Island Voices gets “the key to the door” this year, having grown out of the 2-year European POOLS project that started in September 2005. We’ve come a long way since then, with some interesting twists and turns along the route, to where we now stand with over 500 videos on our YouTube channel, and this WordPress blog-cum-website hosting a similar total number of posts and pages. And we’re not finished yet!
500 is no small number, and we have various ambitions for 2026 to mark and memorialise our work since 2005, including a range of public events and/or exhibitions, as well as the creation of a secure and permanent archive of the recordings so far made. We will share news about these as the year progresses and plans are finalised. Cùm cluas ri claisneachd!
In the meantime we can look back to that first project of 2005-2007 to remind ourselves of how we started out, and reflect on how things developed out of the initial seedlings, whether within the original project, or perhaps on occasion as divergent offshoots with their own interesting history…
“Capture and Curation”
Gordon Wells was taken on as Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Projects Officer in September 2005 to look after the college’s contribution to the POOLS project. This, among other things, entailed the production of 20 videos each in Gaelic and English, to exemplify how teachers of low-resourced languages could create materials for themselves.
For the first workshop, participants were urged to script short sketches that could be acted out and recorded. These would focus on a particular language learning point or situation. Gordon’s draft script focused on a common enough situation for beginner learners – booking a place on a holiday summer school. (In his scenario it was a school for learners of Gaelic language and music. Hmm, where did he get that idea?!)
Following further thought and discussion, however, the decision was made to focus instead on short documentaries about local events or venues, and interviews with real people.
There were various pull factors behind this choice. With documentaries in place of sketches, the creator could still compose a script which could be deliberately shaped for a particular language teaching purpose, but this narrative voiceover could easily be reproduced in another language while still using the same picture sequence – an attractive option for a bilingual community situation. And the interviews allowed the creator to present authentic speech in a complementary fashion – giving community members the chance to participate actively in the production, while letting learners hear the language as it is actually spoken in the community rather than through a teacher-filtered process. From a teaching point of view this also offered a flexible topic-based bundle of resources that would be adaptable for mixed level group activities.
There was also a push factor, it should be said, in terms of the production demands entailed. Presenting scripted sketches – mini-dramas in effect – also requires the active involvement of willing and convincing actors to produce decently watchable results. And that needs a good deal more investment of time and resources, for example in planning and rehearsal. We were looking for economy of effort through relatively quick and easy “user-friendly” options, rather than highest quality production standards.
So we hit on the basic Island Voices “language capture and curation” model at an early stage in the process, and reached our full quota of 40 videos on time and in budget. This became our first series of Island Voices.
“The rest is history”, it might be said, but for full detail you can check Gordon’s 2023 comprehensive account of all the adaptations and developments over the first 18 years of the continuing project, while also noting that a further three pages (Sgìre a’ Bhac, Extensions, and Shortcuts) have since been added to the collections.
“Interesting Offshoots”
The award of the 2007 European Language Label for the original Series One was a satisfying prize, and invigorating stimulus to keep the project going. At this stage the materials were all still just on hard disc, and we were happy to share them on a loop at Nunton Steadings in Benbecula for the 2007 season of Uist Art Association’s “Art on the Map” trail. That same year Gordon first ventured online with his personal blog, before Island Voices had yet established its own internet presence, and his first post was on Island Voices/Guthan nan Eilean: background thinking, while his second reflected on the European Award for Languages: a perspective on “community languages”. Any interested readers may notice the twin preoccupations with speech and bilingualism already present, although the initially narrow focus on language teaching and learning was later to broaden out to more explicitly encompass and prioritise language use in the community.
Yet it also turned out that Gordon’s initially fruitless stab at sketch-writing was not to prove a complete dead end. When the BBC/SMO collaboration on “LearnGaelic” later arrived on the scene, his summer school scenario was re-drafted with professional help and given the polished finish with accomplished actor-presenters that it properly needed in the “Conversations” section. This was further complemented by three more sketches in the same didactic vein, each with accompanying transcript and subtitling options while focusing on particular language teaching points. These are still available to view – Summer school, Designing a logo, Podcast, and Blog – alongside many other materials on the LearnGaelic site.
So, arguably, an explicit language teaching perspective was never truly lost by Island Voices – it just needed to find a more appropriate place to make a supporting contribution!
2026
A retrospective look always has the benefit of hindsight, of course, when positive patterns are revealed whose emergence could not necessarily be predicted. Island Voices has certainly encountered occasionally challenging and unlooked for “surprises” along the road towards its 21st birthday. And as we enter 2026 it’s not difficult to discern potential obstacles that might hinder further progress as we drive forward with our multilingual mission.
But that’s no reason to stop or turn back. As we’ve had cause to learn – cha do dhùin doras nach do dh’fhosgail doras!
And so we likewise wish all our followers all the best for the New Year, with the strength and determination to rise to any challenges and seize all opportunities.
Bliadhn’ Ùr Mhath!
