Colonisers used Ireland as a testing ground, says Brendan Kelleher, as Jane Foxworthy detects English admiration for foreign language ability
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s piece on the consequences of an alien language imposed by a colonial power (‘We spoke English to set ourselves apart’, 14 March) must find echoes across all those countries that suffered such an injustice, regardless of the language of the coloniser.
Ireland, now viewed as the laboratory where British colonialism tested its command, had its sole native tongue virtually eliminated by the close of the 19th century.
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