Terraka Garner
Life Editor
Sent by the Fulbright Foreign Language Commission to teach, he aims to do so much more. Teaching assistant, Séamus Ó Súilleabháin said he wants to give flavor to the Irish language as well as to create more Irish language enthusiasts by informing students about the culture of what he considers to have transformed over the years into being a minority language.
The Fulbright or FLTA program brings scholars from around the world to teach language if the proper requirements are fulfilled. Recent graduates, master’s and doctoral candidates, or young professionals are all eligible to apply for the program. The entire goal of the program is to provide direct interaction and knowledge, straight from the source of the language.
Idaho State University’s department of Global Studies and Languages is currently offering this beginner Irish language class on Monday and Wednesday from 6 to 7:50 p.m. and Monday through Thursday from 10 to 10:50 a.m.
“A lot of culture has been kind of preserved within the consciousness of the Irish language in the way that’s not possible in English because it’s so international,” said Súilleabháin. “It’s becoming more and more relevant, but it’s always been relevant. Especially if anyone that considers their identity in relationship to colonialism.”
Súilleabháin stated that there has been an abundance of immigration into Ireland, causing slight amounts of exploitation and political differences, but in spite of this, he believes the Gaelic language and culture to be an integral part of Irish identity.
“It’s been there for longer. Our names come from Irish and the way we speak English comes from Irish,” said Súilleabháin. “It still gives a really big insight to what being Irish is, even in relation to people that don’t speak the language anymore because it’s like embedded in our culture. I’m hoping to give insights to that in the class, but the main thing is just about focusing on teaching how to speak it and having fun, basically.”
Song and dance is popular in the Irish culture. Typically, the playing of the fiddles, the banjos and any similar instrument was developed to accompany dancers.
Súilleabháin is particularly keen on singing and listening to meaningful folk songs in the acappella form. He finds himself listening to numerous diverse variations of genre, such as folk, blues and jazz. He is peculiarly fascinated by hip-hop and rap music due to its reported similarity to folk music.
“I see that [hip hop and rap music] is almost the contemporary cultural phenomenon that most compares to folk song traditions, because it’s lyrical based and often tells stories,” said Súilleabháin. “It’s about word play and it’s very much kind of the language that’s used among the people as opposed to an academic type of poetry.”
Súilleabháin said he was brought up hearing people sing in pubs and in other public gatherings with no music, “just singing a story and everyone at the bar just singing along.” This is the foundation for why he wants to create a folk singers club at ISU during his stay. He said traditional songs in Ireland are all about telling a story, with no necessary beginning, middle or end.
He would appreciate the club to be set up in a folk song circle, where people from all around the world come together and sing songs of their culture, with emphasis on the words and performance, to relay and portray a story.
“You could see like these different types of traditions melting into each other. It won’t be just about playing music, it will be about singing,” said Súilleabháin. He added, “It will be like next thing you know everyone’s really quiet, then next thing someone says ‘who’s going to sing a song, and they start singing a song.”
Súilleabháin was born in London, where his parents met, but moved back and forth between London and Ireland until he was approximately seven years old. He proposed that every culture has their similarities and their differences, acknowledging that he is in Pocatello to learn more and to teach, not to compare his country to America.
“When you go somewhere, you have to become a part of that area. You have to become a part of that culture as well. I don’t really look at things from a denoted perspective,” he said. “To me every culture is human culture and it’s there to be critiqued and contributed to.”
