The problem is one of meaning. When a Spanish speaker says 'Me gusta el helado'
He is not really saying 'I like ice-cream' but 'ice-cream is liked by me'. That
sounds a bit strange but let's take look at some other verbs in English that
work in a similar way as 'gustar' and we will see that its use is not really so
illogical as may seem at first.
If we imagine verbs like, 'enthral',
enrapture' or 'fascinate', we can see that these work more like 'gustar' than
'like'.
eg. When we say:
'I like them', it is the subject 'I'
that feels the emotion towards 'them' (the object). However, with a verb such as
'fascinate', it's the other way around:
'I fascinate them' = It is the
object 'them' that feels the emotion towards 'I' (the subject). ie. they are
fascinated by me.
If we can consider 'gustar' to work in the same way as
'fascinate', for example, then we can begin to see the true meaning of 'gustar'.
See how the uses of 'fascinar' and 'gustar' compare:
'They
fascinate me' = Ellos me fascinan (a mí)
'I like them' = Ellos me gustan (a
mí)
'You fascinate me' = Tú me fascinas (a mí)
'I like you' = Tú me gustas
(a mí)
'I fascinate you' = Yo te fascino (a ti)
'You like me' = Yo te
gusto (a ti)
'They fascinate us' = Ellos nos fascinan (a nosotros)
'We
like them' = Ellos nos gustan (a nosotros)
As you can see, then, 'gustar'
(and other similar words eg, 'encantar' (love) 'I love ice-cream' = Me encanta
el helado.) are not so illogical.