jamamafegan Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I'd rather the kids got taught first aid than Gaelic at school. They do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Then why teach them Gaelic? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I went to a Gaelic primary school but switched to main stream in high school although did Garlic at higher level. Haven’t spoke it since high school though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worktheshaft Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Seems to rile up a lot of the Unionist / *** / Tory 'communities' so i'm all for it. Children who learn a second language at a young age tend to achieve higher grades at school so whits the problem here Tamhas? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainMorton Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Can just imagine everyone learning gaelic, then BBC Alba changing their football commentary to English 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONeils40yarder Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Not actively against the promotion of the language, but dont really get the dual-language signs or the emergency services vehicles being in both English and Gaelic...particularly in the lowland areas where, there will be next to no Gaelic speakers. In fact I'd imagine there are far more speakers of Urdu or Mandarin than there are Gaelic speakers in Glasgow and the West. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin' Kev Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 There's a Gaelic primary close by which seems very well run. I'm all for it even though I can't speak a word of it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 7 minutes ago, Boostin' Kev said: There's a Gaelic primary close by which seems very well run. I'm all for it even though I can't speak a word of it. It's supposed to very good for kids to grow up bilingual, does something to the brain which makes it easier to learn other languages later on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin' Kev Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 1 minute ago, welshbairn said: It's supposed to very good for kids to grow up bilingual, does something to the brain which makes it easier to learn other languages later on. I've read something similar about cerebral benefits of being bilingual. Unfortunately I'm still working on my English let alone a second language. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ferguson's Hat Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I don't mind bilinguals, I just wouldn't want one in the house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomp my root Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 40 minutes ago, welshbairn said: It's supposed to very good for kids to grow up bilingual, does something to the brain which makes it easier to learn other languages later on. Heard similar myself, I'd go for Spanish rather than Gaelic though if a second language was being pushed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 13 hours ago, Peppino Impastato said: Btw if it's Scottish you're supposed to say gah-lic not gay-lic. Gay-lic is Irish. This is a notable bugbear of mine, particularly when you have the likes of Tam Cowan pronouncing it the Irish way over BBC radio. As a nation, it sums up our attitude to non-English languages when thousands (probably even a million plus) inhabitants can't even pronounce the name of our 'second' national language. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peppino Impastato Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 9 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said: This is a notable bugbear of mine, particularly when you have the likes of Tam Cowan pronouncing it the Irish way over BBC radio. As a nation, it sums up our attitude to non-English languages when thousands (probably even a million plus) inhabitants can't even pronounce the name of our 'second' national language. So true 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shandon Par Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Compared to the neo-fascist policies of other governments, having "Police" written on police cars in a language not heard in this part of the country for about 700 years seems quite a harmless activity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The OP Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Hedgecutter said: This is a notable bugbear of mine, particularly when you have the likes of Tam Cowan pronouncing it the Irish way over BBC radio. As a nation, it sums up our attitude to non-English languages when thousands (probably even a million plus) inhabitants can't even pronounce the name of our 'second' national language. I suppose it sums up the irrelevance of our second national language to most people. There was a Gaelic unit in my school but the only person I know who learned it naturally was from South Uist and they never thought it worth teaching their kids any. Each to their own I suppose, but from my own POV I would find Polish or Urdu to be useful languages to learn and there would be few more pointless than Gaelic. Edited May 22, 2018 by The OP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 4 minutes ago, The OP said: I suppose it sums up the irrelevance of our second national language to most people. There was a Gaelic unit in my school but the only person I know who learned it naturally was from South Uist and they never thought it worth teaching their kids any. Each to their own I suppose, but from my own POV I would find Polish or Urdu to be useful languages to learn and there would be few more pointless than Gaelic. Agreed. My Cousin's school has a large percentage of polish children, she's actually picked up enough polish to have a basic conversation in it. If signs are being replaced, i see no harm in adding Gaelic writing to them. It's not costing any extra, and i think that encouraging it in the same way the welsh language is can only be good in youngsters. I'd have rather learn Gaelic than French in school tbh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Seems to rile up a lot of the Unionist / *** / Tory 'communities' so i'm all for it. Children who learn a second language at a young age tend to achieve higher grades at school so whits the problem here Tamhas? Best way we can get those types on board is for the Daily Rags to print the headline “NOW MORE ARABIC SPEAKERS THAN GAELIC IN SCOTLAND”And then watch as they all say it’s a disgrace and we should all be speaking Gaelic. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I went off speaking Gaelic because everyone I would ever speak it to would also be fluent in English so I didn’t see a worthwhile future in speaking it. Would rather have learnt Spanish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banana Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) Absolute waste of time unless you live in a Gaelic area. Better off learning Latin, Chinese, or Arabic. Edited May 22, 2018 by banana 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 My missus is a native speaker from Lewis and I did a learner’s O Grade back in the day (no Granny Danger jokes please). Also we had a week at Sabhal Mór Os***** a couple of years back, a learners course for me and a cultural type thingy for her. My view is, no use forcing road signs etc on people in the wrong areas especially when they seem to just be made up half the time. On the other hand, I’m somebody who believes every day is a school day. I used to be a teacher and tried to make the subject (maths) interesting by dropping in extra wee anecdotes, puzzles etc. You always got people who said “will this be in the test? Then why are we doing it?” You also got people who had a very fixed idea of what they would need in their future job, so completely dismissed anything different from that. So when people say, what’s the point of Gaelic, I’m never going to speak it, etc, even though they live in a town like Inverness with Gaelic placenames, mountains etc all around them, or even Glasgow, and they’re not interested in even knowing the meaning of them, I think of those kids, except it’s adults saying it, and I despair. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.