Welcome to Trinity’s Tongues, a one-off, multilingual journal that celebrates the diversity of languages in Trinity College Dublin. Within these pages you will gain insight into a range of the different languages that can be heard in our community, and the people who speak them. The value of personal linguistic identity, of cultural diversity and of acquiring new languages will be shown, by letting 10 Trinity students and staff members tell their stories in their own native languages. Students come to Trinity College from over 100 different countries every year, meaning that a huge variety of languages is spoken here. In fact, such is the diversity of language and culture in Trinity College that no publication could shine a light on every aspect of it - though Trinity’s Tongues has made a fine effort. And while we can offer you only a taste of what’s to be found within the college’s walls, we do so happy in the knowledge that we also offer you the privilege of getting lost in the linguistic and cultural perspective of others. If this publication inspires you to take up a new language, you will find that there are many opportunities to do so in Trinity College. Yulia Kharchenko, an MPhil student in Applied Linguistics, researched the teaching and learning of languages in Trinity College in 2013/2014. She found that 30 languages are taught in the college on almost 400 different courses. On top of that, 92% of the college community were able to speak at least one acquired language, so you have a good chance of finding somebody to speak your new language with! “Reasons for language learning in Trinity College include not only increased employment and communication opportunities, but also interest in the literary heritage of the language, the feeling of national identity, or simply an interest in the language.” – Yulia Kharchenko, MPhil student The editors are grateful to the team of writers and translators who gave their time in order to demonstrate the importance of language to them and to contribute to a unique project. Each piece of writing featured here is powerful and thought-provoking in its own way. Such was the interest in contributing to Trinity’s Tongues that dozens of interesting stories and languages were unable to be included. It falls, therefore, to you the reader to find those stories and languages for yourself as you go about your day. We are immensely privileged to be in an environment of such diversity, passion and talent as Trinity College. Don’t forget that. And enjoy the trip around the world that awaits you in the pages that follow. Aoife Crawford, Irish Language Officer Fionn Ó Deá, Auditor, An Cumann Gaelach Editors’ Foreword 3
TCD Multilingual 2015
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