Learning a language

For most people learning a new language is quite difficult, I know I’m struggling with Irish Gaelic which I have been trying to learn for over seven years, and really I am little further forward! I have quite a large vocabulary of words, but fitting them into sentences in their correct form is such a struggle, almost impossible sometimes, and understanding the spoken language… well, I wonder what I’ve been doing over the last years since I still struggle to grasp most of what is said! The important thing is that I love it, I enjoy going to the classes, my friends who are learning it are lovely, and i actually do get a lot from it… not necessarily much actual language!

So what do I get from going to my Gaelic classes if I’m not making much progress? Well, it’s fascinating to see how other languages work; for example Irish has fewer letters in the alphabet than we do (except for foreign words). There are distinct regional variations in the language, very distinct, very very distinct! Munster in the south, Connacht in the west and Ulster… the three main language areas. Another fascinating thing is the number of everyday words we use in English which have come from Gaelic, and the number of English accents and dialects which have been fashioned by Gaelic. As with any language there are some wonderful sayings, idioms and proverbs which are vivid and different from what we would say in English. I may not have acquired much language but I have been enriched by trying to master it!