Success for Welsh language Tutor

One of Aberystwyth University’s Learn Welsh Tutors has been recognised by Learning and Work Institute Wales for her exceptional contribution.
Philippa Gibson was presented with the Inspire! Tutor Award in a special ceremony held at St Fagans National Museum History on Wednesday night 22 January 2020.
Over the last 30 years, Philippa has been learning Welsh as an adult and in that period, she has developed her skills to become an accomplished and experienced Welsh Tutor.
She is a member of the Aberystwyth University Learn Welsh team that provides Welsh lessons to adults in Powys, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.
Philippa said: “Having learnt Welsh as an adult, I gain satisfaction from teaching he language to others and see them moving on to become a part of the local Welsh community. Tutoring means doing as much as I can to help each individual to succeed by overcoming any barriers, whether they are specific issues relating to learning, lack of confidence or knowledge about opportunities to use their Welsh.”
Philippa favours informal methods and learning opportunities as a Welsh tutor. She commits time to enlisting, co-ordinating and arranging volunteers to support informal speaking sessions with learners by following the Pontio Scheme.
In addition to this, Philippa encourages her students to write for the local community paper and supports her learners to access many activities including a Welsh-language walking group, Welsh plays and concerts and Welsh-language societies.
Mary, one of Philippa’s students, praised her inspirational work. She said: “She has opened up a new word for me, a world of Welsh culture. She has been extremely good.”

 Siôn Meredith, Head of Learn Welsh Ceredigion, Powys and Carmarthenshire, said that Philippa’s contribution is invaluable: “Many learners from the Cardigan area have benefitted from Philippa’s work as a tutor, and many of them are fluent speakers by now, and have crossed the bridge. Philippa has made o world of difference to the future of the Welsh language in the area. Many thanks and congratulations to her for receiving this award.”

Read more »

Bòrd na Gàidhlig deemed a “total disaster” by SNP MSP

People in the Gaelic community ought to feel let down by the failings of the organisation set up to promote the language, a committee of MSPs said last week.

The MSPs have been probing the work of Bòrd na Gàidhlig in the wake of a highly-critical report from public-sector watchdog Audit Scotland.

Caroline Gardner, the Auditor General for Scotland, said a “culture of mistrust” had built up within the Bòrd, which had suffered from ineffective leadership and a lack of transparency in decision-making.

Under questioning from MSPs on the public audit and post-legislative scrutiny committee last Thursday, the auditor general and the consultants who had carried out the recent report suggested external help would be needed to resolve the agency’s problems.

The SNP’s Alex Neil was damning in his criticism after being told that recommendations made six months ago were still under consideration.

He said: “The work they are supposed to be doing is vital for the linguistic and cultural future of the country. And they are badly letting down people. If they can’t get their act together they should go. Both the senior management team and the board – they are getting paid well enough.”

The Bòrd’s chief executive Shona MacLennan is paid a salary of £90,000 a year, while senior management posts at the Inverness-based organisation command annual salaries of between £65,000 and £85,000.

Mr Neil suggested the management team was ‘top heavy’ for an organisation with an annual turnover of £5 million.

“A second-tier manager could run this on their tea break,” Mr. Neill added. “It’s a small organisation, and yet it seems to be a total disaster.

“It seems to me they (senior management) are not justifying the level of salary they are on.

“The board isn’t providing any effective leadership. The question is, why are they still there?”

Mr Neil was told that the wider Gaelic speaking community hadn’t been consulted when the Bòrd’s latest improvement plan was drawn up.

“Is that not part of the problem? The main users – the people – weren’t consulted on it,” Mr Neill asked.

“Surely if you are drawing up a business plan, you have to consult the customers first.” Ms Gardner said that while she accepted that the Bòrd was a small organisation, she didn’t accept it was “necessarily a simple one”.

She added: “Gaelic has a very important place in Scottish life, but it’s fragile in terms of the numbers who use it routinely and the geographic location of these communities.”

The consultants acknowledged that the Bòrd had to work from a small talent pool.

The SNPs Colin Beattie and Tory Liam Kerr both called for the agency to drop its requirements for all employees and members to speak Gaelic, in a bid to attract greater expertise – notably in financial roles.

Labour’s Rhoda Grant supported the principle behind the all-Gaelic policy and said anyone involved with the Bòrd should at least be ‘vested’ in their support for the language, either as a speaker or someone committed to learning it.

The committee branded it as unacceptable that Bòrd na Gàidhlig were still holding official meetings in private.

Article

 

Read more »

The Collective for the safeguarding of Breton place names organized a rally in Dinéault

After alerting the population to the Telgruc case in recent months, the Collective for the safeguarding of Breton place names organized a new awareness-raising action on this issue in Dinéault, Friday. "So far, the municipality has refused all of our proposals to protect the intangible heritage of the municipality," explains Jean-François Moré.

Read more »

Western Isles council becomes first to teach every pupil in Gaelic

All primary one pupils in the Western Isles are to be automatically enrolled in Gaelic medium education (GME) from next year. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – the council for the Western Isles – have adopted a policy of ‘Gaelic first’ to increase the rate of growth for Gaelic in the islands.
The 2011 census showed 52 per cent of the population of the Western Isles, aged three and over, spoke Gaelic.
Supporters welcomed the move, saying it is a reversal of the previous situation where English was the main language, unless parents asked for their children to be taught in Gaelic.
Primary and secondary headteachers and parent councils were informed of the policy in a letter last week from Bernard Chisholm, the council’s director of education.
Under the new policy, pupils will be taught in Gaelic and will start learning English from P4 onwards.

Parents have the option of opting out and having their children taught in English from P1.

Chisholm said the “Outer Hebrides is a Gaelic speaking community with a rich Gaelic heritage and culture” and the “majority of our children in nursery and those enrolling in primary, want to speak our language”.
He said being bilingual was beneficial to children’s academic development and would improve job opportunities.
“A significant number of families, who move to the area without Gaelic, enrol their children in GME for the additional benefits of bilingual education,” he said. “I believe that we all want our children to access the undoubted benefits that GME provides, in both English and Gaelic, in terms of reading, thinking skills, problem solving, maths and in many other areas.

Shona MacLennan, chief executive of Bòrdna Gàidhlig, the principal public body promoting Gaelic, said: “Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s policy to have GME as the default choice for pupils entering primary one is a significant and welcome contribution.
“They, like many public bodies, have a Gaelic language programme.
“In its most recent plan there is a commitment to increase the number of pupils entering P1 Gaelic-medium education to 55 per cent by 2020 and the change to GME as the default choice will support this.”

Read more »

Microsoft Translator adds support for Irish Language

Microsoft recently announced that Microsoft Translator has now added support for Irish language. Thanks to Neural machine translation technology, Microsoft Translator can offer accurate Irish language translations.
“It’s very positive to see Microsoft launching an Irish language machine translation engine,” said Cllr. Peter Kavanagh, Green Party Irish Language Spokesperson and Co-founder of Pop Up Gaeltacht.
Users can now find Irish language on all Microsoft Translator?apps,?add-ins,?Office,?Translator for Bing, and through the?Azure Cognitive Services?Translator API?for businesses and developers.
With the Irish language support in Microsoft Translator, the wider Irish language community now have the chance to take advantage of the benefits of advanced language technology.
Source: Microsoft

Read more »

Welsh language song Yma O Hyd tops iTunes UK song chart

A song by folk singer and former Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Iwan has reached number one in the iTunes UK song chart, beating out Tones and I and The Weekend.

Yma O Hyd, which was originally recorded in 1981 and released in 1983, means "still here" in English.
Its success is partly due to a campaign by independence movement YesCymru.
Yma O Hyd is the title track to the artist's joint album with Welsh folk bank Ar Log.

Read more »

Conradh na Gaeilge welcomes Stormont deal but say it falls short of 2006 commitments

Conradh na Gaeilge has said the deal put forward by the UK and Irish Governments represents an "historic advancement" on what came before. But the advocacy organisation, which had pressed for a separate stand-alone Irish Language Act, said provisions for bilingual signage and wider visibility fall far short of what was envisaged in the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.
Under the proposals, a special commissioner will work within parameters set by Stormont's First and Deputy First Ministers, and concerns remain among some speakers about a DUP veto.
Conradh na Gaeilge president Dr Niall Comer said: "This legislation is undoubtedly an historic advancement for our community and for those who wish to use the language by providing historic official status, legal protection and an Irish language commissioner for the first time in the history of the state.
"This has only come about as the result of a tireless, inspirational and bottom-up campaign which has transformed how people here now view the language and ultimately how the state will interact with our community and shared language moving forward."

Read more »

Bec'h d'ar Brezhoneg, new collective formed in the Bigouden region

"Bec’h d'ar brezhoneg!". This is the name of a new collective promoting the Breton language in the Bigouden region*. As the municipal authorities approached, he asked elected officials to act in the face of a "linguistic emergency" situation.

The Bro-Vigoudenn; historically known as Cap Caval, is, along the Bay of Audierne, the most south-western area of Bro Kernev in Brittany, south-west of Kemper, defined since 1790 in the French department of Finistère. The designation was an informal label taken from the name of the distinctive headdress traditionally worn by the local women.

More pictures

Read more »