Learning a language is an easy option in most parts of Ireland, especially in Dublin or other large cities, where plenty of courses at VEC colleges, Institutes of Technology, universities and other places, will be able to meet your needs.
If you want to learn in class, the best place to live is Dublin, where you can choose from about 30 languages including Irish and English. Most of the main European languages are covered, together with more far-flung options like Hausa, Hindi, Korean, Malay, Persian and Serbo-Croat. You can even learn Latin - once referred to by a US presidential hopeful as the language that's spoken by Latin Americans.
Apart from second and third level-colleges, some embassies and cultural institutes organise courses at different levels.
The Instituto Cervantes, 58 Northumberland Road, Dublin 4, tel: (01) 668 2024, does Spanish courses at all levels. For German, contact the Goethe Institut language department, at 62 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2, tel: (01) 661 8506. Here you can learn German for cultural or business reasons, similar to what you can do with French at the Alliance Francaise, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, tel: (01) 676 1732.
The Alliance has nearly a dozen centres round the country, in addition to its two in Dublin. UCD does evening classes including French, German, Spanish and even Arabic, Korean and Mandarin Chinese for beginners. At NUI Maynooth, you can study the Basque language.
In some cases, local authorities libraries run language classes, as in the case of Dublin Corporation and South Dublin County Council.
With some lesser-studied languages, like Hausa, the courses are self-learning, with the facilities provided by Dublin Corporation libraries.
Some other institutes also provide language tuition, like the Sandford Language Institute at Milltown, Dublin 6, tel:(01) 260 1296, which announces in its advertising, very ambitiously, that it caters for "all languages". You can even do a course in Old Norse here.
Other colleges around the country, like the Cork College of Commerce and St John's College of Further Education and Training in Cork, also do language tuition.
Organisations like Gael Linn (tel: (01) 676 7283) and Conradh na Gaeilge (tel: (01) 475 7401) are excellent sources of information on learning Irish. A number of organisations teach English as a foreign language.
If you live outside Dublin or the other bigger cities, and would have problems getting to a class, then distance learning in its various formats might suit.
One option is RTE TV, which broadcasts a variety of language learning programmes on Sunday mornings, in such languages as Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian and Spanish. Broadcasting can be a very effective medium for learning a language: I learned Italian to a reasonable standard from a radio series.
Another source is the Linguaphone Institute, 41 Upper Abbey Street, Dublin 1, tel: (01) 873 2366), which provides tuition in just over 50 languages. Kits come in cassette, audio CD and video format and cost about £200 each. An hour's study a day for three months should ensure a working ability in that language, while 12 months' study should see a course completed.
It's also worth consulting the various guides to evening courses. The Wolfhound Guide to Evening Classes in Dublin lists all the adult education language courses in Dublin. Another useful source, for higher education courses, is the National Council for Educational Awards directory. Where applicable, the VTOS guide for mature students is also worth consulting.
