Scotland
- Thread starter transam
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Of course it's safe 
Scotland, like any other part of the UK, has nice and not so nice places.
Scotland, like any other part of the UK, has nice and not so nice places.
Not if Sturgeon gets her way ...
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BBC Alba broadcasts in Gaelic and will show Scottish football live. It's a beautiful language, although a little jarring when they throw in an English name during play. Sometimes i'll tune in for their folk music programmes where it doesn't matter if you can't understand what they're saying so much as enjoy the tunes.
Been to Glasgow a few times, always head for the Grants arms near the central station, great pub and the Saturday afternoon karaoke is a good laugh, full of characters.
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BBC Alba is neither representative of Glasgow or Edinburgh, or anywhere I have ever been in mainland scotland, in my 40 years living north of the border and travelling extensively throughout scotland I have heard one person speak it and tht was on skye.
the bbc has very strange ideas of what is representative of anything british, it does its very best to promote any minorities as being the norm
I'm not sure the BBC tries to promote Gaelic speakers as 'the norm' but gives them an opportunity to showcase Scottish identity is more than Rab C. Nesbitt and deep fried Mars bars. Just as Cymric and Erse are spoken in enclaves in Wales and Ireland respectively, it's vital to maintain a link to the culture of those countries being distinct from the all-pervasive English used in everyday speech.
I can read the poetry of Burns, for instance, but can never really get the true spirit of his words unless a native speaker gives it the full Scots intonation. Being Scottish is very different from becoming British and i think the BBC tries hard to bring an awareness of those distinctions.
Glasgow has a burgeoning Gaelic community, particularly in the West End. My daughter is fluent and can comfortably switch between the two, she tells me she sometimes catches herself thinking in Gaelic too.
There are multiple schools in Glasgow now where all studies and interactions with teachers are solely in Gaelic... these schools also perform better academically than 90% plus of other schools in the city.
Scotland should actually do more to preserve its language and culture.
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aye, its so common I haven't heard it spoke outside tv this century. and I am in edinburgh virtually every week and glsagow and dundee a little less often.
That’s because you don’t mix in Gaelic communities. I hear all the time to the point I’ve picked up bits and pieces myself.
Like I said “burgeoning community”, that means growing, emergent, flourishing. Can’t speak for Edinburgh but there a lot of communities of people from the Highlands and Islands who all speak the language in Glasgow.
BTW, Gaelic speakers won’t speak to you in Gaelic if they suspect you don’t speak it but they’ll speak to each other in it.
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Can you list the Gaelic programmes?
I'm not sure what I think about the Gaelic debate. We had a couple of questions in the recent census about it i.e. can we understand it, speak it, write it.
A sign was recently put up near me at the entrance to a park. It says Failte in larger text (Gaelic for welcome) with Welcome underneath in smaller text. I find it slightly amusing given so few Scots use it as their primary language.
If one was being cynical, you could be forgiven for thinking they're trying to push a narrative ...
A sign was recently put up near me at the entrance to a park. It says Failte in larger text (Gaelic for welcome) with Welcome underneath in smaller text. I find it slightly amusing given so few Scots use it as their primary language.
If one was being cynical, you could be forgiven for thinking they're trying to push a narrative ...
Maybe I would Ella. I personally don't want to be in the same pub as people from the last group.
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