Georgian resources

I haven't written much about my progress with Georgian so far this year. One would think that I've dropped it, but I haven't. It's just going slow. And I really have no need for it to go any faster than it's been going. I only want to reach an A2 level, at most, in the language by the end of the year.

I've finished Dodona Kiziria's Beginner's Georgian. It's a good course, but maybe not the best "first" course I could have gone through. I'm now in the process of going through George Hewitt's Georgian: A Learner's Grammar. It's turning out to be a complicated, slow slog, but I'm getting through it.

I recently heard of a free resource over on the HTLAL forum: Peace Corps: Georgia (CAUTION! It's a zipped file that's close to 500M). It includes text and audio files, and there is a separate directory with a video podcast and accompanying book.

I have to say, I wish I'd discovered this course before I started in with Kiziria's course. It's extremely easy to follow, albeit basic. I sort of liken it to a short Pimsleur course, in that it's very audio-oriented. They do go over the alphabet and writing, but the audio's the star of the course. The video podcast section is quite nice, too. They don't throw the entire alphabet at you in one lesson. They do it over three, and use simple, useful words to reinforce what you're learning. You're reading the letters/words on-screen as the tutor says them. I thought it was very well thought out. Overall, the course doesn't cover all that much beyond survival skills: names, numbers, days, food, places, and other things you might find in a basic phrasebook. But for someone with no exposure to Georgian, I highly recommend it. And you can't beat free cost!

In other Georgian news, I'm behind in my song-learning plans. I'm a month behind, actually. So in May I'll have to find two songs to learn in order to catch up. Not a big deal, but it's something else to consider.