An unusual title, I know. This will be more of a diary entry, based on a recent experience I had in Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin – the city of Guinness, capturing street art, pubs, Normal People. As I’m writing this I am sat in my hostel pod, in a converted chapel (I recommend Gardiner House Hostel, if that’s your vibe).
When travelling, I like to make use of the foreign languages I’m learning. It’s one of the meagre reasons Brits justify learning a language, so you can actually use them abroad. I completely get that, except I’ll have to address this topic in another post, because there are many reasons why we should be adding to our language repertoire beyond English.
Ireland felt like an unusual choice, given that I don’t speak Irish and English is my mother tongue. With no room for language practice, it wasn’t at the top of my bucket list.
Nevertheless, I’d never been to the country and was attracted by its music scene. It was that chapter of life again where a solo trip was due, and so on New Year’s Day 2026 I found myself strolling through the Temple Bar district and Trinity College, alone with my thoughts and imagination.
Dublin is amazing. Irish people are the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and the city streets make me want to dance and skip like a madwoman.
However, in this post, I am obviously going to make a point about the value of learning foreign languages, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this on my blog in the first place.
The experience I had on Day 2 was completely unexpected. Perhaps I’m writing slightly too dramatically, but hear me out.
As I wandered down Redmond’s Hill, a French woman approached me and launched into a scramble of French words – she was asking for directions, and seemed very stressed. English didn’t exist in her brain, she was hopeless at it.
Luckily for her, I’d put in time to learn her language, so she left with her mind at ease, I was a helpful human being, and we both got a pleasant conversation out of it.
It was 10-minute human interaction, on the streets of Dublin. Between a Brit and a Frenchwoman, thanks to the knowledge of a foreign language. And perhaps this seems minor to most readers, especially if language learning isn’t at the top of your priority list. But in my particular case, I was solo travelling and she was one of the few people I had spoken to that day.
Just think about this – imagine a life full of little interactions in this way. Conversations that can turn your day around, because you’ve connected with another through language. The kind that remind you that we are all human, are more alike than we think, and strive to build community. We all crave meaningful experiences and connection in our day-to-day, especially in this digital world.
Although they seem small, they slowly add up to create a rich and eye-opening life.
As a matter-of-fact, French is useful in Dublin. And it’s useful in England. And in America, and in Australia. Perhaps not always on a professional or career-based level, but on a human level. And at the end of the day, that is what creates joy in our lives. Human connection.
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