My experience as a new Irish language learner

When I was in secondary school in Norway, I discovered that the Irish language existed, and I became interested in learning it, and when the Duolingo course for Irish was released, I started using it.

This, of course, was not a very effective form of language learning, especially not in a language with which I had no prior experience and that I really had no other resources available for.

Every word seemed incredibly complicated, and I particularly struggled with getting my head around prepositional pronouns, which after all are quite a vital part of the language.

When one of my friends went to Dublin on holiday one year, I asked her to get me a “teach yourself Irish” book, which I still own but which I never really ended up using much.

There are a few experiences from Norway that still stick in my mind about Irish, for example the time I saw that the Airport Express Train in Oslo had “Fáilte”, among many other languages, written on the doors.

However, it was only when I went to study Archaeology at Queen’s in Belfast that I finally had the chance to attempt to learn Irish properly.

The first thing I did was to sign up to Irish classes with the Language Centre at Queen’s, and I still remember sending one of my friends from home a photo of the confirmation page and how excited I was.

At first I felt bad for showing up and not speaking the language, [but] I learned that this was not a problem, and everyone has been incredibly friendly, and I have now had the opportunity to be on the committee for two years.

I also started going to the classes organised by An Cumann Gaelach at Queen’s, and together, these two classes provided a very good basis for learning Irish, as the Language Centre classes, although quite laid back and informal, provided me with a more grammatical basis, and the Cumann’s classes provided me with conversational skills.

My teacher from the Language Centre classes also made clear how important music is to language learning and I am very grateful for the number of Irish songs I became familiar with as a result.

Outside of the classroom I also went to as many Irish language events as I could, particularly with An Cumann Gaelach, and although I at first felt bad for showing up and not speaking the language, I learnt that this was not a problem, and everyone has been incredibly friendly, and I have now had the opportunity to be on the committee for two years.

As part of the Cumann, I also got to go to Oireachtas na Samhna in 2019, which was an incredible experience. I also, on my own initiative, went to Gaoth Dobhair in Donegal in Summer 2019 on for an Irish course, and have wanted to go back ever since, although the pandemic has unfortunately prevented me.

Learning Irish, especially in a place such as Belfast, with such a living community, has been incredible, and I am incredibly thankful to all the people I have met through classes, An Cumann Gaelach and elsewhere, and I can’t wait to keep learning!