From a very young age I have been interested in language learning. I remember coming home to my parents from playschool at the age of 3 and asking 'why don't we all speak Irish?' I suppose my language learning journey began there.

As someone who grew up outside the Gaeltacht in an English-speaking household, I felt cut off from the beating heart of Irish culture. I wasn't sure how I was ever supposed to fully understand our history without speaking Irish fluently. I decided to study languages in UCC, choosing Irish, Spanish and French as my core languages.

I spent a year studying in France, and strangely spoke more Spanish than French, as I made friends from South America and learned about their culture. I found similarities between the Latin American experience and the Irish experience, as we are both ex colonies whose native languages have been replaced by that of the colonizers. It is interesting to consider the ramifications of not speaking our own language and the distance that creates between our language and our identity.

Language learning is obviously beneficial in terms of employment and business in this global village we call home. In my own experience, and more importantly, language learning has broken down barriers both between myself and others and also barriers within myself. When we can communicate with someone in their own language, hear their story unfettered and comprehend it, we are challenged to step outside the structures of our own cultural narratives in order to fully understand their perspective. Our belief systems are challenged and we are awarded a chance to see the world holistically.

But as we know from recent times, language can be inscribed with ideologies. Language can be used to spark fear, pride. Language can generate a culture of fear, because language not only expresses identity, but it constructs it.

So on today, on European Day of Languages, let us remember to be kind with our language, and use languages to build friendships, not to divide, and to deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.

Learning languages has enriched my life by introducing me to amazing people and taking me to new and fantastic places. This photo was taken in the beautiful and historic city of Salamanca, on a trip funded by the Spanish Embassy & NUI Prize for Proficiency in Spanish. This experience of staying with a host family to learn the language was authentic and rewarding. I hope that my planned future research trips to Cuba and the US, funded by the NUI Travelling Doctoral Studentship, will enrich the fields of feminist and queer studies.

Celebrating the European Day of Languages is a great opportunity to reflect on the impact of language not only on daily communication but also its power to shape societal values. In a globalised world where certain languages are considered universal, today we are reminded that all languages are equally important, and so are the cultures and heritages represented through them. Through my work researching on the impact of Irish narratives in Argentina, I have come to appreciate how other cultures can offer different perspectives on national identity, bringing what can be considered foreign texts to an examination of national discourse.

Learning languages is necessary for accessing and conversing with a variety of literary expressions. Similarly, it is through open dialogue, where language barriers are removed, that societies can genuinely accept and respect one another, as well as value their contributions towards the construction of more inclusive, intercultural communities.

Measaim gurb é an rud is fearr liom faoi theangacha agus faoi theangacha a fhoghlaim, go mbíonn an deis agam mé féin a thumadh i gcultúir éagsúla. Tógadh le Gaeilge mé agus rinne mé staidéar ar an nGaeilge agus ar an bhFraincis don bhunchéim agus lean mé orm leis an nGaeilge ansin don mháistreacht. Ba sa Rúis a rugadh mé ach tá cónaí orm i nGaeltacht Ráth Chairn anois agus failtíodh go croíúil romhainn nuair a bhog muid go Ráth Chairn tamall de bhlianta ó shin. Tugann an Ghaeilge deis dom bheith páirteach i gcultúr na Gaeltachta agus is cultúr faoi leith é sin!

Maidir leis an bhFraincis, chaith mé cúpla mí ag obair mar au pair sa Fhrainc cúpla bliain ó shin agus bhí an deis agam mé féin a thumadh i gcultúr na Fraince; an bia, na daoine, an litríocht — d’fhéadfainn leanúint ar aghaidh! Tugann teangacha iasachta an deis do dhaoine cur lena dtuiscint ar chúrsaí cultúrtha agus blaiseadh a fháil de thíortha agus de dhaoine éagsúla.

Is breá liom a bheith in ann leabhair a léamh nó breathnú ar scannáin nó ar chláir teilifíse i dteangacha éagsúla (tá an Rúisis agam freisin!), agus taitníonn sé liom freisin nuair a fhoghlaimím focal nó nath cainte nua. Is dóigh, ar bhealach, nuair a bhíonn tú ag foghlaim teanga nach stopann leis an bhfoghlaim go deo agus is breá liom sin freisin.

I think that what I like most about languages and learning languages is that it gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in different cultures. I was raised through Irish and I studied Irish and French for my undergraduate degree and continued then with Irish for my masters. I was born in Russia but currently live in the Ráth Chairn Gaeltacht agus we were welcomed with open arms when we moved to Ráth Chairn a few years ago. Speaking Irish allows me to be a part of the Gaeltacht and the culture there and it’s definitely something special!

Regarding French, I spent a few years working as an au pair in France a couple of years ago and I was able to immerse myself completely in French culture; the food, the people, the literature — I could go on! Languages provide people with the opportunity to broaden their cultural horizons and to get a taste of new countries and people. I love being able to read books or watch films or tv shows in different languages (I speak Russian too!), and I really enjoy learning new words or new expressions. I suppose, in a way, that learning never actually stops when you are learning a language and I really like that too.