The Challenge of Learning Irish Gaelic

You don’t need an Irish heritage to study the Irish language. In fact, a small part of the Bitesize community is learning Irish Gaelic so they can challenge themselves. Most people who do this are also in love with the Irish culture & music. Some of them even visited Ireland and fell in love with the language after hearing it here.

The reason why people learn the language is more important than you think. If people would learn Irish Gaelic just to connect to their roots, then the Irish language would be in danger. But this isn’t the case. There are a lot of people studying Irish Gaelic because they see it as a beautiful language, they are intrigued by it or they want to learn more about Ireland and its culture.

Learning Irish Gaelic can be a difficult task and you need all the help you can get if you want to reach a conversational level. This means that people who have a strong connection to their Irish heritage have a slight advantage.

Taking this into consideration, learning Irish Gaelic without have a “blood connection” to the Irish culture has to be an even harder challenge. It’s amazing to see the positive influence of “visiting Ireland and interacting with Irish native speakers”.

Do you want to learn Irish Gaelic but you’re afraid of doing this because you don’t have an Irish heritage? Do you think that learning the Irish language will be more difficult if you don’t have that “Irish connection”? Don’t worry! If you’re an Irish language enthusiast, learning the language is a fun & rewarding challenge.

Don’t trust us? Please read the following interview where we talk to Toma Solomatina, an Irish student from Russia. She doesn’t have the Irish heritage but she welcomes the challenge of learning Irish Gaelic because she loves the language & the Irish culture.

Bitesize: Where abouts in the world do you live?

Toma: I live in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. And although I like my native country since I visited Ireland last year I fell in love with Ireland deeply as well.

Bitesize: What got you wanting to speak Irish Gaelic?

Toma: I like to study foreign languages especially when they do not remind me of anything I’ve yet studied. I see Irish Gaelic as a pleasant challenge since I like the sound of it, and I like Irish culture and Irish music.

I realize that it won’t be easy to find people who speak Irish Gaelic even in Ireland but it only adds to the challenge.

It motivates me to learn Irish Gaelic better and come visit Ireland again to speak its language with real people on the streets.

Bitesize: Do you have Irish ancestry? Tell us about it.

Toma: I don’t have any Irish ancestry but I like the history of Ireland and its beautiful legends and stories. The history of this country is so rich that it can be interesting even to people who do not live there or were not born there.

Bitesize: How do you use Bitesize Irish Gaelic?

Toma: Since I have a lot of work I like it that lessons are short so I can do a couple of them when I’m free. And also I am glad that you added quizzes because they help me understand if I remember everything right.

Bitesize: What advice would you have for a total beginner of Irish Gaelic?

Toma: Do not be afraid of the complexity of pronunciation and reading. It will come to you step by step or bite by bite.

Are you learning Irish Gaelic? What’s your motivation? Please let us know in the comments section.