The same goes for most British, American, or Australians as fellow Anglophones, but in Brussels now it’s just the Irish in the room.
This is a phenomenon that is common to all the Anglophone countries, and it’s because we can get away with it. The sheer amount of media produced by Britain and the US and their cultural clout means that Irish people can easily live in a comfortable bubble of English and never need venture out of it. Exposure to other languages is simply drowned out by the volume.
In a typical day in my job, I might be responding to emails in French, organising a delivery in Dutch, making calls in Italian, following a press conference in any of the other 27 EU languages, and with a cúpla focal here and there as Gaeilge through a press conference with Micheál Martin or texts with a friend.
Could not agree with you more NaomiOhReally! You've helped me make another New Year's Resolution! 🤗
Aramaic, Hebrew sub-dialect of Our Lord and Saviour Yeshua Messiach/Jesus Christ. Ar teanga fein/Gaelic-Irish, linguistic heritage of our mother tongue. Latin, mother tongue of all romance languages. And Ang-Sax, father tongue of our cultural coloniser?
Interesting article. Multilingualism is the norm in many other European countries. Imagine if we could speak Irish, English and a European language. There would be huge cultural and economic benefits.
Like cherry? :(