Irish Classes in Galway?

orright?

So I'll be going to NUIG fairly soon, and I'd like to know if there's any Irish classes for beginners in the city. The college do have a diploma programme for beginners apparently but it's far too expensive for the like of me.

Jugs82

I did a beginners short course in NUIG last year - it was a 8 week course and cost €120 or thereabouts

GMIT also offer a conversational Irish course as well as Arus na Gael on Dominick st. although I have heard bad things about their courses (Arus na Gael, not GMIT)

biko

Conradh na Gaeilge, Arus na ngael, 45 Dominic Street
I did a course years ago, 80 I think

galah

The NUIG classes are ok, albeit a little expensive.

I have nothing good to say about Arus na nGael, the worst language classes I've ever attended.
Disorganised, too many people in class, a lot of foreigners with insufficient grasp of English to follow the class (I'm a foreigner myself, so I'm allowed to moan about that...) at least in the beginners class, slow progress, jut not much fun at all.

The best ones I've attended so far are out in Spideal, in Colaiste Connaught.

Mrs OBumble

galah wrote: »

I have nothing good to say about Arus na nGael, the worst language classes I've ever attended.
Disorganised, too many people in class, a lot of foreigners with insufficient grasp of English to follow the class (I'm a foreigner myself, so I'm allowed to moan about that...) at least in the beginners class, slow progress, jut not much fun at all.

We've had threads like this before, and several of us have said similar things. I had a similar experience to yours in 2008. Unless they've got better since, I'd recommend elsewhere.

inisboffin

JustMary wrote: »

We've had threads like this before, and several of us have said similar things. I had a similar experience to yours in 2008. Unless they've got better since, I'd recommend elsewhere.

Totally depends on the teacher you get there imo. A friend of mine from overseas who did a couple of classes now says her teacher (no naming names but he's a musician) is brilliant. One guy (I left the course for work reasons) I had was pure sh*te, but he's gone now. A friend's partner teaches there and she's great..so yeah, depends.

pog it

I thought the diploma was free to do once you were studying another degree in NUI, G.

If not, you could consider a grind in Irish with a native speaker, could do one a week, or once every two weeks. Would be c. 25/30 per hour. I can recommend someone from Connemara who teaches all the time and is brilliant, you can PM me if you like.

Mrs OBumble

inisboffin wrote: »

Totally depends on the teacher you get there imo.

Good to hear.

Though for the price they charge, I'd expect the organisation to be doing quality assurance and customer satisfaction check, that they're clearly not.

juno00

inisboffin wrote: »

Totally depends on the teacher you get there imo. A friend of mine from overseas who did a couple of classes now says her teacher (no naming names but he's a musician) is brilliant.

If this is the same musician/teacher who was teaching beginners up to this April, I totally agree, he is brilliant, and he's back in the Árus this September to teach beginners. Get in there if you can.

His gigs aren't bad either :-)

_ZeeK_

galah wrote: »

The NUIG classes are ok, albeit a little expensive.

I have nothing good to say about Arus na nGael, the worst language classes I've ever attended.
Disorganised, too many people in class, a lot of foreigners with insufficient grasp of English to follow the class (I'm a foreigner myself, so I'm allowed to moan about that...) at least in the beginners class, slow progress, jut not much fun at all.

The best ones I've attended so far are out in Spideal, in Colaiste Connaught.

fair play to you for trying to learn our language. i'm irish myself and I can't even be arsed to learn it properly.

orright?

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

FredBaby!

saw a poster in the Galway Social Space advertising irish classes...

abular

galah wrote: »

The NUIG classes are ok, albeit a little expensive.

I have nothing good to say about Arus na nGael, the worst language classes I've ever attended.
Disorganised, too many people in class, a lot of foreigners with insufficient grasp of English to follow the class (I'm a foreigner myself, so I'm allowed to moan about that...) at least in the beginners class, slow progress, jut not much fun at all.

The best ones I've attended so far are out in Spideal, in Colaiste Connaught.

Hello! Glad to see some information on the matter! Would you be able to share any details on the class in Spideal? Thanks!

galah

I've got the phone number floating about somewhere (will look for it when home), but as far as I know, classes don't start until October.
More info when I get it! ;-)

Edit - oh, if you do ring the college, be prepared for the Spanish inquisition as gaeilge - they do an impromptu 'test' on ya, to see which level they may put you in. Having had about 10 hours of Irish in all, and then being asked about my marriage status and my hobbies in Irish on the phone was one of the scariest things in my life (very sheltered upbringing...) ;-) They're nice though. ;-)

abular

galah wrote: »

I've got the phone number floating about somewhere (will look for it when home), but as far as I know, classes don't start until October.
More info when I get it! ;-)

Edit - oh, if you do ring the college, be prepared for the Spanish inquisition as gaeilge - they do an impromptu 'test' on ya, to see which level they may put you in. Having had about 10 hours of Irish in all, and then being asked about my marriage status and my hobbies in Irish on the phone was one of the scariest things in my life (very sheltered upbringing...) ;-) They're nice though. ;-)

Excellent. Very good to know. Thank you.
If the phone number turns up, that would be very helpful! Thanks again!