ask questions.
I would also recommend having other resources at hand during the week when you are learning the unit. It really helps to be able to look up additional information on confusing grammar topics. For example, I used the list below (not in any particular order). I purchased most when I was in my “learn on my own” phase and would see them recommended when researching topics online. I’d recommend actual hard-copies, if you can get them, rather than the online scanned copies that sometimes show up.
My lowest point in An Cùrsa Inntrigidh, was the day the Earrann 2 written test arrived and I read it through. I burst into tears and walked around crying and thinking that was it, I wasn’t smart enough, and it was time to quit. It took two days to talk myself into just having another look and sending in what I could because I at least had to try. No kidding. I think An Cùrsa Inntrigidh is not for the faint of heart. But it is very possible to be successful if you stick with it.
Best wishes.
I’ll put the books I used in a second post.
Cùrsa Inntrigidh is a 3 term course. I found it challenging and difficult – of course that depends on how much Gaelic you know going in and how much time you are able to spend on the course. I suppose like anything else, you will get out of it what you put in. If I had had any idea going in how difficult I was going to find it I probably would have thought it was all too much and I wasn’t smart enough – so I’m am very glad I didn’t know up front. I was also extremely pleased to get the certificate after successfully finishing entire course – I think more so than anything I have done in the last few decades.
Living in the middle of the US, I was unable to attend the supplemental weekends for face to face learning (travel costs are way too high for such a short time in Scotland) but classmates have said the weekends were very helpful. If you are outside the UK -- International students (like the US) pay quite a bit more for each term (foreign exchange fees, and unfavorable exchange rates on top of ~ double for the class in £), may pay more for the call, may have to call in at odd hours, have no tuition assistance or employer paid options, and don’t have the luxury of local Gaelic resources for help outside of class that UK students have. These are not a reason to avoid the class if you are not in the UK, but just something to be aware of so you aren’t surprised. Also, some US locations do have local Scottish Gaelic groups (there just aren’t any where I live).
Course materials are delivered online by passwords provided for each unit (Aonad) as you get to that point in the course. The materials are very well-organized. The online website (learning environment) works very well and staff will respond to emails if you have a problem. Each unit consists of the workbook with weekly assignments (conversation plus reading and workbook exercises), weekly Clas-fòn questions lists (covered in each week’s 1-hour tutorial), recordings (of the conversations plus listening exercises), and supplemental and “extra” files for grammar, additional practice work, vocabulary, and the unit index. End of term assessments include both written and oral tests.
All three terms can be very time-consuming on a weekly basis, depending on whether you are relatively familiar with the topics covered (or not), and how quickly you can finish the reading, listening, and Clas-fòn assignments. I found Earrann 1 relatively easy but still time consuming to get through all the work, Earrann 2 the most difficult and time consuming, and Earrann 3 a welcome relief (seemed slightly easier) from Earrann 2, but still difficult because it was all new material. Most weeks, I actually did all the assignments (including the recorded/listening exercises) in the recommended order.
To get the most from the class you likely need to set aside time every week to work on the assignments and prepare for the Clas-fòn. Don’t get behind. “Future” units assume you have learned grammar and vocabulary from prior units. I would recommend at least reading (and tr*nsl*t*ng if needed) all materials (including the extra “stuth” files) to be sure you are familiar with all the material. Translations are not provided for the materials written in Gaelic – you need to read the workbook Mìneachadh (in English), use the Faclair, and also use an extra dictionary. Although I suspect part of the SMO method is to get students to a point of just reading in Gaelic and then doing the work. The indices are good for reviewing the topics covered in each unit. At the end of each unit you are emailed a review page with a list of topics for which you should know how to ask and answer questions. I maintained electronic copies of all the files provided as well as printing hard-copies of everything (organized in notebooks) which made it much easier to do all the weekly work and refer back to prior materials when needed.
The teachers (tutors) are very helpful with answering questions in emails between tutorials. It’s also helpful to work with other students in the class through email exchange or skype (if time zones and availability can be worked out).
I think it was helpful to prepare for the Clas-fòn 1-hour tutorials. I wrote out answers to all the Clas-fòn questions the tutor had assigned and as many others as I had time for. This helped me quickly realize during the Clas-fòn tutorial whether I didn’t understand something. Some students don’t prepare (because they want “extemporaneous” practice), but that can make the weekly tutorial (the only hour we get) annoying for others because the assignment doesn’t get completed on the call and the teacher spends most of the time with the unprepared person. By all means call in and listen (if some weeks you can’t prepare) but please let the people who prepared use the hour to practice and ask questions.
I would also recommend having other resources at hand during the week when you are learning the unit. It really helps to be able to look up additional information on confusing grammar topics. For example, I used the list below (not in any particular order). I purchased most when I was in my “learn on my own” phase and would see them recommended when researching topics online. I’d recommend actual hard-copies, if you can get them, rather than the online scanned copies that sometimes show up.
My lowest point in An Cùrsa Inntrigidh, was the day the Earrann 2 written test arrived and I read it through. I burst into tears and walked around crying and thinking that was it, I wasn’t smart enough, and it was time to quit. It took two days to talk myself into just having another look and sending in what I could because I at least had to try. No kidding. I think An Cùrsa Inntrigidh is not for the faint of heart. But it is very possible to be successful if you stick with it.
Best wishes.
I’ll put the books I used in a second post.
