Phone Skills and Customer Service – Half-day Course
It was lovely to refresh knowledge of the Irish language. Bhí sé ar fheabhas.
Rannpháirtí / Participant
Description
This half-day course is being provided by Gaelchultúr in conjunction with Foras na Gaeilge. This course is designed for telephone and customer care staff in local authorities and the public sector, who deal with the public on a regular basis and are required to provide a service through Irish from time to time. It is suitable for those who have studied Irish previously (at school, for example), but have not used the language in a good number of years. This course is delivered online.
The aim of the course
The aim of the course is to enable participants to provide a quality customer service through Irish. It will also aim to build participants' confidence so that they find it easier to use the language with the public and will highlight the importance of providing a service through Irish.Material and approach
The emphasis in the course will be on the spoken language and on developing listening skills. While attending the course, participants will have an opportunity to raise a virtual hand and ask the teacher questions. Pair and group work will be an integral part of the classes, allowing the learners to practise what they have been taught.Learning resources
Participants will have access to a course on Gaelchultúr's e-learning website, ranganna.com, where recordings will be available of the important words and phrases taught to them during the course and where they can do interactive lessons and get feedback within one second. Learners will be able to use this resource to further practise and reinforce what they have learned during the course. The course costs €249 per participant. It is not required to pay this fee when the course is being reserved: Gaelchultúr will send an invoice to the employer of every participant after the course. For more information please send an email to fios@gaelchultur.comBook the course
Half-day Course
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1.00-4.15pm
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€249.00
Basic to Intermediate
Levels
Day
Time
Start Date
Our teaching approach
Gaelchultúr has developed comprehensive syllabuses and every class at every level follows these syllabuses.
The communicative approach to language teaching is used by Gaelchultúr’s teachers, giving learners the opportunity to play an active part in each class.
A strong emphasis is placed on group and pair work and learners therefore have a chance to practise what they’ve been taught. The main focus is on speaking and listening in all classes (with the exception of Cruinneas sa Ghaeilge), but reading and writing activities also feature.
Learn more about usFAQs
You will need a laptop or desktop computer, a reasonably good broadband connection and a headset with a microphone (a USB headset, if possible).
Headsets can be purchased online on Amazon and other websites.
You will be sent an invitation by email about 20 minutes before the class begins. This email message will come from Zoom, the video conferencing platform used
to deliver the classes.
You can, indeed. Every learner will be given the opportunity to do a technical test before the course commences and any technical issues that emerge during this test will be resolved. You don’t need to organise this – we will contact you to arrange a time after you have registered for the course.
You can but you will not be able to participate in pair work and group work activities. It is better, therefore, to use a laptop or desktop computer, if possible.
We recommend that learners switch on their camera during class as it makes the learning experience more immersive. If you do not wish to turn on your camera, however, that’s perfectly fine.
There will be at least six other learners in the class and a maximum of eighteen people.
Pair work and group work activities will be an integral part of each class, therefore you’ll have plenty of opportunities to speak Irish. You will also be able to raise a virtual hand and ask the teacher questions whenever you like.
No. A digital booklet containing all the material you’ll need during the course will be emailed to you before the course commences and you will be able to use this booklet during the classes and for studying between the sessions. The cost of this booklet is included in the course fee. You will also be able to access all of the notes online.
The beginners and lower intermediate classes are based on the books in the Gaeilge gan Stró! series but learners in those classes are not required to buy those publications.
Note: Those attending Accuracy 1 and Accuracy 2 will be required to buy the grammar book Gramadach gan Stró! before the course commences. They will be able to buy this book at half price (€10), plus postage.
In the case of the beginners and intermediate level classes, there will be written exercises from time to time but the emphasis will be on the spoken language for the most part. We will teach grammar in context, as it’s required, and we will always ensure that there isn’t too much focus on grammatical rules.
There will be a greater emphasis on writing and grammar in the higher level classes, particularly in the accuracy in Irish classes.
Terms and Conditions
- Course fees may be refunded in full to a learner up to five working days prior to the commencement of the course. The refund must by requested by contacting Gaelchultúr’s staff by email or by phone. (Our contact details can be found here.)
- If, following the first class, the student decides that he/she would like to discontinue the course, 60% of the total fee will be refunded to him/her. Thereafter, no refund will be made to the student.
- Gaelchultúr Teoranta has the right to cancel a class or to amalgamate classes.
- If it is necessary to cancel a class, every effort will be made to place the participants in another class or to register them for an online course. A full refund will be made to the customer if these options do not suit him/her.
- A student may defer his/her registration only once. If he/she wishes to defer registration, he/she must notify Gaelchultúr’s staff of this by week three of the course. No refund will be made to the student if he/she does not accept a place on the next course he/she is due to attend.
- Gaelchultúr will accept no responsibility in the event that a student registers at the wrong level. We advise our students to do our online Irish test or to seek our advice to ensure that they are undertaking the correct level.
- If a student wants to move to another level, we cannot guarantee that a space will be available for him/her at that level. Should a space be available, Gaelchultúr will charge a €10 administration fee for making the change. A change may only be made to another level following the first class.
- Course fees must be paid in full prior to commencement of the course. Attendance on a course is subject to full payment of fees.
- Every student must abide by our Code of Conduct when attending a course with us.
- People under 18 years of age are not permitted to attend courses other than those specified as being suitable for those under 18 years of age. Our Child Protection Statement can be found here.
