Gaelic Language attack

[rtc872]

McClef has some very good and interesting points.

Any who have had experience educating or being educated (that should be all of us) know all too well that a student is a fickle and complex animal to convince. Some would say worse than the proverbial mule.

I will give my experience. At school I loathed language and remember not a single word of Indonesian or French. A point I am sad about now.

Contrary to everybody's expectations, at uni I took up Japanese as a major. I have now been living in Japan and have a reasonable ability at the language.

My point is, I have very little doubt that if the government stopped forcing those who have no desire to learn the language and started spending probably a fraction of they do now on providing rebates to those that have a true passion for the language they would get healthier statistics in the census. At the moment most say they have basic ability and very few have fluent ability. They should be aiming to switch these results. If you lose those that have basic ability that is no loss to the language.

My point is that people wont learn a language unless they have a passion for it or they have to like the world with English. Gaelic will never be English so stop trying to use an the English model of TESOL (Teaching English as a second or Other Language).

I'll get off of my soap box now

As a disclaimer I really want to learn the language and wish I had half the chances afforded Scots.

[beloitpiper]

Ok, I feel like I should translate what I said earlier.

Basically, if you want to argue with him (the councilor) about putting funds into Gaelic, the best way is to actually try to learn the language. If you're so worried about it going extinct and making it a viable modern language then get involved. You're doing it any good by just complaining about how nobody speaks it when you yourself do no speak it.

[BoldHighlander]

Ok, I feel like I should translate what I said earlier.

Basically, if you want to argue with him (the councilor) about putting funds into Gaelic, the best way is to actually try to learn the language. If you're so worried about it going extinct and making it a viable modern language then get involved. You're doing it any good by just complaining about how nobody speaks it when you yourself do no speak it.

Fair enough (& I happen to agree).......for my part however, I'm aprox an hour & half to 2 hrs (in either direction) from the nearest study group(s), and unless someone is willing to transport me there & back, then I have no way of getting there (hence my desire to form a study group locally....thus far no takers).

In the meantime I'll take recommendations for any decent (& user friendly) websites for studying Gaelic....I need to hear it spoken.


Thanks in advance for any recommendations (including the one from Kyle/Creagdhubh).

[Domhnaich]

Hi Bold,

In similar circumstances to yourself I go here http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/learngaelic/ then go to Beag air Bheag then Getting started with the units.

There is an audio and testing component to the learning that does help a lot. I hope this helps.

Regards,

Domhnaich

[Eric Schutte]

oldhiker,

Moran taing! Thu sgriobh an rud a mo smaoin! Math cuir an cheil, mo caraid!
Is mise deiseil na Gaidhlig do abair......sam bith am!

Slainte agus tapadh leat, mo caraidh!

Eric Schutte

[Oldhiker]

OK I was ready to drop this but Mr Charteris responded to my email. WOW what an Amadan.
Below is his response to my email to ask them spend more money on Education in general not just Gaelic.

"Gaelic is not taught in Dumfries and Galloway schools, so there is no money to save from this Council.

For myself I prefer to live in Scotland rather than Alba.
Regards

John"

the bold and italic I added myself

[xman]

Some of my ancestors spoke Gaelic, but gave it up generations ago for reasons I am certain they deemed practical.

Perhaps, but not certainly. I know that Gaelic was the commonly spoken language in Nova Scotia for generations until the church deemed it the devil's language. So unless you can consider religion a practical reason at least some formerly Gaelic speaking communities lost their language for less than practical reasons.

[xman]

That may be true, however I was under the impression that Gaelic was still spoken in Nova Scotia, unless that has changed relatively recently.

It is still there and I believe in a larger percentage of the population than in Scotland. there are even English/Gaelic government signs even though Gaelic is not an official language in Canada, but it was much more prevalent. There are official signs which can be seen in many different languages across this vast nation depending on the local population. I'll bet there are at least a dozen.

[robinv]

Every 10 years in Scotland, we have the National Census. The next one is at the end of March 2011, and will have a couple of questions to assess the levels of Gaelic knowledge and usage. The data from the census can then be used to inform public spending and policy in the furure.

Question 16 aims to get numbers of people who can read, write or speak Gaelic and Scots.

Question 18 allows Gaelic/Scots speakers to indicate whether they actually use the language within their home.

My own Gaelic is terrible - I keep meaning to learn it properly but never manage to find the time. My fiancée speaks basic Gaelic; her mother was born in the Hebrides and reads, writes and speaks Gaelic - but she doesn't use it day to day. Her uncle and cousins still speak it at home and use the language every day - but then we live in Edinburgh and they're still in the Islands and Argyll.

-robin