Speaking in tongues

I have recently realized that the level of Irish my seven year old niece is getting close to surpassing my own. As useful as it is to be able to greet people formally or ask for permission for the toilet, I find I would be struggling to say anything else coherent in what should be my native tongue. It's a little embarrassing. Especially given that with a few glasses of wine (for the confidence, obviously) I could manage to hold a half decent conversation in French if I was called upon to do so. I have decided that the time has come to rectify this matter and I am doing my best to act on this urge before it leaves me.
I will however confess that it is not solely my love of learning that is propelling me forward.

I was having a conversation today with my sister about an acquaintance working in residential social care who's having a hard time of it and how I am finding it very difficult to even make myself apply for this kind of work. I recently ignored a series of emails from a social care company that could possibly offer me work if only I would redo my CV, get a full driving licence and do a few hundred euro worth of courses ( Is that all ?) while telling myself that it was all too much work and too much money and procrastinating on the matter as though prizes were being given to the candidate who delayed the most ( I would have been a cert to win if that had been the case). The truth was a little harder to swallow and that is that despite completing a four year course in social care, I don't actually want to work in that area. It's really tough and stressful and I would totally fall apart. I don't consider the degree a waste because it was a good experience plus learning how to prep for exams and write assignments is a useful skill when looking to pursue further education.

My sister suggested I look into primary teaching. Something admittedly I had considered myself in the last year and had even gone so far as to look into an open university course plus once that confirmed that I would need a much greater level of Irish than I currently have, I went one step further and looked into how to bring my Irish up to standard. The most common way is to repeat it in the leaving cert and do honours level Irish ( I currently have an average mark for pass level Irish) But if I'm to be entirely honest, I do not speak enough Irish to write a book, read a novel or even answer anything more than a basic question. Last time I looked into this I was left scratching my head as to how I'd get from where I am now to being able to study at that level so naturally I forgot about it and went about my life with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction.

So when it was suggested to me today, it struck a chord and suddenly the insurmountable obstacles didn't seem so insurmountable. I could do an online course over the summer and hope that with that the scraps of Irish floating around in my brain would come back to me helping me develop at least a basic level of competency. Then naturally I would start studying for the leaving cert in September with the aim of sitting the exam next summer allowing me to apply for an open university course in primary teaching the following year. Obviously the whole plan needs a little more finesse but this time around I am determined to not let it slide. If I was able to master French then surely I can tackle Irish again. As my sister said to me before, I'm nerdy enough to actually put in the work. The thinking is that if I announce my intention in the blog then it will be harder for me to put this one off indefinitely. Just like all the other half formed plans and ambitions that seemed too hard or too lofty or too expensive.

I have saved some links and started downloading some basic language cd's to get me started while the enthusiasm for this plan is still there. I might not be going anywhere yet but at least I have plans.