In Ireland, children learn Irish and perhaps another second language in school, but use English almost exclusively outside those classes. In addition, the classes most concerned with communication (i.e., language classes) are those the most empty of material about which to communicate. This experience with language learning may diminish students' perception of other languages as relevant. While it is commonly held among language teachers that they should associate language with situations outside the classroom, it is difficult to do this authentically. One way of turning language into an asset is to use the target language for classroom management, which provides a rich source of communication needs, but this effort can be lost in the hours between language classes. The isolation of the language class can be counteracted by introducing language lessons into other areas of the curriculum, linking language and subject matter. Studies of partial and full immersion courses show that performance in the target language is positively affected and achievement in the content areas does not suffer. If subject matter is covered both in the language course and in its own course, the subject matter and language learning are both reinforced. (MSE)