If I learned Scottish Gaelic, where would I be able to use it?

Question

I'm sort of interested in learning it, since I have ancestors from the Scottish Highlands who spoke Gaelic. I know that most Scots now speak English primarily, though there are still some Gaelic speakers. I can't afford to travel to Scotland at the moment, so would I be able to use it somehow here in the US (e.g. chatrooms, message boards, etc.)?

Answer 1

Scottish Gaelic would still be of some use to you if you wish to form a music group (or join a music group) that sings and plays traditional Scottish or Celtic music.

There are many annual folk festivals across the U.S. and Canada which feature Celtic (Scottish, Irish, Welsh) musical groups along with rock, reggae, jazz and country & western groups. One of them is in Seattle, where I live, every Memorial Day Weekend, the Seattle Folklife Festival.

You would not need to know the entire Gaelic language to do this. You could probably learn to sing songs in Scottish Gaelic phonetically the same way many English speakers learn to sing songs in Latin or Spanish without knowing much of these languages.

However, having a working knowlege of the language would certainly increase your value to the group. A working knowledge could consist of knowing as little as 2,000 to 3,000 of the most commonly used words and phrases plus some basic grammar.

Some of the best instruction books on Gaelic can be purchased in Irish or Scottish import shops if there are any in your town. Even Irish import shops often carry material on Scots Gaelic too.

Often, the owners of these stores know native speakers of Gaelic who perform musically in these languages or teach classes in them. They would be more than happy to refer you to one of them.

Before the Romans, Germanic peoples and Slavic peoples began expanding, Celtic languages like Gaelic were spoken in most of Continental Europe from France to Transcarpathia in the western Ukraine.The French word for badger "blaireau, " for example, is related to the Scots Gaelic word blàr which means "Having a white spot; Having a white spot on the face" ("McBains Dictionary"). Vienna, the capital city of Austria, comes from a Celtic name Vindobona which is related to two Gaelic words fionn "white" and abhainn "river."

Gradually, most Celtic speakers were pushed into Brittany in northwestern France and the remoter parts of the British Isles like Ireland and Scotland where their descendants still live.

Answer 2

I know some basic phrases in Irish Gaelic. Highland Scottish and Irish are very similar, all descended from Old Irish. It is dying language but there are still a few "old-timers" who speak it including some in the US and Canada (particularly in Nova Scotia and P.E.I.)

A good book to start with is "Teach Yourself Gaelic" by Boyd Robertson and Iain Taylor.

Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat! Ádh mór ort!

Answer 3

I don't know about Scot Gaelic, but Irish is similar and a lot is on the internet about it. I also speak Irish.

Answer 4

Learn Irish Gaelic. More speak it.