.Learning English in Dublin

Last year I applied for the grant of CAN to learn English abroad and I was lucky to get one of them. I had to decide where to go for the English course and although at the beginning, I thought of going to England, at the end I went to Dublin.

I had been told that Ireland was a very beautiful country, that Dublin was a very nice city and that Irish people were very friendly. These were the reasons why I finally made up my mind for Dublin.

In November I spent two weeks in the city of Guinness and now that I´m back, I can confirm that my preconceptions about Ireland and the Irish were true.

As far as I could visit the country, Ireland´s natural beauty is huge; it has a rich and a contrasting landscape with rugged coast lines and stunning lakelands. It definitely has a breathtaking scenery. Despite my short stay there, I had the chance to visit some amazing places such as the county of Wicklow, widely known as the "Garden of Ireland" (some of the famous "film locations" for Braveheart were shot there), the beautiful Glendalough and some hidden and luscious waterfalls.

As a city, Dublin offers visitors a host of museums, galleries and places of interest, as well as a fine selection of shops, pubs and restaurants. In most of the pubs you can enjoy Irish traditional live music everyday, which constitutes an excellent way of immersing oneself in the culture. These are some of the musts in a visit to the capital: Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse (in its gravity bar you can relax and enjoy the brathtaking 360 views across Dublin city), Temple Bar (Dublin´s cultural quarter home to over 50 arts and cultural organisations with daily exhibitions, performances and outdoor markets) and Croke Park Stadium.

Concerning the English course, I took a two-week general course. The first lesson in the morning was focused on grammar, vocabulary and listening activities, while the second lesson was focused on conversation and pronuntiation. The latter was the most interesting for me, because I could put in practice my oral English skills. Teachers were very competent, though sometimes their Irish accent was difficult to understand. In my class, there were 2 Brazilians, a French woman, a Spanish woman, 2 Koreans and a Belgian. They were easy going and amiable.

Although I had a very fulfilling experience there, I would like to point out that due to the fact that Dublin is full of Spanish people (you will find one in every corner), you’d better avoid them if you do not want to end up speaking more Spanish than English. Moreover, one should bear in mind that the weather is usually very windy, cloudy and grey.

To conclude with, I encourage any of you to go to Ireland both to learn English or for pleasure. It is a quite easy country to move around and Irish people are so sociable that they are always eager to talk to foreigners. From March on there will be flights operated by Aerlingus from Bilbao to Dublin! Go and buy the ticket! I hope you enjoy!