Irish Language Course for Elected Councillors

Irish Language Course for Elected Councillors
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5 weeks
5 hours
Beginners - Intermediate
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Description

As an elected councilor, did you know that the people in your constituency have the right to request services and communications through the medium of Irish? Gaelchultúr has developed a five-week course to enable councillors to communicate through Irish with the public and their colleagues. This course is run by an Irish language expert and involves an hour-long class per week.

The aim of the course is to support participants in acquiring relevant Irish language phrases that they can use when delivering speeches or attending community events. They will also be taught useful phrases and vocabulary that will help them include more Irish in their day-to-day correspondence with colleagues and the public and that will help them to fulfil their obligations under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021.


In addition to the live online course, participants will be given 6-months access to a comprehensive and interactive learning resource on Gaelchultúr’s e-learning website, www.ranganna.com. This resource caters to the language requirements of council members and contains useful vocabulary and terminology specific to the work carried out by council members.


The e-learning tool consists of written and audio content. Recognising the learners’ need to develop and enhance their proficiency in Irish on a continuous basis, the e-learning tool allows for users to revisit learning materials long after they have completed their training with Gaelchultúr.


Make sure that you can communicate with your constituents in their language and register for this highly-regarded course today.


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.

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FAQs

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.

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