Some info on Georgian courses

On August the 1st I will finally land in Tbilisi (seriously, I can't wait!), then I will take contact with the language school. The courses are as follows:

• Georgian language traditional full course, presented in an easy way with case studies, role play, simulations
• Survival Georgian course -26 hours. Just learn Alphabet and Basic Conversational Georgian
• Everyday Georgian course -28 hours. Study and go out with teacher to practice and activate your knowledge
• Conversational Georgian with a focus on communicative skills – 110 hours
• Trad. Georgian course - 45 hours. European Language Scale – A1/American -1 
• Trad. Georgian course - 45 hours. European Language Scale – A2/American -1 + 
• Trad. Georgian course - 70 hours. European Language Scale – B1/American -2 
• Trad. Georgian course - 80 hours. European Language Scale – B2/American – 3 
• Trad. Georgian course - 90 hours. European Language Scale – C1/American – 4 
• Preparation for Georgian language exam at FSI (Foreign Service Institute)
• Course on technical and Georgian.

I don't really need a C1, so I might focus on getting a B1, which is described as the intermediate level:

"Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans."

Once I get there I'll see what best suits me. There is more than one language school in Tbilisi, although this is the arguably the best, as diplomats study here once they get to Georgia. Look at the short but impressive speech given by Justin McKenzie, the new British ambassador to Georgia. Sure, there are some pauses and incertainties, but hey...

Georgian? Is it like Russian?

Georgian (ქართული) is a non-indoeuropean language, the main member of the Kartvelian language branch. It’s spoken mainly in Georgia and it’s the official language of the Republic of Georgia. Other languages belonging to this family are Mingrelian (მეგრული), Svan (სვანური) and Laz (ლაზური). Needless to say, it has *nothing* to do with Russian.

During its long history, Georgian has been written using three different scripts. Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli (the last one is used for everyday matters, while the first two are only used by the Georgian Orthodox Church).

The Mkhedruli script (meaning “military”) is composed of 33 characters, with a strict grapheme-phoneme correspondence. It has 28 consonants and 5 vowels, and it’s unicameral (no uppercase-lowercase differences). It’s written from left to right.

Notable characteristics of Georgian are the lack of gender, a case-system grammar and an inordinate love for overwhelming consonant clusters.

It’s surely a challenge, but one I am willing to take.