Gaelic Language attack

[xman]

Some of my ancestors spoke Gaelic, but gave it up generations ago for reasons I am certain they deemed practical.

Perhaps, but not certainly. I know that Gaelic was the commonly spoken language in Nova Scotia for generations until the church deemed it the devil's language. So unless you can consider religion a practical reason at least some formerly Gaelic speaking communities lost their language for less than practical reasons.

[xman]

That may be true, however I was under the impression that Gaelic was still spoken in Nova Scotia, unless that has changed relatively recently.

It is still there and I believe in a larger percentage of the population than in Scotland. there are even English/Gaelic government signs even though Gaelic is not an official language in Canada, but it was much more prevalent. There are official signs which can be seen in many different languages across this vast nation depending on the local population. I'll bet there are at least a dozen.

[robinv]

Every 10 years in Scotland, we have the National Census. The next one is at the end of March 2011, and will have a couple of questions to assess the levels of Gaelic knowledge and usage. The data from the census can then be used to inform public spending and policy in the furure.

Question 16 aims to get numbers of people who can read, write or speak Gaelic and Scots.

Question 18 allows Gaelic/Scots speakers to indicate whether they actually use the language within their home.

My own Gaelic is terrible - I keep meaning to learn it properly but never manage to find the time. My fiancée speaks basic Gaelic; her mother was born in the Hebrides and reads, writes and speaks Gaelic - but she doesn't use it day to day. Her uncle and cousins still speak it at home and use the language every day - but then we live in Edinburgh and they're still in the Islands and Argyll.

-robin