I've often wondered what life would be like if the Normans had never invaded, and Irish had remained the primary language of Ireland.
On a recent holiday to Portugal, I was somewhat unnerved by the language barrier between the two countries.
You know how it is, you meet some nice portuguese guy in a club, you're chatting away, everything's going great, and then you say something, and he turns to his friend and laughs while blabbering away in portuguese, no doubt at your expense!
Not only do I find this "habit"(it happens a lot) extremely irritating, but I also find it incredibly rude.
Sure, I would've loved nothing more than to give them a taste of their own medicine, and launch into a a good old-fashioned Irish rant. But, the truth is I could hardly string a sentence together let alone pull-off an intelligent conversation.
And yeah, they might not have known the difference, but I would've.
Most of all though, I envied them, for those two guys shared something that is unique to Portugal alone, their language.(even the Brazilians are said to have their own variation)
That's why, even though I can't see myself becoming a novice in the Irish language anytime soon, I'm going to make it my mission to hang onto those cúpla focal, if not for the sole reason of protecting a piece of my heritage!
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