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THA Michel Fry a’ faicinn Gàidhlig mar cànan a tha marbh mar tha agus nach urrainn dhuinn dad a dhèanamh mu dheidhinn (Why not amount of effort can now stop Gaelic turning into a dead language, July 14).

Chan eil mi ag aontachadh. Tha mi a’ bruidhinn Gaidhlig ris mo chlann. Direach an-diugh, bha mi fhèin ’s am balach agam a’ coimhead air ‘Fuine’ air BBC Alba gus reasabaidh fhaighinn. Bhruidhinn sinn Gàidhlig fad’s a rinn sinn paidh. Ged’s gu bheil Gàidhlig aig m’athair, cha robh teansa mòr ann gum biodh Gàidhlig agam agus gum bhithinn comasach Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn ris mo chlann.

Dh’fhàg mo theaghlach an t-Eilean Sgitheanach a’ chionn’s nach robh bith-bèo aca ann. Rugadh ‘s thogadh mi ann an Glaschu agus ged‘s gun chuala mi daoine a‘ bruidhinn Gàidhlig ri cheile cha do bhruidhinn iad Gàidhlig rium. Na aobharan? An sgoil air an eilean far an robh an tidsear ag innse don chlann nach fhaod iad Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn, na àiteachan obrach far nach deach àite a dhèanamh airson Gàidhlig, an dith obrach air an eilean, na guthan a bha ag ràdh nach fhaigh thu dhan tìr-mhor mur an do chuir thu Gàidhlig air do chulaibh, na daoine ann an Glaschu a bha a‘ cuir daoine sios nan robh iad a‘ bruidhinn Gàidhlig.

READ MORE: Michael Fry: Why no amount of effort can now stop Gaelic turning into a dead language

’S beag an iognadh gun do stad daoine Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn ris a’ chuid chloinne.

Nuair a bha mi a‘ fàs suas, bha an cianalas orm airson an cànan nach d’fhuair mi. Bha mi mothachail nach robh daoine a’ cuir luach air ar cànan agus bha mi a’ fulang le dith mhisneachd gu pearsanta. Nan robh daoine ag ràdh nach robh luach ann an canan againn, dè bha sin ag radh mu na daoine aig an robh an cànan agus an cultar agus doigh-beatha aca?

Cha do dh’fhalbh am pian gus an do thoisich mi an cànan againn a thogail. Bha pairt agam caillte gus an do dh’ionnsaich mi Gàidhlig.

Tha e furasda ag ràdh gu bheil an cànan a’ basachadh agus nach urrainn dhuinn dad a dhèanamh mu dheidhinn. Mar sin, chan eil againn ri faireachdainn ciontach mur a h-eil sinn a’ dèanamh oidhirp.

Ma tha an cànan marbh, chan eil againn ri cobhair a thoirt gu na pàrantan a tha a’ feuchainn ri Gàidhlig ionnsachadh ‘s a cleachdadh ris a’ chlann. Chan eil againn ri faighneachd am bu chòir seirbhisean a bhith ri fhaotainn ann’s a Gàidhlig no am bu chòir obrachan a bhith ann airson a’ chlann a tha a’ dol tro Foghlam tro Mheadhan na Gàidhlig. Chan eil againn ri stri leis a cheist ciamar a tha sinn a’ brosnachadh ‘s a’ togail coimhearsnachdan Gaidhlig.

Ma tha an cànan marbh, chan eil againn ri faighneachd carson a tha Gàidhlig ann an suidheachadh èiginneach sin agus an robh na thachair do luchd-bhruidhinn a’ chànan ceart? Mar a thuirt mo sheanmhair, “Chan eil an cànan againn a’ bàsachadh, tha murt air a dhèanamh air.”

Chan eil e furasda cànan ionnsachadh. Chan eil e furasda dol a-steach gu bùth no àite eile agus faighneachd a bheil Gàidhlig aig daoine agus a bheil iad deònach ga bruidhinn. An cuid as motha den thìde ge-tà, bha daoine gu math toilichte Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn rium agus gam chuideachadh an cànan a thogail.

Tha na Gaidheil sgapte agus tha tòrr mi-chinnt ann. A bheil Gàidhlig aig daoine? Am faod mi Gàidhlig a bhruidhinn ann an suidheachadh seo? Ach chan eil sin a‘ ciallachadh nach eil daoine ag iarraidh an cànan a chleachdadh no gun do chuir iad romhpa a h-uile càil a dhèanamh sa Bheurla (an cuid as motha den thìde cha robh tagh aca).

Chan eil mi ag aontachadh gu bheil Gàidhlig marbh, agus cha do dh’aontaich am balach agam nuair a chunnaic e an ceann naidheachd. Tha mi ‘n dòchas gum faic sinn rudeigin nas misneachaile ann an National a dh’aithghearr.

June Ghreumach
Steòrnabhaigh, Eilean Leòdhas

MICHAEL Fry sees Gaelic as a language that is already dead and beyond the point where we can do anything about it.

I don’t agree. I speak Gaelic with my children. Just ther other day, my son and I were watching Fuine on BBC Alba so that we could get a recipe. We talked Gaelic while we made a pie.

Although my father is a native Gaelic speaker, the odds were piled up against me becoming fluent in Gaelic or being able to speak it with my own children.

My family left Skye because it was not possible to make a living there. I was born in Glasgow and grew up there. Although I heard people speaking Gaelic among themselves, they didn’t speak it to me. The reasons? The island school where the teacher told children they couldn’t speak Gaelic, the workplaces where no place was given to the language, the lack of work on the island, the voices that said you wouldn’t get across the ferry to the mainland if you didn’t put Gaelic behind you, the people in Glasgow who were critical if they heard people speaking Gaelic.

Is it any wonder that people stopped speaking Gaelic to their children?

When I was growing up, I felt a keen longing for the language which wasn’t passed on to me. I noticed that people didn’t value our language, and this caused a lack of confidence in my own value as a person. If people said our language had no value, what did this say about the people who spoke the language and their culture and way of life?

The pain didn’t go away until I started to learn our language. Part of me was lost until I gained Gaelic.

It’s easy to say that the language is dying and there’s nothing we can do about it. Doing this takes away any guilt we might feel if we don’t make an effort.

If the language is dead, we don’t need to help parents who are trying to learn Gaelic so they can speak it with their children. We don’t need to ask if services should be made available in Gaelic or if jobs should be created for children who are going through Gaelic-medium education. We don’t have to struggle with the question of how to support and build up Gaelic speaking communities.

If the language is dead, we don’t need to ask why Gaelic is in the present emergency situation, or if what happened to Gaelic speakers was right or just. As my grandmother used to say, “Our language isn’t dying, it’s being murdered.”

It’s not easy to learn a language. It takes some guts to go into a shop or another public place and ask whether people have Gaelic and if they’re willing to speak it. Most of the time, however, people were happy to speak Gaelic to me and help me learn the language.

The Gaels are scattered and there is a lot of uncertainty. Do people speak Gaelic? Can I speak Gaelic in this situation? However, this doesn’t mean that people don’t want to use their language or that they made a decision to switch to English (most of the time, they didn’t have a choice).

I don’t agree that Gaelic is dead, and my son didn’t agree either when he saw the headline. I hope that we will soon see something more positive and encouraging in The National.

June Ghreumach
Steòrnabhaigh, Eilean Leòdhas