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14 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2020 been not to have been able to read the works of poet William Butler Yeats and the p laywright John Millington Synge had their works been available only in Gaelic, not an easy language to learn. Although the Irish have embraced the English la nguage, even making some grammatical changes of their own, they have not abandoned Gaelic. There a re parts of Ireland today know n as Galetach, or a region where Gaelic is prevalent. Gaelic is taught in the Irish primary and secondary schools, but Irish gov ernment educational authorities have recognized that the quality of this teaching could be better. We heard amusing evidence of this from one Irish proprietor of a B&B in Kinsale who joked that the only thing he remembered from all his school years of lang uage lessons was how to say in Gaelic, “May I be excused to go to the bathroom?” Today, learning G aelic has been given a boost by a music fad ( among other things ) , where young people have been inspired to learn it from translations of popular songs into Ga elic. Likewise, the advent of foreign language courses online makes a foreign language more access ible for those who care to learn. The motivation for Ukrainians to keep their native tongue alive and well has been pursued more intensely than in the Gaelic Renaissance because of the cultural pressure from Russia to denigrate every - thing Ukrainian. A fr iend of ours from Kyiv bemoaned the fact that some western Ukrainian students who came to attend a famous institute in Kyiv where her daughter was studying spoke Ukrainian when they arrived, but gradually switched to Russian because it was felt to be more cool — круто — to do so. Hopefully that trend has faded by now, in part because of Russia’s war of aggression. This same friend showed us an interestin g booklet published in Ukraine by the Громадський рух (the People’s Movement): Зроби подарунок Україні ! Переходь н а українсь ку ! (Let’s give Ukraine a present! Let’s switch to Ukrainian!) The authors of the booklet add “ Не будь байдужим ” ( “Don’t be indiffer ent” ). For information on Ukrain e's Law on Language of April 25, 2019 , see https:///www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29903678.html . In an effort to encourage the use of Ukrainian rather than Russian, this brochure states: Let’s give Ukraine a gift! Let’s switch to Ukrainian. The bo oklet was published by the Ukrainian organization, the People’s Movement “Don’t Be Indifferen t!” Many more parallels exist between Ukraine and Ireland. I have to smile when I think of how the Russians even tried to suppress Ukrainian embroidery just as the British tried to ban the wearing of the color green, a color associated with Irish Rebellion of 1798 from whence we have the famous song and pub favorite “The Wearin’ of the Green .” In the U.S. even people who have no Irish background seem happy to par ticipate in wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, and Ukrainian embroidery has been recognized in the fashion world and beyond for its intricate beauty. Some other incidental parallels may be of interest . Ukraine’s national symbol is the Trident, which has three parts, hence “tri” and “dent” or 3 - toothed. Ireland’s national symbol is the shamrock, the three - part leaf that St. Patrick was reported to have used to explain the Holy Trinity. Both countries have national instruments that are stringed — the bandura in Ukraine and the harp i n Ireland. The Irish hold the harp in great reverence, demonstrably allotting it a place on legal seals, etc. I should also mention that both countries also have great respect for their native beers!
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