Daniela learening two new languages at Gaelscoil

Gaelscoil an Choillín pupil Daniela Noyek entered the school at the start of the 2024/25 year not only having to learn Irish from scratch – but English also.

That’s because four-year-old Daniela’s family are from Ukraine, and so English is a new language not just for him, but also for his mother, Alyona, who is also trying to learn the language.

When it came to deciding where to send Daniela to school, Alyona was keen to send him to the Gaelscoil because she found it to be “a very lovely school”.

“I spoke with Trína [Ní Nualláin], and I very much liked this teacher, and decided to send him to this school.”

Trína recalls that Daniela’s family were apprehensive because they don’t have English, but, she says, as well as using a total immersion method, through which he will learn Irish, Daniela was approved for extra tuition in English, and so he is learning the two languages at the same time.

“There are lots of families in the school for which English is not their first language – families from Brazil, families from Colombia, families from loads of different countries.

“They would have, generally speaking, had English as their second language and they would have had a good grasp of English before they were able to adjust to the classroom setting. So Daniela is unique, and I’m really happy to have Daniela here, because it just shows with the support of the school environment, he’s learning English fluently, and he’s learning Irish fluently, and he’s thriving,” Trína concluded.