Georgian Short Courses Levels

Course description: Level 1 is for people with no previous knowledge of the language or minimal knowledge such as some greetings, the alphabet. The course runs over 3 terms. The course will cover the following:

Topics: the alphabet and pronunciation: consonants, consonant clusters; social interaction:  welcome and farewell; information exchange: family, relationships, nationalities and professions; describing: house/flat, people; at the market, shopping, at the travel agent, at the restaurant, expressing feelings, introducing some aspects of Georgian culture

Functions: greetings: formal and informal, introducing yourself and others, talking about yourself, nationality, age, etc. Describing your flat/house, family; telling time; buying food, wine, etc., travelling in the city, asking for directions and identifying places, expressing likes and dislikes, ordering food in a restaurant, booking a hotel, planning a trip.

Grammar: noun types, nominative, ergative, dative, genitive and vocative cases, cases with postpositions, plural forms; personal, possessive and demonstrative pronouns; adjectives, the comparison of adjectives; interrogative and negative sentences; numbers: cardinal and ordinal; present, imperfect and future  tenses of the verbs ‘to be’, ‘to have’, ‘to want’, ‘to work’, ‘to live’, ‘to pay’, ‘to buy’, ‘to like’ and ‘to dislike’, motion verbs ‘to go’, ‘to come’; word order, question words, declension of possessive pronouns, adjective and the noun together.

Learning Resources

Lecturer’s handouts

Authentic audio material recorded by the lecturer

Course description: Level 2 is for people who completed Level 1 or who have some knowledge of the language acquired through regular visits to the country or through self-study. The course runs over 3 terms. The course will cover the following:

Topics: hobbies, sports, medical conditions, the human body, party invitations, Georgian Supra (feast): toasts, dishes and recipies, music and simple short stories, reservations and arrangements; national and religious celebrations, weekends, childhood and other past activities.

Functions: talking about one’s hobbies: skiing, gardening, fishing etc., sports: rugbby, football, chess etc., describing the human body and simple symptoms to a medical professional, idiomatic expression with different parts of the human body; acquiring a basic knowledge about Georgian Supra, polyphonic music, the independence day, Easter, Christmas and St George’s day celebrations; understanding simple toasts and lyrics of the popular songs; reading short stories, making reservations and arrangements: renting a house/car, booking hotels, flights, etc., talking about future weekends: going to the seaside, trekking adventure, visiting national reserves, going to a weeding/party etc.; past activities: childhood memories and games etc.

Grammar: revision and more in depth study of the grammar covered at the beginners’ level, adverbial and instrumental cases, negative, interogative, definite and indefinite prounouns, declension of prounouns and nouns together, types of adverbs, formation of adverbs from adjectives, types of verbal noun, general characteristics of Georgian verb: types, subject/object markers, number, inversion, mood, aspect, transitiveness, imperatives, etc., present and future subjunctive, aorist and optative screeves.

Course description: Level 3 is for people who completed Level 2 or who have sound knowledge of the language acquired through extensive visits to the country or self-study. The course runs over three ten week terms and each session is two hours long. The course includes all four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The course will cover the following:

Topics:  emotions and desires; giving instructions; introduction to history of the country; important tourist sights, booking a tour at the agency or designing independent trip; discussing challenges of the society, goals, purposes and conditions; making complaints; musical festivals; sport events; regional customs; films; folklore: poems, proverbs and some idiomatic expression; health and illnesses; climate; talking about ecology and global problems; writing simple letters to a friend and e-mails; leaving voicemail messages.

Functions: presenting a short topic, expressing agreement/disagreement, opinions, wishes, feelings, mood, reactions, desires and possibilities; making plans travelling; offering advice, making requests, giving permissions, understanding cautions and warnings; explaining reasons and result; negotiating and discussing conditions, making suggestions, recommendation and assumption; complaining and apologising, comparing and contrasting.

Grammar: revision and more depth study of grammar covered at the Lower Intermediate level, revision of screeve system, the perfect, pluperfect and perfect subjunctive screeves; verb classes; defective verbs; verbal noun: present and past participles; adverbs; postpositions, preverbs, some conjunctions and particles, syntax: clause types;

Learning Resources

Lecturer’s handouts and authentic audio material recorded by the lecturer

Course description: Level 4 is for people who have successfully completed the Level 3 or have a sound knowledge of the language acquired through living in the country, personal relationship or through using Georgian regularly. The course runs over three ten-week terms, and each session is two hours long. On completion of the course students should be able to retrieve information from a wide range of authentic materials and converse reasonably fluently with native speakers. The course includes all four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The course will cover the following:

Topics: Georgian culture and society through texts, films, and music, important events of Georgian history, historical figures, Georgian folklore: legends, believes and rituals, cultural events, festivals including grape harvesting (რთველი), Georgian writers, poets, and artists (classic and modern), different contemporary topics. (e.g., environmental issues, ecological situation etc), healthcare, educational and political systems of the country.

Functions: analysing a film or a book orally and in writing, preparing presentations, writing reviews, essays, and reports; skimming and/or translating poems, texts, and articles of interest, talking about Georgian culture, history, important figures, current political system, negotiating and discussing various points of views, commenting, debating, criticising written material, news, and events speculating, making assumptions.

Grammar: revision of grammar introduced on the previous levels, more about the verb, transitiveness, voice, mood, aspect, the screeve system (present, imperfect, present subjunctive, future, future subjunctive, aorist, and optative screeves), idiomatic expressions and proverbs, complex sentences, word formation, synonyms, and antonyms.

Study materials: teacher’s materials, authentic press articles, texts, films, audio and video clips.

Course description: Advance is for people who have completed the Lower Advance course or who have very good knowledge of the language acquired through living in the country extensively or through using the language regularly through work or personal relationships. The course runs over three ten week terms and each session is two hours long. The course includes all four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The course will cover the following:

Topics: colloquial expressions, regional dialects; understanding and learning the tradition of hospitality; native customs; engaging in discussions; gestures, human characteristics, feelings and actions; artworks; Cultural references: historical and geographical highlights; cradle of wine; land of Golden fleece; literary heritage; songs as a soundtrack of life; discoveries.

Functions: understanding colloquial language, regional dialects; expressing impression, sympathy, appreciation; taking part in conversation; terminology describing human character; vocabulary for evaluating fine artwork; writing content of the text; put in writhing or deliver verbally listened material; obtain skills for researching topics according to the students’ interest.

Grammar: revision of grammar introduced on previous levels, colloquial and regional grammatical forms; verb characteristics: version, contact, preverbs, present perfect, pluperfect and perfect subjunctive screeves; verb classes; auxiliary verb; peculiar verb; subordinate closes.

Study materials: authentic press articles; text, maps, audio and video clips, teacher’s materials.