Learning English in Dublin is fun, but it's not for the fainthearted. The grammar, the irregular verbs, the crazy spelling. But you want to know the hardest part of all? Getting a real live Irish person to talk to. Getting a basic grasp of the language is easy, but when it comes to doing their homework - actually speaking the language - foreign students have a hard time. Jobs requiring manual labour, such as those in restaurants and cafes, do not attract Irish people any more, so foreigners are left to learn English among themselves. When the hunt for Irish companions leads them to pubs, matters get worse, since in the world's pub capital, an Irish person's best friend remains the pint of Guinness.

Any good teacher will tell you that theory needs to be backed up by practice. It's the same with learning English. According to teacher Don Kidd, a foreign student who attends classes and speaks English on a daily basis stands a good chance of being fluent after one year. For the student who learns theory only, the process will be much slower.

Cludia Ozelami, from Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, came with her eight-year-old son to work. She takes English classes, and works in a hotel, but when it comes to practising English, something goes drastically wrong: she ends up speaking Spanish instead. In fact, she learns more from her son than she does from speaking to the natives.

Cludia says she had never imagined she would work with so many Spaniards and so few Irish. One of her friends, a Portuguese-speaking Brazilian, says her English has improved since she came to Dublin, but not as much as her Spanish.

For most foreign students arriving in Dublin, their lack of fluency forces them to take jobs for which English is not a major requirement. They end up working in coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, pubs and convenience stores. "They give us the jobs that the Irish don't want," says Elma de Rioja Benito, from Burgos in Spain. Students find it difficult to learn English even during their time off. Elma, who works in the kitchen of a restaurant and occasionally clears tables, confesses that sometimes she feels so exhausted that she lacks the energy to study.

Some students use their work environment to practise English. Others, such as some Chinese, have to devise alternatives as they are not entitled to a work permit. Lon Ning Chuan from Panjin says that he goes straight to the pub when he wants to meet the Irish. But learning English in pubs can be even harder. The Irish go to pubs to drink and talk. For an Irish person it may be tiring to sustain a conversation with a foreigner who is still in the early stages of the language, says Don Kidd. He recommends that foreign students learn English with other foreign learners - or get themselves Irish girl or boyfriends.

If they can get talking to an Irish person, the student faces another hurdle: the Irish brogue. And even if you can understand the accent, the speed of delivery will get you. "When we ask them to speak slowly, they repeat what they have just said, only even faster. Sometimes we have the impression that they do not want us to understand them, that they like us to remain foreign," says Elma.

"It often happened that I went to the tax office to inquire about my rights and came home knowing even less," she adds.

Trying to understand Irish people in pubs gets more hazardous as the evening wears on. "As tipsiness increases," says Elma, "it can be hard to understand what they say. To have a few pints once in a while is fine, but it is sad that you have to drink to be able to talk to people, to forge some sort of friendship."

Generally speaking, foreigners find it difficult to make friends with Irish people. Elma says Irish women are more reserved than Irish men. They take a long time to become real friends and are cautious before they come to trust people.

Cristina Larios from Spain disagrees. Cristina has been living in Dublin for over ten months. She has many friends and knows that when she returns to Madrid, she will carry them in her heart.

But perhaps the experience of Eva Garcia Grande, another Spaniard, is more typical. After seven months working in Dublin, her last day began much as her first one had: the same job, the same Spanish friends, and no Irish ones.