IT MIGHT seem like a challenge to learn Irish but this weekend, pupils at a very special school whose first language is not even English will be trying to do that.
In exchange, the Polish pupils and teachers at Limerick’s Creative School of Dreams will be celebrating international Mother Tongue Day by having their Irish students teach a little Irish and their Polish students teaching a little Polish in return.
The purpose of the school, which opens on Saturday only, is to “teach children about their heritage and language. It is important when we speak English so much,” said Marta Konkol, school manager.
The school has 100 students, most of them Polish and four adult learners who are Irish and want to learn to speak Polish.
In celebrating their mother tongue, the students will also learn about dialects in various regions of Poland.
The event is one of many which the school stage to broaden students’ experience of learning and they regularly enjoy ‘themed’ days.
The most recent was a day when the school celebrated everything Greek, dressing in Greek costumes, eating Greek food and learning about the customs and geography of Greece.
The school has been operating for two years now, renting space in the Educate Together school on O’Connell Avenue.
Their next adventure will be to walk in the St Patrick’s Day Parade in the city to celebrate their adopted home’s national day.
“We would like to find some office space so we can have more classes, Monday to Friday.
“We would also love to have some funding as we get only a small fund from the Polish Embassy in Dublin,” said Marta.
