Future of Scottish languages.

[Charlie33]

Hello.
I think that the schools in Scotland should not teach the students english as their first language. They would choose if they should study Gaelic, or Scots as their first language, and learn English as their secound language , and then the language they did not choose as their first , ans their third (or secound, if they wanted).
This should make the old scottish tradition more relived, and both Gaelic and Scots would be saved. Gaelic is a very beuatiful language that I guess many foreigners should study, if there just were enough speakers.
And Scots is also a language that is very nice to listen to, I love to try to speak it.
And, now when there's many debates why english is a such global languages and some want chinese as the world language, why not try to make Scots the worlds largest language? It's similarity to english is about the same as , for example, danish and german, and many danes lears german, why could not all Americans learn Scots? They could read great poems by Rabbie Burns, and listen to great music.

Noo, what dae ye think aboot that?

[Scottish_Republican]

"Noo, what dae ye think aboot that?"

I think that there are two Scots languages - Scottish/Scots Gaelic (as opposed to Irish or Manx Gaelic) and Lowland Scots/Lallans and that they should be referred to as such.

"It's similarity to english is about the same as , for example, danish and german,"

So some people write, but this is really not the case. More like Danish and Norwegian.

[dmlay]

What is the origin of Gaelic?

[Marlys of Mull]

Originally Posted by Charlie33

Noo, what dae ye think aboot that?

I think you should sign me up and I'd be happy to learn it and speak it to my kids. Know anybody in the American Southwest who speaks Gaelic?

dmlay, I'll defer to SR for the background on Gaelic as he will be much better at telling it than I. However, my book says its one of six modern Celtic languages which belong to the Indo-European family of languages like English, French and Russian (although they, in themselves, are not similiar at all). Older versions of the Celtic languages were spoken in a large part of Europe during the height of Celtic civilization,.....which was.......

SR?

[Marlys of Mull]

So it annoyed me that I didn't know the answer to your question, dmlay, being an ancient culture enthusiast, and all, so I looked it up.

The Celts or Gaels, which are dirivatives of words the Greeks and Romans used, were the people populating most of Europe between about 2000 BC and a few centuries after Christ's birth. They gave both the Greeks and the Romans grief but trade was also conducted between the cultures. They migrated as far East as the borders of China and as far South as Greece. Alexander the Great fought them. They migrated from Spain up to Ireland in the 4th or 5th century and from there over to Scotland.

Gaelic or Celtic became the name of the language they spoke.

[georgekidd]

Originally Posted by Charlie33

I think that the schools in Scotland should not teach the students english as their first language.

Why? English is the language spoken by almost 100% of the people that live in Scotland, so it makes sense that it is taught as the first language!

They would choose if they should study Gaelic, or Scots as their first language, and learn English as their secound language , and then the language they did not choose as their first , ans their third (or secound, if they wanted).

Who should choose? The schools? The teachers? The students? Given a choice of learning Gaelic or German or French as a second language, students on Islay (where Gaelic would have been the expected first choice) chose to learn German or French. So if they didn't even choose Gaelic as a second language would you expect them to want it taught as their first?

This should make the old scottish tradition more relived...

How? These old traditions are not just dependant upon language, but also on the understanding of what these traditions are all about. How many people really know or care? Whisky making is one of these traditions and yet the way whisky is made now bears little resemblance to how it was made originally!

... and both Gaelic and Scots would be saved.

This really depends on how many people continue to learn/speak Gaelic and Scots now and in the future! Both language won't die in the near future; as long as people keep using them (whether written or spoken) they shouldn't die. Education can (and hopefully will) take a part in keeping these languages alive, but it still comes down to personal choice whether you learn them (either as spoken or written!)

Gaelic is a very beuatiful language that I guess many foreigners should study, if there just were enough speakers.

Should or would? There's a big difference. One (should) suggests you are forcing them to study, the other (would) suggests they have a choice. Personally I would go for the latter and think (hope) that is what you actually meant!

And Scots is also a language that is very nice to listen to, I love to try to speak it.

So keep trying - who's stopping you?

And, now when there's many debates why english is a such global languages and some want chinese as the world language, why not try to make Scots the worlds largest language? It's similarity to english is about the same as , for example, danish and german, and many danes lears german, why could not all Americans learn Scots?

How do you propose to do that? How many people around the world can speak English or Chinese? Compare that to how many can speak Scots! It wouldn't be an easy task to take a very (small) minority language and make it the majority language. What would be the point considering how close Scots is to English anyway, despite what you might think although I will take your word for it as to how close Danish and German are! And as for Americans learning Scots, they could if they wanted to - who's stopping them?

They could read great poems by Rabbie Burns...

Did he write any great poems? I know he wrote plenty of poems, some of them might even be described as "good", but its down to personal taste, not understanding of language as such, whether people think they were great or otherwise!

... and listen to great music.

They still can listen to great music even without knowing Gaelic or Scots. Music tends not to rely on great linguistic (sp?) skills on the part of the listener. How many people like the Runrig songs sung in Gaelic without actually knowing what they are singing? I for one certainly do!

Noo, what dae ye think aboot that?

I'm still trying to work out what the point is you are making! My guessing is you have something against the English and therefore their language as well!

[Scotsgait]

Originally Posted by Charlie33

Noo, what dae ye think aboot that?

I despair of it. In fact, I doubt you yourself are being serious; indeed, if you are, I worry for you.

There are good reasons for increasing the level of Scots and Gaelic into the curriculum but to insist on them being the first language at school as part of some hare-brained idea to make Scots (or Gaelic ?) the world's largest language is totally laughable. Add to that the Brigadoon vision that some contributors have of Scotland and you'll appreciate why I despair.

Preserve our culture, yes; but let's also move forward with the language we use in Scotland today (which has some very distinct differences in usage compared with the English of our southern neighbours).