Finlay M. Macleoid - Background

My History
I was born in 1954 on Lewis in the Western Isles and subsequently attended Aird School, found in Point, Lewis.

From as far back as I can remember, I have always been interested in the Gaelic culture and language. Much of this interest was nurtured by a highly esteemed and most loved aunt, plus a number of other family members who, as did the rest of the local community, use Gaelic as an everyday language.
My community and I were particularly fearful of Gaelic surviving in the then, “who cares anyway” climate.
And at that time and in those circumstances, it became alarmingly clear to me that having an interest in Gaelic was simply not enough. One also needed to be deeply concerned and more importantly, involved with and doing something positive regarding Gaelic’s survival and future. It worth noting also that at the point of joining the primary school in 1960, I spoke very little Gaelic and moreover, I was one of only four children in a school of 200, who did not speak Gaelic fluently.

The Next Step
Time passed and at the age of ten, I decided that learning to speak Gaelic was an absolute requisite, for without a Gaelic fluency, one would always be at a disadvantage, as well as being an outsider and therefore limited in knowing what the language and culture needed for survival. Not being a fluent speaker would also render my situation somewhat less than credible, especially when campaigning for the rights of the Gaelic language.

Learning Gaelic In The Late 60s
For a host of reasons, it took a great deal of tenacity; given the language learning methods on offer at that time. Consequently, it took the next eight years to learn to speak Gaelic fluently. Having then left school, my next move was to Aberdeenshire and then onto London to be with my sister who is a very fine Gaelic speaker and in this I was most fortunate, for she helped me immeasurably in reaching a fluency.

On holidays back in Lewis my aunt added even more variety and depth to my language command and for this help, my gratitude is unending.

Finding Inspiration
However, to return to London, it was then that I met a man called Seumas Mac à Ghobhainn who together with another person called Peter Beresford Ellis, had written a most interesting and enlightening book called “The Problem Of Language Revival”.

Without doubt, this book was an inspiration and a significant influence, for I found within its pages, that given an unrelenting commitment, goodwill and wherewithal, Gaelic could be restored and ultimately have
a bright and vibrant future.

Based on my own personal journey of discovery and a deep regard for Gaelic and I hope, an unyielding and total belief in what we do, I am now confident that Scottish Gaelic is here to stay.

Back In Scotland
1977ish; back in Scotland and together with a small number of likeminded colleagues, we set up an organisation called STRI which campaigned for more Gaelic radio and television programmes.
Frankly, at that time, there could have hardly been much less on offer. We also campaigned for Gaelic to be taught as a school subject in Sutherland.

During the next few years much thought, planning, research, theorising occurred and a five man trip to Wales was undertaken, to see how they went about establishing and maintaining Welsh medium pre-school groups, primary schools etc.

CNSA Is Born
On return to Scotland and within two years, Comhairle nan Sgoiltean Araich (CNSA), The Gaelic Pre-school Council came into being and subsequently, I became its Chief Executive.

What followed was a trek all over Scotland speaking with parents, followed by a distribution blizzard of information gleaned from Wales and distilled for a Scottish scenario. The information was then sent to anyone we felt could help and fortunately, many generous people did.

Not so good was the negative response to the prospect of a Gaelic revival. Thankfully the wheel has now turned and Gaelic commands respect and therefore cannot be so easily ignored or ridiculed, especially in its homeland.

All through this period I constantly reviewed the operation and slowly moved towards a philosophy that believes that children and then by association, their parents and family are the future of Gaelic.

People, Resources, Materials Etc.
And to this end many training courses appropriate to pre-school group staff, parents, tutors, volunteers, have been created and in response, an ever increasing number of deeply committed people, continue to work unceasingly hard in the promotion of Gaelic and its culture.

In support of the above, there is now on offer a multitude of original and innovative language acquisition manuals; a wide variety of exciting publicity material, resources, equipment, guidelines, support packs,
pre-school and adult groups located all over Scotland etc., again to bring the objective that much nearer.

Learning Valuable Lessons
As with all things in life, the wheel has turned, for now after long and thoughtful deliberation, I have come to realise that the Gaelic language and culture cannot be guaranteed a future, just by way of Gaelic medium education alone. Indeed, Gaelic education, however effective, cannot by itself, halt the decline. Ideally what is needed to ensure the future of the Gaelic language and culture, is the building of all embracing Gaelic communities all round Scotland.
 
It is interesting to note recent and wide ranging research has clearly shown that Gaelic language acquisition “must” begin in the home and with the parents, who after all, are the most influential people in a child’s early life. It is imperative that this work is begun before a child enters any pre-school or primary school education, if it is to be securely embedded and remain a life long skill. What is also essential to the mix is a large input of intergenerational transmission.

Children beginning language learning at school at five years of age, is far too late, nor does it produce an all round, long term Gaelic speaker. Moreover, experience has shown quite clearly, that “only school based language learning”, results in “only school based language use” and is decidedly, not spoken by the children anywhere else.

A Whole New Approach
What was needed was a whole new approach, thus Total Immersion Plus (TIP) was born and after adjustment, fine tuning, exploration etc, we now have, arguably, the best ways ever of learning Gaelic.
Indeed this highly unique method of language learning is perfectly well suited for acquiring a great many of the World’s minority languages.

This exciting development is discussed, explained, reviewed in all aspects, along with the accompanying materials, resources etc. in great detail, through numerous links found on my website at
http://www.ti-plus.co.uk

Building Gaelic Communities
In my opinion we have now reached a defining point in the future of the Gaelic language and culture, in short, what is needed now is for the whole enterprise to move forward to the next stage. And that being the building of new stand alone Gaelic communities, this to be done alongside the strengthening and enhancing of the existing ones.

To this end, I and many others, are deeply involved in the creation of a blueprint outlining just such ventures.

Beyond Scotland
At the same time it is my own personal philosophy, that I constantly seek out new ways of doing things that will improve and drive the whole Gaelic movement forward, both to bring home and to share with others what I gained through research and experiences, wherever they are in the World.
For example, in Canada, I am proud to say, that with my help and support with regard to training programmes, personal information personal input, meetings apropos TIP, there are now a whole host of exciting developments taking place on the Gaelic learning front.

The Final Word
The future, is at last bright for the Gaelic language and culture and of course, I am well aware that there is still a mountain of work to be done. However, what is important, is that Gaelic does have a future and from my point of view, it undoubtedly grows ever brighter.

 

Finlay M. Macleoid