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Provision for Scottish Gaelic speakers

I went on my first visit to the Western Isles last week. As someone learning Welsh, I was appalled by the lack of prominence given to the language. I agree with the comments made by those who suggest that Scots is now a language variety which far, far outweighs Scottish Gaelic in terms of its number of speakers. That being said, Gaelic is STILL the mother tongue of nearly 60,000 speakers. I do not think it is helpful for the majority of Scots speakers to attack the laughable amount of funding for Gaelic speakers. Speakers of both these languages have faced nothing but prejudice and a lack of support from educational and governmental institutions over the past 100 years, and just because a small and token change in the direction of support for Gaelic has come from the Scottish Parliament in the last 20 years, is no reason to suggest that such support is not deserved by speakers of that variety. The issue lies in the contempt with which speakers of any non-standard or different language have always been treated in the UK. The support given to Gaelic appears to be focused outside the Western Isles, where it is a living language. Though it is very admirable that schools such as Tollcross Primary exist, and is to be encouraged, it seems that the provision in the Western Isles does NOT match support given elsewhere. Gaelic appears to be becoming a trendy marker of political correctness, which is annoying people rather than rallying support for the language. It is ironic that a language so unstable that most linguists agree it is dying should now be given so much emotive attention as a Scottish marker of identity. The language has been vilified as unsuitable for poetry, education aand religious worship. It is a bitter irony that just as its speakers are struggling hardest, people embrace Gaelic as a twee language representing a bygone era of crofts, shortbread, songs round the fire and the hearty, thriving highlander. I suggest that people actually GO to the places where this language lives, rather than passing judgment. Both Scots and Gaelic have a long and noble history of intelligent literature and culture, and both sets of speakers deserve funding to help their language continue to be spoken by children, rather than condemned to tea towels and souvenirs.

Sent by: Esther

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