This week’s Mood Board features visiting Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant from University College, Dublin, Eoin McEvoy. This Thursday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner as part of Nova Feis, Eoin will be giving a lecture in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. The lecture is entitled “Gaelic Yesterday and Today: Tracing the Irish Language through History.” Eoin is currently teaching Introductory Irish II and Intermediate Irish to Villanova students.

I am inspired by languages and the communities that keep them alive in the face of adversity.

I’m listening to Kate Boy from Stockholm.

My favorite street in Dublin is the red-bricked Exchequer Street.

I wish more people knew that Ireland is having a referendum on same-sex marriage in May and that the polls suggest it will pass by a very wide margin.

At least once, everyone should try to write creatively – short story, song, play or full-length novel. Even if nobody else ever reads it, is is an immensely rewarding experience.

I’d really like to read the Quran.

If I could be any person for a day, I’d be Björk. What a character!

“Björk – Hurricane Festival” by Zach Klein from New York, New York, USA – Bjork, Hurricane Festival. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s never too late to start learning a new language. And of course, everybody should give Irish a shot – it’s available on the fun language-learning app Duolingo now! (iOS | Android)

When reading James Joyce, it is important to read aloud whenever you encounter a difficulty and to laugh at him when you can – he is always laughing at you.

My favorite phrase in the Irish language is Tá muc ar gach mala aige, which means “He is scowling”. It literally means “He has a pig on every eyebrow.”

Interview by Michelle Callaghan, graduate assistant on the Communication and Service Promotion team. She is currently pursuing her MA in English at Villanova University.