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calum

It's good to see another report providing evidence of the benefits of Gaelic-medium education. Addtional languages generally are good for children's brains and i'd argue that French or Spanish should be taught in the same way.

However, Gaelic is OUR language and is all around us. It's an ideal springboard to learn another universal tongue other than English.

Nach math gu bheil i againn a-nis, as deidh bliadhnaichean de mhi-run na h-aghaidh. Suas leis a' Ghàidhlig.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8280614.stm

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Stevie · Independentist Joined: 22 Nov 2008 Posts: 1179

Speaking as a language teacher, I agree absolutely.
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calum · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:53 pm Post subject:

Mod starts next week. Snore... However, one year on from Falkirk, is there a Gaelic medium unit in the pipeline there yet?
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Rinty · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:57 pm Post subject:

It isnt my language nor is it the language of where I live. In fact, there are more people in Cumnock whose grandparents spoke spanish as a first language than gaelic.

Alasdair · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:59 pm Post subject:

It's the langauge I was denied in my youth.
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Rinty · Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject:

I was denied many languages, the schools I attended offered two or maybe three. but there was no barrier in the way of me learning any laguage that I could, if I wanted to.

I think that should Gaelic should be encouraged where people want it, subsidised, supported and strongly backed in the areas where it is/was the original language.

To be honest I used to object to my son having to watch postman pat in gaelic whether he wanted to or not at some times on BBC.

Cymro · Getting on a bit! Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 1645

A bit pathetic to object to your son 'having to watch' postman pat in Gaelic isn't it? Same mentality behind the parents who object to childrens' tv presenters with one arm from what I can see - not wanting their children to be introduced to something a bit different. Personally regardless of whether you can directly link it to your area or not introducing it to children can only be a good thing even if it's giving them some awareness that indeed, not everyone in Scotland speaks English as a first language and that not all languages are the same. A lady I work with was telling me her son (who is 2) is now learning basic sign language from some children tv programmes, which sounds brilliant to me.

Back to topic, it's great news that items like this are making it into the press. This argument has been used for a fair while down here in Wales and has been one of the key elements in the expansion of Welsh Medium education across the country. In places like Newport, Monmouth, Cardiff as well as North East Wales where people would have once (and still do to a smaller extent to be fair) used the same argument as Rinty regarding no connections to the Welsh language in that specific areas the demand for Welsh medium education is expanding at a hell of a rate causing massive headaches for the Local Authorities as the current Welsh medium provision isn't enough for the demand while English medium schools are operating where the provision far outweighs the demand.

Alasdair · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:00 am Post subject:

calum · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:34 pm Post subject:

Cumnock is well known for it's Hispanic topography. Gaelic was NEVER spoken there and any Gaels there today must have been parachuted in from Donegal. End of debate. Oh, it's GOOD to be ignorant.
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Fidget · Standing in a Council Ward Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 556

I would prefer teaching useful/commercial languages first. Anybody with an interest in dead languages can pick them up in their own time.

Holebender · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 2:23 pm Post subject:

Fidget · Standing in a Council Ward Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 556

What use is Gaelic in a world of Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese (business language of the future apparently)? Some big languages of business there. Gaelic for endearment's sake doesn't figure in my idea of schooling. Want to learn it? Do it in your own time.

Holebender · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 2:42 pm Post subject:

I don't think anyone is suggesting compulsory Gaelic lessons, but what a sad state our children would be in if they only ever learned what some official deemed "useful". I don't believe there is a free society on this planet which denigrates and belittles its own culture in the way that some people would have us do.
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Fidget · Standing in a Council Ward Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 556

I learnt some Latin at school. Use to me? Zilch. I learnt some French at school too. Use to me? Great in comparison to Latin. I can communicate in French. That's a great thing - to be able to communicate with other people in a thriving language. I think I'd be livid if I was sent to school and taught Gaelic over other languages that I might actually be able to use. Gaelic, I suppose, is fine if your sights aren't any higher than your croft, but in today's age, the best possible start is needed, and teaching dead languages is a handicap!!

Holebender · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:15 pm Post subject:

There you go with the dead languages again. I have a Higher in Latin and I've often found it useful, even though I couldn't string a single sentence together any more. Wherever I work in the world and whatever language people speak around me I often find common words with the languages I already know, which helps me grasp what is being said.

Try losing some of your arrogance and you might enjoy the rich diversity around you. When a language is lost some of the colour is lost from our world and we are all a little poorer for it.
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Fidget · Standing in a Council Ward Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 556

It is simply my opinion that languages taught in schools ought to be languages that are going to be useful over a broad spectrum. Gaelic isn't one of them, as isn't Latin.

Holebender · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject:

Well... opinions are like A***holes; everybody has one and they usually stink.
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Cymro · Getting on a bit! Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 1645

Latin would almost certainly have been useful to you, it's the basis of many other European languages including French. Learning French would have been easier having grasped some Latin too. It's the same when it comes to Gaelic, for one thing it isn't dead, very much alive, while possibly not well. It's an important element of life in Scotland even if you can't speak it yourself, it's something to be respected and taken care of and allowed to flourish once again. Gaelic hasn't suffered of its own free will but because of massive political and subsequent social pressures which has lead to its perceived inferiority.

Gaelic may not be a global language a la Mandarin, Spanish or English and I don't see anyone argue that Gaelic should replace English. Far from it, it's about bilingualism and multilingualism and the benefits that give communities and individuals. It's all well looking at other languages as what we should aspire towards but that doesn't have to be at the expense of languages like Gaelic, there is a place for both in modern society. Look at other European Countries for example - learning English to a very high standard while also keeping their own indigenous languages and dialects strong and very much alive.

Opponents of the Gaelic language will try and set it against global languages in an attempt to show its inferiority but local languages and global languages don't need to be in opposition of eachother, in fact they can easily match up and will do with the right attitude.

Rinty · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:47 pm Post subject:

Holebender · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:51 pm Post subject:

I imagine quite a few Gaels object to their kids having to watch Padraig Post (sp?) in English.

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