“Even a word of Irish brings memories flooding back”

John / Seán talks about his Irish language journey in Hangzhou, China, far from his hometown of Limerick.

He’s a teacher, and also a successful musician.

He wants to be able to speak the Irish language fluently and naturally.

As a young teen, he spent summers down in Ceann Trá (Ventry) in County Kerry.

Having kids, he felt an obligation to share the language with them.

I thought, “If i don’t use Irish, it’s gone from my family for good”.

He decided that with his kids, at the very least he could read Irish language books with them.

In coming back to the Irish language, he’s found that even one or two words of Irish brings back a flood of memories as a small child in school.

He’s decided to be pro-active and speak the language. Living in China, he’s had to make the effort to learn the language and make it part of his every day life.

John is a GROW member of Bitesize Irish. He’s an active member of Bitesize Pobal, our private online learners’ community. He regularly take part in Bitesize Beo sessions for GROW members. These are weekly conversation practise sessions. The group video calls follow scripted conversation, allowing you to role-play.