BBC ALBA Ceilidh

[barkingfly]

Ladies

I am watching this on my I player, and I have a couple questions. How many of y'all speak Gaelic? And why isn't there more pipe music? Thanks!

We watch BBC Alba a lot despite having very little Gaelic. They excel at documentaries plus it is reassuring to hear news from other than Glasgow or Dundee.
There are many piping articles, World Piping championships, individual pipers, global pipers, etc plus there are English subtitles on most programmes.
The ceilidh was great this year!

I do love the pipes.

There is far too much spent on BBC Alba in my view when there is a very small Gaelic speaking population and always has been really despite the SNP trying to pretend it's our national language and changing road signs etc.

I'm not saying that some of these programmes shouldn't be made or that news should be less central belt centric, but the % of the budget spent is far too much.

DH watches the rugby and it's in Gaelic despite the vast majority of fans watching it for Edinburgh and Glasgow teams, the commentary is in Gaelic but of course all the interviews have to be conducted in English as none of the players or pundits speak Gaelic, it's a farce.

No Gaelic language skills here (despite a year of it in high school & a grandad who's first language was Gaelic) but I like some of the BBC Alba programmes. I Agree with OneMagnum's post 100%

Personally I don't know anyone who speaks Gaelic. Imo far too much money is spent on trying to resurrect it.

Cash-strapped councils are now being persuaded to convert all road signs into very-confusing English/Gaelic signs which have the Gaelic version above the English making them not only confusing but dangerous.

Rant over!!

Regarding Gaelic road signs, many places (especially rural) have Gaelic names and I don't agree that it is a distraction for the split second it takes to read the sign.
BBC Alba produces top quality news, documentaries, history, music etc and is by far superior to BBC Scotland which has become tired and biased imo.

There is a large Gaelic speaking audience globally, many other countries can access Alba on iPlayer plus it provides many of us north of the Firth of Forth with more general news or information about smaller or remote areas plus it provides work for many where jobs are scarce due to geography.

I speak Gaelic!

I watch the music stuff and love it.

And The Mod!

I can only say Eorpa in Gaelic. That was a great programme by the way.

I speak Gaelic.

I know a lot of people like to get on the ranting wagon with regards to how much money is spend on Gaelic.

With regards to education there is no difference - yes councils are struggling to find teachers but that's regardless of which language they speak - a teacher is paid the same whether they teach through English or Gaelic so costs the school the same, but the children will be brought up bilingually which has huge benefits for them both cognitively and socially.

Most of the place-names were originally from Gaelic and some from Norse too, so by having bilingual road signs we can all see the origins of the places and equally tourists love it which is a huge contributor to our economy. Also while people complain about the cost of them, these road signs are only changed when they are due for renewal anyway, so if a road sign is in good knick it won't be changed.

And finally if we were to look at our Celtic cousins, in Wales, Welsh is compulsory in all schools until the age of 16. Perhaps if Gaelic and Scots had a stronger place in our curriculum and people understood more about our heritage and language they maybe wouldn't be viewed by some as "a wage of resources"

Also I love BBC Alba and it does show how we need more regional TV in all languages!

A quick Google search tells me that 1.1% of Scotland's population over the age of 3 are Gaelic speakers. I had no idea it was that low! Makes even more of a mockery of the ridiculous waste of money that is dual Gaelic / English road signs. They might be appropriate in the northern isles and the north west, but Gaelic has never ever been the language of eastern and southern Scotland. I bet there's more people speak Doric than Gaelic!

I echo the comments of Magnum and Amaretto. Far too much money is spent on BBC Alba which could be far better spent on programmes that the other 98.9% of us in Scotland could understand. It is just more nonsense from the SNP.

Flicky do you work for,the SNP? I've heard exactly that line trotted out by official SNP spokesperson to justify the money spent on signs which only 1.1% of the population understand.

And see comment above re Gaelic never being the language spoken in most of Scotland.

Just to add to that, the Scottish Ambulance Service are pressing on with their Gaelic integration programme (or whatever it is called) and have been given £3M to change the signage on the Ambulances and Uniforms to make them dual language.......cos even if any of the 1.1% dont speak English too, I think the blue lights and other signage on the vehicle might give the game away....

Imagine the difference £3M could make to foodbanks or even to the more isolated Gaelic speaking communities to provide services or facilities.

It would make more sense making the signs etc. dual English and Polish

Complete waste of money.

No I don't work for any political party.
The Gaelic Language Act was passed in Holyrood in 2005 - maybe check who was in power then?

Also Gaelic was spoken widely throughout all of Scotland just look at the evidence in place names.

Edinburgh
Dundee
Inverurie
Dunfermline

All derived from Gaelic. As Gaelic was spoken in these areas. The only place Gaelic was never spoken was Orkney and Shetland as they were not part of Scotland until much later.

Unfortunately a lot of people will never see the worth of Gaelic which I think is very sad. It is a huge part of our culture.

Did you know that the phrase "smashing" as in "I had a smashing time" - comes from the Gaelic for "that is good = 's math sin".

I'm not anti gaelic flicky and I do agree with your point about it not costing any more to teach in Gaelic where it is possible to add that option. I'd like to see some time given from the curriculum to study the language as well as scottish history. However I do think that the money spent is disproportionate and I really can't see the worth of £3m replacing uniforms and vehicle signage. It's abhorrent actually when there are children and vulnerable adults who don't have enough to eat or money to heat their homes properly - it could even build about 30+ new homes which would bring in rent . Or if it was ring-fenced for Gaelic provision, then spend it on something of benefit such as language or music lessons or a teaching pack about the gaelic language and culture that could be distributed to schools for teachers to present. Don't just chuck it down a blackhole.

I speak gaelic! Native speaker. And my family have featured before in bbc alba tv programs, but starring in them and filming/producing them, so i am a fan

Thanks for that info Flicky - that'll teach me to assume all daft ideas come from the SNP.

I have to say that I profoundly disagree that promoting Gaelic more widely would have any benefit. I have no issue whatsoever with Gaelic schools in areas where Gaelic is already spoken, but for everyone else I think there are many other things the money could be better spent on. Much more useful to teach children a language like Spanish which is spoken in many countries throughout the world.

Anthony - there is no history of Gaelic in the Northern Isles. We were pawned to Scotland in 1468. Our language was Norn. Our councillors and MSPs fight the constant Gaelic push. There are no Gaelic signs or classes up here!

Should add I was brought up in the Scottish Mainland - hence my high school Gaelic classes! My islander cousins did not have that on their timetables!

We have Gaelic provision schooling in central Scotland. It is just run as a class option the same as English lessons - the classes seem to be always full, I don't have any issue as it's not costing any more, the children are still being taught, they all also speak English. The nursery also has Gaelic provision. When we first moved to the area and were looking for nursery places we were allocated to that nursery and kept on getting the Gaelic provision pushed at us - it took a while to sink in that it was probably because DS2 has a Gaelic spelling of his name (probably more Irish than Scottish though).