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