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Thread: Job opportunities on offer to Gaelic speaking students

  1. #1

    Thumbs down Job opportunities on offer to Gaelic speaking students

    Noticed this in the job section. Is this allowed under the discrimination laws? Only open to gaelic speakers!

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    One of the requirements of the Gaelic Act Scotland (2005) is that should any Gaelic speaker want to speak in Gaelic in any public building someone should be available to interpret for them. They may also want to communicate in writing using the Gaelic language. It's just a requirement for the job as interpreter.

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    When you consider there are nearly as many Polish speakers in Scotland as Gaelic speakers seems a bit of a waste of money.

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    Polish was never an official language in Scotland so modern migration habits dont count. The Gaelic language was widely spoken in many parts of Scotland but not all parts and Caithness may well have been one of those parts Gaelic was never spoken even before the Norsemen arrived. The evidence is nuetral and cannot be proved either way. That doent matter though. There's an act of parliament says you better get used to it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gleeber View Post
    Polish was never an official language in Scotland.
    It's never been banned though!

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    That's right Sids. Even in the past 50 years children whose first language was Gaelic were not allowed to speak it at school. It's a recipe for extremism now the boots on the other foot.

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    What I find amazing is that its placed in primary position on road signs above English so a minority spoken language is given precedence to the majority spoken language. That really makes life easy for all the visitors to the area.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RagnarRocks View Post
    What I find amazing is that its placed in primary position on road signs above English so a minority spoken language is given precedence to the majority spoken language. That really makes life easy for all the visitors to the area.
    not very fair on the poles! if Scotland gains independence we will no doubt all be forced to speak gaelic, whilst spending Bank of England currency buying eu butter in Lidl ???!!! "Bonkers "!

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    Quote Originally Posted by RagnarRocks View Post
    What I find amazing is that its placed in primary position on road signs above English so a minority spoken language is given precedence to the majority spoken language. That really makes life easy for all the visitors to the area.
    Yes, they're losing sight of what signs are for.

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    So they give equal significance to Gaelic even though only 59000 people speak it 1.5% of the population the majority of which live in the outer Hebrides and apparently its in decline, there is madness afoot.

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    Gaelic is part of the Scottish heritage, no there is not the majority who speak it but that does not mean we should forget about it. If Scots in the past had not been forced to speak English then I'm sure Gaelic would still be spoken but you cannot turn back time. Scots should be proud of Gaelic as part of their heritage but not for every day life. Its impractical to expect employers to pander to the needs of every linguistic challenge. The first language is English I would suggest everyone learn it as we are still in Britain.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RagnarRocks View Post
    When you consider there are nearly as many Polish speakers in Scotland as Gaelic speakers seems a bit of a waste of money.
    Totally agree. If ever there was a waste of money and effort, it was producing these pointless signs. The only people who may benefit from them are people who speak Gaelic and not English. Erm, that'll be no one then...

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    Quote Originally Posted by luskentyre View Post
    The only people who may benefit from them are people who speak Gaelic and not English. Erm, that'll be no one then...
    In fact, only people who read Gaelic but not English and know the Gaelic place names but not the English or anglicised ones and also don't already know where they are going.

    That's less than no-one!

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    Default What is English?

    For all you linguistic purists who seem to have a grudge against Gaelic...

    The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany.

    But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders, the invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today.

    In 1066 William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, the ruling and business classes. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English.

    Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter.

    The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English (1800-present day) is vocabulary, with the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

    So Gaelic - like it or lump it!
    ref - http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

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    Quote Originally Posted by PantsMAN View Post
    For all you linguistic purists who seem to have a grudge against Gaelic...The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany.But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders, the invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today.In 1066 William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, the ruling and business classes. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English.Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter.The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English (1800-present day) is vocabulary, with the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.So Gaelic - like it or lump it! ref - http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm
    I'll lump it then as I understand today's English, if Gaelic was predominantly spoken I would have learnt that. I don't see why thousands of £££££'s should be wasted on a dead language. If you want to learn it all well & good but don't see why we should have them on predominant road sign. Total nonsense.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PantsMAN View Post
    For all you linguistic purists who seem to have a grudge against Gaelic...The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany.But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders, the invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today.In 1066 William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, the ruling and business classes. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English.Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter.The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English (1800-present day) is vocabulary, with the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.So Gaelic - like it or lump it! ref - http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm
    when you say like it or lump it, are you saying that a language that has been dead to the vast majority for centuries, should be prioritised on Scottish road signs. if this is the case then all English road signs should be written in old German or old French or even Latin, as this would have been the most common written language! oh when was that.? . . . . . . . oh yes . . . the dark ages!!
    Last edited by Mrs Bradey; 02-Mar-14 at 15:22. Reason: typographical error

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    Ah.
    My fellow correspondents, I actually said nothing about road signs.

    But clearly when you have an axe to grind you'll manage to get it into any topic.

    Gaelic, its place in our history and culture, is vitally important to Scotland's social identity.

    May I advise you to ignore the weird stuff at the top of the road signs and focus on the bits you understand.

    That way your blood pressure will maintain an equilibrium and you'll find your way around our Nation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PantsMAN View Post
    Ah.My fellow correspondents, I actually said nothing about road signs. But clearly when you have an axe to grind you'll manage to get it into any topic.Gaelic, its place in our history and culture, is vitally important to Scotland's social identity. May I advise you to ignore the weird stuff at the top of the road signs and focus on the bits you understand. That way your blood pressure will maintain an equilibrium and you'll find your way around our Nation.
    I think you will find ragnar rocks mentioned road signs in post #7 ! my comments were about the use of the gaelic language. I think it is Pantsman that is grinding the axe here! gaelic is most definitely part of our heritage, and this should not be forgotten. your advice to ignore "the weird stuff" on road signs is nothing short of patronizing! in my opinion information on roadsigns is guide road users quickly and safely. anything written on roadsigns should be; brief, clear and concise, to almost all road users gaelic will be none of these! and probably 99.9% of foreign tourists! gaelic on roadsigns is detrimental to road safety! . . . . . . . .getting back on thread, do you think it is discrimination to advertise jobs to gaelic speakers only, when speaking gaelic is not an essential part of that job?

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    I appreciate that RR introduced road signs, however as you went to the trouble of fully quoting my post I thought that was what your reply was concerning.

    Anyway Mrs B., thankfully there are great legal minds who will make decisions regarding discrimination, the likes of ye and me need only to be troubled by it if we feel like it.

    So, as they say in these parts "crack at it". :-))

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    Quote Originally Posted by fender View Post
    Noticed this in the job section. Is this allowed under the discrimination laws? Only open to Gaelic speakers!
    Yes! Discrimination!!!!!! And why on earth do mechanics need to be experienced in the fixing of cars!? And why do childminders have to have SVQ's regarding child development?!? And why should good speaking voice be a requirement to work in a call centre? Me, I am going to apply to the first discriminatory add requiring a qualified Doctor!The requirement for a qualification is like so....discriminatory!!!!
    An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing

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