Only use will keep them alive
I used to be quite 'darwinian' about languages - if they're obsolete, why should we mourn their demise? But now that I'm learning language number 12, I realise that languages teach us different ways of thinking and therefore, even the study of a dead language is a worthwhile and enlightening mental exercise. It is not enough to ask politicians to influence this 'from the top down' - only by speaking and learning endangered languages do we create a demand for eg. the teaching of native languages in schools. It is up to the individual to sit down and study, and to parents to instruct their children (or engage a private tutor), to lead by example and influence others to do the same, not to the state to dictate what languages we should speak. Just a point of interest though: in the interest of communication amongst the different cultures which now make up Britain, might it be more appropriate to teach Arabic in schools rather than Welsh or Gaelic? Personally, I think there is scope to expose children to both!
Sent by: Cosima
Comments
aonghas, I could just as easily say that Gaidhlig is Irish. You are announcing that only the Gaidhlig are the true people of scotland, you remind me of the days when foreigners would divide scotland into the "English" lowlands and the "Irish" highlands.
Both scots and Gaidhlig must be saved, we can both agree there is no place for the English languages in Scotland
Saving any language is important if we want to preserve our history and identity.
Languages cannot survive by legislation. People who find value in them will speak them and so save them. Others should just shut up.
Scots is not a language=simple. It is English with an accent and key words within it are Gaelic in origin. Scottish Gaelic is the true language of Scotland and we need to stop kidding ourselves that speaking English with an accent i.e. so called Scots is a separate language from English. We need to restore Gaelic. I want to be able to go into a restaurant in Edinburgh and order a meal in Scottish Gaelic but while we think Scots is a language we will continue to be English.
The thing is people say you shouldn't teach children Scots in schools because it's a foreign language it is stupid! Children learn French, German etc. but why not Scots?
In Scotland, because I'm in my final years of High School we study Scottish poems and texts but it isn't enough as truly everyone speaks English/Slang or Scots with English and Slang...
Being taught native languages should be part of the schools and that goes for any part of the UK which has a language other than English... eg. Welsh.. Gaelic... Scots...
It almost feels there is a conspiracy or something that aims to cause minority languages to become extinct. Unfortunately, the mandatory learning of any foreign language (in school, etc.) is often viewed by many learners as unnecesssary and pointless, and this view is what kills off minority languages.
We must combine both elements of languages, by exposing young children to both foreign and native languages.
Why not take a look on how the Norwegians have handled their language. Until around 1900 Norwegian
- at least in writing and as spoken in the major cities - was almost identical to Danish (Norway and Denmark
was united until 1814). Then a language was created by combining several rural dialect to make a language
close to the original Norwegian language. This "New Norwegian" or "Nynorsk" is today one of the official languages although
spoken by only 12 % of the population but the point is that "New Norwegian" has effected the language spoken by the
majority of Norwegians and a beautiful language absolutely distinct from Danish has emerged.
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