Research

Multilingual Memories: Birmingham 1984

With a multilingual trip down Memory Lane, Island Voices visits Central England, in a new contribution to the CIALL-supported “Extensions” initiative. This collection comprises a short documentary introduction – available in various community languages now spoken in the UK – plus a range of recorded conversations and interviews about the 1980s Industrial Language Training (ILT) service, each recorded in a particular language, but made accessible for non-speakers or learners of that language through YouTube subtitling and/or a supporting Clilstore transcript.

Scripted Documentary

The documentary uses a scripted narrative to follow three Birmingham ILT workers as they meet together for the first time in 40 years in their old workplace. The film introduces various aspects of the ILT programme, from onsite teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to training and advice in Equal Opportunities and Anti-Racism, as well as innovative support for Community Languages. Team members also visit other key locations and organisations, such as the office of NATECLA, the National Association for the Teaching of English and other Community Languages to Adults, and recall the BBC “Hindi Urdu Bol Chaal Club” in a Soho Road restaurant. Multiple versions of the film are available in English, Gaelic, Jamaican, Welsh, and nine of the South Asian languages spoken most widely in the UK by census results.

Here’s the English version:

And here’s the Clilstore English transcript, with the video embedded, incorporating one-click access to online dictionary support for any unfamiliar vocabulary: https://multidict.net/cs/12354

To see the video narrated in another language, click on the landscape poster (or phone-friendly portrait option) to choose your own preferred version of the documentary. Or choose from the table below for the equivalent Clilstore unit.

Bangla	Gaelic	Gujarati	Hindi
Jamaican	Malayalam	Nepali	Punjabi
Tamil	Telugu	Urdu	Welsh

Free Conversation

The interviews and conversations are accessible through the same landscape or portrait links, or directly through the bold blue titles below, and they comprise live and unscripted samples of authentic speech. YouTube subtitles are available through the Closed Caption (CC) button, and viewers on a laptop or desktop computer should also be able to get these auto-translated into the language of their choice through the Settings Wheel. Every film (except the first short introduction and the 3-way English discussion) is also accompanied by a Clilstore transcript. Links to rough written English translations are also available via the video description and reproduced below. In some cases where reference is made to related postgraduate study, links are also given to participants’ own papers from the time to give a sense of contemporary research and debate about then dominant issues from a practitioner perspective.

Three Short Introductions

The opening conversational clip quickly introduces the three former members of Birmingham Industrial Language Training Services featured in the documentary, as they speak Punjabi or Hindi to briefly outline their ILT experience and say where it eventually led them. Subtitles in both these languages are available, including for auto-translation if necessary.

Nazir ul Haq

Speaking in Urdu at some length, Nazir ul Haq, last leader of the Birmingham ILT team of the mid-1980s before its absorption into the college, offers memories and reflections – judiciously supplemented with quotations from well-known Urdu poets – on the work of the local unit, as well as the national service, during that time. This clip is an amalgamation of a series of short recordings that Nazir made over a number of days, as detailed with links below, in which, alongside critical analysis, he also creates a humane picture of the team’s mission and working ethos, with poignant reminiscences and tributes to those no longer with us.

00:09 Introduction
02:04 ILT 1980s role
06:16 Memory and reminiscence
09:53 Personal journey
14:57 Equal Opportunities: appreciation of colleagues and contributions
19:35 Summary critique of ILT approach to racism awareness and anti-racism

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Nazir also mentions his PhD-level postgraduate studies at Birmingham University during the same period, and his continuing association with the university after the closure of ILT. For an example of his work in the area of diaspora formation with specific reference to the Kashmiri community you can read his paper presented some years later at a conference in Budapest: Diaspora Formation and Ethnic National Mobilisation of Kashmiris in Britain: A Reflective Case Study.

Sardul Dhesi

Speaking Punjabi, Sardul Dhesi, retired Deputy Principal of South and City College Birmingham, gives a summary account of his 48-year Further Education career in the city, including his time with Birmingham ILT in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His time with ILT was a seminal period for him, including a one-year secondment to get a Master’s degree in Race and Education, from which he never looked back. Also important to him were his trade union links, with particular regard to equality initiatives. Over his long subsequent career, he occupied increasingly senior positions in what has become the biggest college in the West Midlands.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

For more specific detail on Sardul’s work on and research into Trade Union links to ILT you can read his essay on Trade Unions and Racial Inequalities: An examination of the role of ILTS in removing the barriers, written as part of his M.Soc.Sc course at Birmingham University during his 1985-86 secondment, together with the appendix containing a selection of contemporary ILT and TUC materials.

Harmesh Manghra

Speaking Hindi, Harmesh Manghra, retired Inspector of Education, recounts the various stages of his career in some detail, including his time with Birmingham ILT in the early 1980s. He starts with the multilingual education he received in India before arriving in the UK, when job opportunities were initially limited despite his qualifications. But his time with ILT provided a springboard into a varied and stimulating career across various educational sectors. Even in retirement he remains committed to easing newcomers’ passage through educational opportunities.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Gordon Wells

Speaking Gaelic, Gordon Wells, researcher with the CIALL project, outlines his career path, including his time with Birmingham ILT in the 1980s and what he learned from that experience for use in later years, including with Island Voices. It was the rising interest in “Mother Tongue” maintenance that inspired him to start learning Gaelic, and his experience working on the BBC’s “Hindi Urdu Bol Chaal” series that developed his interest in recording speech in particular. This was reinforced by the ILT emphasis on close community connection with the day-to-day concerns of working people.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Gordon’s research topic for his 1987 dissertation for the MSc in Applied Linguistics at Edinburgh University, while on secondment from ILT, was on Concepts of “Mother Tongue” and “Native Speaker” in Relation to the Teaching of Languages to Adults. This paper, later cited in Professor Alan Davies’ 1991 book “The Native Speaker in Applied Linguistics”, anticipated by some years a now longstanding debate on the question of “native” vis-à-vis “non-native” English speaking teachers.

Suman Watts

Suman Watts came into ILT from a broadcasting background on local radio. She briefly explains in Hindi that she put these skills to good use in helping prepare audio-visual teaching materials. In her later career she helped not only English learners, but also learners of community languages like Hindi and Urdu, within the context of the issues and principles that informed the ILT ethos.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Muhammad Idrish

Speaking Bangla, Muhammad Idrish, who worked at the neighbouring Asian Resource Centre in the 1980s, offers succinct memories of friends and colleagues in the Birmingham Industrial Language Training team (as well as the Dudley team), and their contribution to the anti-racism movement in the community, including the NALGO-supported nationwide Muhammad Idrish Defence Campaign.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Harmesh Manghra and Sardul Dhesi

In this longer conversational extract Harmesh and Sardul, speaking Punjabi, recall shifts in focus of the ILT service at national and regional levels from language teaching, through cultural and racism awareness training, to structural analysis of social problems. Their career development paths took them on to West Midlands-wide initiatives with an emphasis on greater community engagement by colleges, opening local centres and providing appropriate facilities. Statistics now show far greater proportions of Black and Asian staff and students engaged in Further Education.

Wordlinked transcript (Clilstore unit)
Written translation (online PDF)

Harmesh Manghra, Sardul Dhesi, and Gordon Wells

This is an extended three-way conversation in English between Sardul, Harmesh, and Gordon about the ILT legacy, with a particular focus on language support in relation to both ESOL and Community Languages:

00:06 First reminiscences and appreciations
The three recall how ILT launched them into their professional careers under the guidance of Clarice Brierley, then leader of a dynamic team.
04:12 Bilingualism, ESOL, and Community Languages
Harmesh and Sardul were among the first bilingual ESOL teachers whose skills in other languages were recognised and increasingly valued, when Mother Tongue maintenance was also beginning to be raised as an issue, and NATESLA changed its name to NATECLA and established a national base in the college.
10:05 Materials development
The local authority’s supportive approach to staff development was instrumental in enabling team members to develop new skills and ideas, including Gordon’s role in the innovative BBC Hindi Urdu Bol Chaal project.
13:12 Community context
The ILT approach to ESOL and Community Languages was strong on addressing language learning in the grounded reality of the learners’ own situation, so community linkage was essential. The team members discuss how this guiding principle can be equally applied in other language contexts, for example with Gaelic in Scotland or many endangered languages in India.
16:05 Confidence issues
Team members share stories from personal or family experience of assimilative social pressures to suppress mother tongue use – whether Punjabi or Gaelic – and a Punjabi summer school initiative in the college is noted.
19:28 Final reflections
Lastly, each member reinforces the learning and confidence-building benefits of their early involvement in ILT, whether in relation to language skills and use, subsequent career paths, or social justice concerns, noting also how some issues first tackled 40 years ago, for example around workplace learning, remain prevalent today.

Linguistic Diversity

In conclusion, we may note that the year 1984 is now further back in the past than it was then still in the future when the dying George Orwell was putting the final touches to his doom-laden “Nineteen Eighty-Four” novel in a writer’s hideaway on the Hebridean Isle of Jura. Central to the workings of the totalitarian society he was predicting was “Newspeak” – a reduced and distorted officially approved form of language with a simplified grammar and reduced vocabulary, intended to promote social conformism and inhibit critical thinking.

This project is a new contribution from those we might now literally call “Old Speakers”(!), which looks back at the linguistic reality of the actual 1984 of urban England through the eyes of ILT staff and associates who were there at the time, with the benefit of their now 40 years of hindsight. If Orwell could have come back to visit us in the 1984 of real history he might well have been first shocked, then perhaps relieved on reflection, to find ample evidence of significantly increased linguistic diversity compared to the England he knew, at least at grassroots community level. It’s a confounding contrast, rooted in lived community reality, to the uniform and restrictive Newspeak monolingualism against which he had imaginatively warned.

We are deeply indebted to all the contributors who have made this collection possible. In addition to those appearing onscreen, we must also note particularly the crucial assistance of Professor Udaya Narayana Singh, a longterm partner in Mediating Multilingualism, in co-ordinating the South Asian language translation and transcription work with his team of collaborators. In a previous “Talking Points with Norman Maclean” contribution he references the concept of “jugaaR” to illustrate a South Asian propensity for inclusive linguistic accommodation. And in a more recent lecture for Bhasha Mela he similarly contrasts the Orwellian vision of 1984 with the historical facts of interlingual coexistence in South Asia, thus providing an alternative optimistic vision and rationale for maintaining cultural diversity. With that in mind, we also thank and salute Audrey West, another of our Talking Points collaborators and Extensions pioneers, for her continuing determined local promotion of the Jamaican language. We are also delighted that Magaidh Smith consented to take part in true vernacular Gaelic style, and we welcome the fresh Welsh voice of long-settled Grimsay resident, Rhodri Evans. In the face of encroaching Anglophone monoculture, every similar contribution underlines the value of ongoing linguistic diversity.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Paul McCallum in Conversation

Le Gordon Wells

Well-known Gaelic singer Paul McCallum from South Lochboisdale, South Uist, talks to James MacLetchie, from Sollas, North Uist.

Paul and James share the same experience of having been brought to Uist as young boys to be taken into local families. They had a lot to talk about!

The full conversation has been split into two parts of roughly the same length, which are first presented here unfiltered and unsubtitled.

Again, we’ve also cut the conversation up into smaller chunks and added subtitles and Clilstore transcriptions to help learners or non-speakers of Gaelic get a good sense of how the conversation flowed, summarised below. (Technical note: the YouTube Closed Caption (CC) subtitles are in Gaelic by default. However, if you are viewing on a laptop or desktop computer the settings wheel will allow you to select auto-translation into another language of your choice – English included. Alternatively, “Clilstore units” combine the embedded video with a wordlinked Gaelic transcript with one-click access to an online dictionary for any words you don’t know.)

In Part 1A Paul recalls his memories of arriving in South Uist as a four-year old with his two older brothers, to be looked after by a local brother and sister family in South Lochboisdale with Eriskay connections. He came from a musical family and found himself in a musical place – “Gleann a’ Cheòlraidh” – where he picked up Gaelic, before starting school, with the help of his musical ear. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12300)

In Part 1B he remembers his schooldays and some of his teachers, most of whom were Gaelic speakers even though education was conducted through English. He recalls how music came to him easily, and competing in mòds from an early age (at which he and James first came into contact). On leaving school he worked as a cook for MacBraynes on the Islay ferry, through which he came across Islay Gaelic, which was quite different from his own. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12301)

In Part 1C James notes how the advent of electricity marked a turning-point in Gaelic cèilidh culture, and Paul reflects that good singers would not necessarily be comfortable performing on a stage. Nevertheless he is encouraged by signs of natural musical ability in the local community. After MacBraynes he moved on to a Dominican centre helping people with drug or alcohol problems, where he mixed with people from all walks of life, and experienced a meaningful education. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12302)

In Part 1D Paul talks more about how his singing career took off, and how he received voice training in the classical tradition over a period of years. He points out that there are Gaelic songs that are classical, but notes also that the traditional worksongs of crofting communities provided natural voice training without the need for study, and that true vocal power is best demonstrated in soft singing. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12303)

In Part 1E Paul explores further the differences between classical and traditional singing, and the importance, in his view, of presenting Gaelic songs to islanders in a natural manner which chimes with their environment, albeit with the help of classical training. (He listened to classical singers as a boy and received help from classical teachers.) In Gaelic domestic culture he experienced an ingrained prayerful spirituality that combined naturally with music and the environment. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12304)

In Part 2A Paul and James share their experiences of being welcomed and absorbed into their respective communities in South and North Uist as young children. When James questions him about his later stage performances, Paul explains that that placed a distance between him and his audience, where he had the persona of “The Singer”, which was different from the Paul McCallum in his own home. Now retired from singing, he doesn’t miss the stage. He enjoys having his feet on the ground. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12305)

In Part 2B Paul talks a bit about his own writing, and how it’s inspired by the local environment. Moving on to discuss local poets from earlier times he notes the exemplary command they had over the language and how today’s Gaelic has changed. He regrets the loss of vocabulary and idiom and cautions against a felt need to change the language to “keep up” with today’s world. If the language is indeed “dying” we should be careful not to kill it off with words and idioms that don’t belong to it. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12306)

In Part 2C, reflecting on the disappearance of cèilidh houses, Paul suggests it is the community that is dying, more than Gaelic. He is reminded of recent visitors who talked of their memories, and about sloinnidhean – genealogies – and how much he enjoyed and learned from those visits. He believes young community members are also interested in old stories, but time needs to be found for such activities. Like James, he is a fluent Gaelic speaker and it’s the language he prefers to use in the community. Questioned by Paul about his own musical tastes, James talks about his influences, for example, Runrig. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12307)

In Part 2D James asks Paul if he thinks they both value Uist and Gaelic so highly because of the way they were taken there. Paul points out that, rather than being taught Gaelic formally, they absorbed it naturally. They arrived with nothing, and were given access to life, language, culture, music, beliefs, which may well have given them a deeper appreciation of their language and surroundings. James echoes his appreciation of the learning he received, especially from his adoptive father and other elders in the local community. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12308)

In Part 2E Paul turns the tables on James and asks him about his own writing of songs, and encourages him to pass them on – “Bheir seachad iad”. Once they’re written they no longer belong to him. They should be shared, to help keep the language and the music alive. “You could take it all over the world.” James reflects on Gaelic connections with First Nations of North America, and Paul notes commonalities in their troubled histories. But looking forward, he repeats his warning about needless change to the language – “Mura h-eil e briste, na cuir air dòigh e”. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.) (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12309)

These recordings were made with the support of the CIALL project, based in the Language Sciences Institute of the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Gael in Edinburgh

Le Gordon Wells

Select any video clip in this landscape format, or use the phone-friendly portrait layout.

Writer, poet, and “Edinburgh Gael” Martin MacIntyre (Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir) is the subject of our latest “Extensions” project, in which we present narrative, conversational, and poetic samples of Gaelic and other languages in previously unexplored contexts. Martin himself is the narrator of both the Gaelic and English versions of the introductory documentary, and we were delighted to engage Ifor ap Glyn, and Noèlia Díaz-Vicedo, Martin’s collaborators on A’ Ruith Eadar Dà Dhràgon, for the Welsh and Catalan versions. Martin’s own recitations of Canaidh, Foghar Dhùn Èideann, and Litearras san Smior give a taste of his wide-ranging poetic output.

In the recorded conversation he talks to Island Voices co-ordinator, Gordon Wells. In the full version, the topics covered include Martin’s island family connections and his Gaelic learning journey, comparing and contrasting island and mainland urban contexts, as well as questions around multilingualism, and discussion of literacy and oral and written literature. In conclusion the possible affordances of new media are also considered.

In an alternative approach that may suit learners or non-speakers of Gaelic, the same conversation is broken down into short extracts, which are optionally supplemented with auto-translatable subtitles and/or wordlinked transcripts:

In Part 1, Martin outlines his island connections to Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra, reeling off a sloinneadh of impressive length that traces his genealogical roots on his father’s side as far back as the late 17^th century. He visits when he can, though he has always been mainland-based, having been brought up in Lenzie, a town to the north of Glasgow which itself has a Gaelic-based name.

In Part 2, Martin talks about his Gaelic learning journey, an interest that has been with him since his first visit to South Uist with his father and brother when he was still in primary school, where he first encountered the language in an extended family and community setting. He describes his father’s initial surprise at his son’s interest, and how in time they came to speak Gaelic to each other more and more, and how this also helped when it came to raising his own children with Gaelic.

In Part 3, Martin first develops his thoughts on the affective implications of language choice and use, particularly in relation to emotional bonds, for example between family members. The conversation moves on to consideration of community factors in Gaelic use and maintenance in a context of ongoing language shift to English, and his own family’s notable success in passing the language on to a new generation in the urban context of Edinburgh. He cites close family connection, the importance of habitual use of the language, including listening to Gaelic radio, and involvement in school and community activity as crucial factors.

In Part 4, still discussing Gaelic’s minority status in Edinburgh, Martin suggests the evident multicultural milieu may in some ways and in some situations make it comparatively easy to mount Gaelic events, while also noting that he perceives a move towards more specifically Gaelic activities among Gaelic communities. He goes on to describe the inspiration he has derived from other minority language contexts, particularly Catalan and Welsh, and his collaborative work with poets in those languages in one of his latest books.

In Part 5, moving on from other multilingual contexts the conversation turns to questions of literacy and literature in a Gaelic context, where many of the most fluent speakers of Gaelic do not habitually read or write it. Martin reflects on the lasting legacy of the historically poor treatment of the language in education, while also recording his appreciation of the Gaelic oral tradition, and of songs and stories created by speakers who were not writers.

In Part 6, the conversation moves on to discussion of possible positive steps that may help ameliorate a difficult situation for Gaelic. Martin points out that, irrespective of age, people are capable of learning new skills, for example in the use of computers. Traditional speakers’ knowledge of the cultural and oral tradition should be valued. At the same time, he notices more confident use of Gaelic on social media. Picking up on voice-notes, he also suggests that new technologies could enable easier creation of audio-books that could help bring new literature closer to traditional speakers.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Maltese Internet Archive

Le Gordon Wells

Maltese Internet Archive

At Guthan nan Eilean we’re always pleased to make new links with other groups doing similar work, so we were delighted to hear from Sharon Pisani that ‘Ilħna Karkariżi’ – Voices from Birkirkara – had taken an interest in her Extensions work on Tradizzjonijiet tal-Milied f’Malta, and wanted to add some of her videos to their Internet Archive. We were more than happy to agree! You can now find her interview with Carmel Cauchi and some of his poetry readings alongside many other locally recorded Birkirkara voices on their site:

Interview: https://archive.org/details/carmel-cauchi-tifkiriet-milied

Poetry: htt ps://archive.org/details/carmel-cauchi-poeziji-milied

Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@ilhna_karkarizi

This is an encouraging opening to 2025 as we aim to further develop our “Language Capture and Curation” model while sharing Gaelic – and other! – voices, through narrative, verse, and free conversation…

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Tradizzjonijiet tal-Milied f’Malta

Le Gordon Wells

“Christmas Traditions in Malta” is a new and seasonal contribution by Sharon Pisani, from the St Andrews University Open Virtual Worlds group, to the Island Voices “Extensions” initiative!

Select any video clip in this landscape format, or use the phone-friendly portrait layout.

“Il-Milied f’Malta huwa ċelebrazzjoni kbira, b’tradizzjonijiet antiki u oħrajn ġodda. Minn drawwiet reliġjużi sa ikel u xorb, insibu ħafna affarijiet li jagħqdu lill-poplu. Ara dan id-dokumentarju qasir biex issir taf iktar fuq il-Milied f’Malta.” (Christmas in Malta is a major celebration, with old and new traditions. From religious customs to food and drink, there are many things that bring people together. Watch this short documentary to learn more.)

Sharon writes:

“Christmas is a celebration that holds a special place in my heart. Since moving from Malta to Scotland, I’ve sought to bring the light and joy of Maltese traditions into Scotland’s short, dark December days. When I was back home planning and filming the documentary, I looked into Malta’s unique customs and discovered others that have faded over time, such as the use of capon as the traditional Christmas lunch meat. My goal was to capture the essence of the Christmasses I cherish —through food, decorations, and the sense of community.

In today’s era of content creation, documenting this felt natural, but it was also deeply meaningful to explore Malta’s festive roots and to interview Carmel Cauchi, an author whose books shaped my childhood. The poetry readings selected by Cauchi reflect a contemporary world, where harsh realities co-exist with the jovial celebrations of Christmas. Just as Christmas traditions and lifestyles evolve, so too does language and the way we produce and consume content in that language. This is especially true for Maltese – and other island languages – in this digital age.

I hope this collection of videos, which can be explored in Maltese, English, and Gaelic, alongside other languages through YouTube’s translation tools, resonates with you.”

Sharon had already given us a Maltese version of our St Kilda film, but we’re delighted to add this new cluster of videos in the new Extensions style, featuring natural unscripted speech and carefully crafted verse from the poet Carmel Cauchi alongside Sharon’s documentary narrative – which, of course, allows ready translation into other languages, such as English or Gaelic, and maybe more to come(?). The videos are subtitled on YouTube in their original language – which also enables auto-translation into a wide range of other languages through the settings wheel. To access any of these videos just click on the live links in either of these landscape or portrait formats.

As an added bonus, we’ve also been able to create three new Clilstore units in Maltese, so you can read the transcript while watching the embedded video and just click on any unfamiliar word to get a dictionary translation into the language of your choice. Christmas is coming early!

Documentary: Tradizzjonijiet tal-Milied f’Malta
Poetry: Carmel G. Cauchi – Qari ta’ Poeżiji
Conversation: Carmel G. Cauchi Jitkellem fuq il-Milied

The Island Voices Extensions initiative is supported by the CIALL project.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Clilstore: Nyuu Jamiekan Yuunit

Le Gordon Wells

Island Voices’ “Jamiekan in a Wielz” gets a multilingual public launch in Wales at the weekend, with Gordon Wells among Audrey’s friends for the panel discussion on language, poetry and performance. Any Welsh friends of Island Voices are most welcome to come along!

DragonTheatre

Thanks to work by our partners in the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies in putting together a wordlist and glossary in the standardised “Cassidy-JLU” orthography, we’re pleased to mark the occasion with a new Clilstore unit, displaying all the standard features of embedded video, word-for-word transcript, plus one-click dictionary look-up.

This is made possible through Caoimhín Ó Donnaíle’s work on enabling the creation of “custom wordlists” in Clilstore for languages which may currently lack fully comprehensive online dictionaries. Taing mhòr, Chaoimhín!

Find the online Clilstore unit here: https://multidict.net/cs/12176

Or here: https://clilstore.eu/cs/12176

Also, check Ifor’s Welsh version here! https://multidict.net/cs/11888

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

CEUT Reflections 6

Le Gordon Wells

Here’s the sixth of our series of blogposts on the Aire Air Sunnd project led by Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, this time by John Gillies. As with previous posts, comments are welcome!

CompositeConference

Video thumbnails from the conference proceedings

John writes:

Aithisg ghoirid: Co-labhairt “Aire air Sunnd”, 7h dhen Dàmhair 2024

Brief report: “Attention to Wellbeing” Conference, 7th October 2024

This online conference was the culmination of the two year Aire air Sunnd (AAS) project. This was funded through a grant to Comann Eachdraich Uibhist a Tuath (CEUT) by the Ideas Fund, which derives its resourcing from the Wellcome Trust. Sgoil Chàirinis was used as the base for the day by Màiri Morrison, Gloria MacKillop, Archie Campbell, Loriana Pauli, James MacLetchie and Fiona MacIsaac.

The project was a collaboration between CEUT and the North Uist community, and academic partners. Gordon Wells of Guthan nan Eilean and the Language Sciences Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, has been a hugely valuable part of the project. Jess Wood, PhD student at the University of Aberdeen has helped to develop and analyse the co-created community survey. The University of St Andrews have supported digital aspects of the work.

On the 7^th, all the rest of the speakers besides those in Sgoil Chàirinis and the audience were online with support for this provided by XPoNorth through James Roberts. This was of a very high standard indeed and we were fortunate to secure their services.

The entire conference, divided into sections is now available on the Guthan nan Eilean website:

https://guthan.wordpress.com/aire-air-sunnd/aas-conference-recordings/

It is all very well worth watching and listening to! The content illustrates very well the close collaboration between CEUT, the community and the researchers. I know that some CEUT trustees did manage to attend some or all of the day, but we all have many calls on our time and this webpage means that people can listen to parts of it as time allows.

For those new to the project, the introductory session – Fàilte – gives a 20 minute overview of the background and the aims of the project from Uisdean, Jess Wood and myself, John Gillies. The survey showed clearly how important Gàidhlig is to people in Uist, including non Gàidhlig speakers. I would really recommend listening to Uisdean Robertson’s passionate speech on how in practical terms, the language supports wellbeing in North Uist, as well as his thoughts from his long experience, of what urgently needs to be done to better support it, including a positive impact on the economy of the islands.

This conference poster gives a summary of the day. (Click to expand.)

It was a pleasure in the second session to see CEUT members Gloria, Eairdsidh, Loriana, and Màiri describe the work that the Gaelic Heritage and Wellbeing groups have been doing. Màiri introduced Fiona MacIsaac’s film by quoting:

‘The idea must die that small even isolated island communities aren’t worth investing in. They are sites of globally significant cultural economic and ecological resources. They need and deserve investment in their stewardship of these things which matter so much.’

(Dr Nazia Habib, Centre for research into resilience and sustainable development, Cambridge University.)

The excellent short film discussed the potential of heritage for economic regeneration and included footage from Paul MacCallum, Loriana, Katie MacCormick and Cathie Laing. I have a note that Cathie then said that ‘psalm singing was like a blessing on my life.’

Dr Alastair Allan MSP then introduced Kate Forbes MSP and Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic, as the Keynote Speaker. Alastair suggested that ‘language loss is a part of biodiversity loss.’

Kate Forbes’ short speech is well worth listening to. She spoke of the need to be persistent and determined when advocating for services. She spoke of the need to look back to important bards like Dòmhnall Ruadh Choruna as well as contemporary cultural figures like Julie Fowlis and Runrig. She finished by saying that she was looking forward to hearing from CEUT on the issues of the AAS conference and others. Màiri made the point that the funding for Gàidhlig tended to go to the North and South ends of the Western Isles. Uisdean thanked Alastair and Kate but also made the point that funding as well as words were needed. I asked about support for the areas of special linguistic interest set out in the Scottish Government’s Languages Bill, but there is clearly no detail available on this yet.

The Partnership Session brought together most of the groups working in North Uist. They are listed on the AAS page on Guthan nan Eilean above. There was a consensus that multi-year funding would be hugely helpful for all organisations, but this was difficult given the way that Scottish Government is currently funded – on a yearly basis. Another theme emerging (from Diane MacPherson) was the desirability for the many organisations in North Uist to work more closely together. This was reinforced by Norman MacLeod from Taigh Chearsabagh who stressed the need for more collaborative working, as well as Ann Wilson of Ceann na h-Àirigh in Grimsay, another successful community organisation. Màiri Morrison suggested a six monthly meeting together would be helpful. The idea of employing someone between organisations for fundraising support was also raised.

A common challenge finding volunteers was discussed, as well as the need to bring in more islanders in the age groups 30 to 50 years!

Mapping our Place was a fascinating session on landscape and identity including background of archaeology and walking the landscape from Amanda as well as a wonderful described film on the Geireann Mill walk by James MacLetchie.

The Forum: Co-creation – Communities working with researchers brought together all our research partners as well as Professor Stuart Angus (UHI and Nature Scot) and Ruthanne Baxter from the University of Edinburgh. It was co-chaired by me and Lewis Hou from the Ideas Fund, who has been a great supporter of CEUT and AAS.

Gordon Wells gave a brief summary of the 2022 report on The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community, now available free online. There is increasing disquiet, also reflected by Uisdean at the beginning of the webinar, about the decline in the use of Gaelic in places like North Uist. Gordon went on to underline the value of recording community members, given the linguistic understanding of the Primacy of Speech, and suggested that Gaelic is supported as an idea but not effectively as a practice in communities.

Professor Stuart Angus, whose engagement with islanders was described as a model of how academics should involve communities by Uisdean Robertson, gave us some alarming data on the deleterious effects of anthropogenic climate change on the coast of the Western seaboard of the Western Isles. This knowledge has been acquired by 50 years of visiting Uist and Barra as a scientist. This short summary of a complex issue is well worth listening to.

Ruthanne Baxter described the success of the Prescribe Culture project and her current engagement with Community Links Workers in NHS Highland. She recommended the Tiny Habitat website which may have some applicability for rural environments.

Heather May Morgan, Dean for Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Aberdeen complimented those involved in AAS as a model for collaboration and emphasised the need for pre-investment in communities to make future work even more productive. The work has made her realise some of the challenges of travel and engagement in island communities!

The final session Forum with Funders brought together Chris Manion (British Science Association), Kate O’Driscoll (Museums & Galleries Scotland), John Morrison (Morrison Media), Joanna Peteranna (HIE), David MacLeay (Community Engagement, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar). Councillor Uisdean Robertson and I gave a brief summary to close.

John Morrison (Morrison Media, Chair MG Alba) is well known in PR at local,Highland, National and political levels. He congratulated the group for bringing AAS to fruition in the conference today and CEUT for their support. He encouraged CEUT to work out our Unique Selling Point (USP). His short speech, preceded by Màiri asking ‘Where do we go from here? is 2 minutes into the session recording.

Some quotes from his talk:

‘You have a very talented film-maker in your midst’ (Fiona MacIsaac)

‘Use this conference and report as a launching pad……..’

‘Use your USP to present solutions…’

6 minutes of hugely useful advice for CEUT.

Joanna Peteranna of HIE described the HIE mandate, in which community views were important, which was based on a net-zero economy within a dynamic wellbeing economy. She cited the Working Group 2023 report on Gaelic and the Economy to which Scottish Government will shortly respond.

This Scottish Government response may be important in helping CEUT decide on how to shape future funding applications. Joanna also stressed that funding was in short supply and that organisations should think of collaborations with similar organisations to maximise opportunities to receive funding.

Chris Manion suggested that BSA was looking carefully at outputs from the Ideas Fund and that community focussed research would be more prominent in funding in the future—clearly an encouraging direction of travel. David MacLeay stressed that the funding climate was ‘the most challenging in 30 years’.

Kate O’Driscoll, who attended the whole day, described the work of Museums and Galleries Scotland (MGS) including their funding streams. CEUT has benefited from successive grants from MGS for many years. A future MGS focus will be on mental health. Also, Collaboration, Health and Wellbeing, Inclusion, Education, Place, and Climate Action are six key areas that MGS will support in future. She said that from the AAS conference, CEUT was well placed to make a case for funding on the basis of work in these areas that was demonstrated today.

This event has increased the profile of CEUT throughout the islands, with prospective funders and with Scottish Government. To have the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic attending and saying that she was looking forward to hearing from CEUT can only be helpful for the organisation for the future.

Finally, none of this would have happened without a huge amount of work by many people in the AAS group over the past two years. In particular, Councillor Uisdean Robertson, Chair of CEUT has been supportive throughout and was central to securing the attendance of Dr Alasdair Allan MSP and Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic Kate Forbes. Academic partners Gordon Wells and Jessica Wood have been vital to the project. Màiri Morrison has coordinated the process with energy and enthusiasm from grant application to successful final conference. The findings offer CEUT opportunities to move the organisation into a flourishing future.

Iain MacillÌosa

John Gillies

October 2024.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

James MacLetchie in Conversation

Le Gordon Wells

Sollas school photo In conversation with Gordon Wells, James MacLetchie from Sollas reflects on his life to date in North Uist, the island he’s called home since first coming here as a child from a mainland care setting, paying particular attention to the special natural and cultural environment to which he’s been exposed from a young age through the Gaelic community language.

Here’s the full conversation, unfiltered and unsubtitled.

We’ve also cut the conversation up into smaller chunks and added subtitles and Clilstore transcriptions to help learners or non-speakers of Gaelic get a sense of how James feels about his connection to North Uist. (You can use the YouTube settings wheel to slow the speed or to get auto-translations of the subtitles into many other languages, including English. Clilstore transcriptions have the video embedded and also offer one-click dictionary translation of any words you don’t know.)

In Part 1, James tells Gordon the story of his earliest childhood memories of coming to live on the island and meeting his new parents. He paints a vivid picture of his first impressions, and goes on to describe his acquisition of Gaelic in its natural community context. He doesn’t remember actively learning it. It came to him. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12159)

In Part 2, James identifies his parents through their traditional patronymics and explains how their family and community connections in both North Uist and Harris enabled his own seamless integration into local networks and cèilidh culture. He talks about his own relationship with Gaelic, his life being unimaginable without it, and how he feels it opens doors to other cultures, illustrated by a story of a chance encounter with Native Americans in the USA. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12160)

In Part 3, speaking about his particular interest in the environment, James explains how he grew up with friends and neighbours who passed on knowledge and lore about local flora and fauna. Returning to the island after being briefly wrenched away, he found his greatest comfort from any underlying insecurity in the physical environment around him. He liked to read what he could on related topics, and eventually found work as a ranger. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12161)

jamesAge7 In Part 4, with his work as a tour guide frequently taking him off-island, James meditates on what “dachaigh” (home) means to him, and its associations with “buinteanas” (connection). In so doing he name-checks many school-friends and other community members, and highlights the natural familiarity that connects them through Gaelic. This stands in awkward contrast with imported changes to the language that he also perceives, and he clings to the memory of his father’s mastery of old poetry. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12162)

In Part 5, James develops some thoughts and explanation about his own writing of poetry and songs, and some of the influences on that, and he acknowledges the increasing difficulty of passing on to new generations the kind of knowledge he acquired through community interaction in Gaelic that is now much weakened. Yet he takes positive inspiration from others like him who were fostered into the community, and who found true value in the language and have worked to support the culture. (Clilstore unit: https://multidict.net/cs/12163)

This work is supported by the CIALL project at the University of the Highlands and Islands Language Sciences Institute.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Session Recordings

Le Gordon Wells

We have created a dedicated “AAS Conference Recordings” page, following the “Togail ar Guthan/Raising our Voices” hybrid conference and webinar for the Aire air Sunnd project. You can access seven different videos on the page, each corresponding to a separate session within the overall programme. A detailed table gives links to all the individual sessions simply by clicking on the relevant blue title or video thumbnail.

It was a very full day, with a good mix of formats – including talks, discussions, and video inserts – with both local and remote speakers and participants representing a wide range of interests, and Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, delivered a keynote message in Gaelic and English. Island Voices gets a special mention in Session 6, on “Communities working with Researchers”, in which Gordon Wells talks briefly about the project and its aims at 4.57, and allows himself an even shorter wee rant at 45.22 on community-university links!

You can also click and download the PDF pictured below, which has all the same links embedded in a single document.

And anyone yearning for an immersive “box-set” experience(!) can view all sessions in an unbroken sequence on this YouTube playlist.

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean

Tobhta Bean Eachainn

Le Gordon Wells

TobhtaBeanEachainnscrn

Dòmhnall Ruaraidh Caimbeul tells stories and recites a poem to Tommy Macdonald concerning Tobhta Bean Eachainn in South Lochboisdale, South Uist, in further additions to our taighean-tughaidh playlist.

This full unsubtitled recording includes both some stories about the ruin, and Dòmhnall Ruaraidh’s rendition of a poem about Maighstir Seòras Rigg.

The recording has also been broken down into two subtitled parts.

Part 1 features local stories told about the ruin.

You can also read a wordlinked transcript of Part 1 with the video embedded here: https://multidict.net/cs/12144

Part 2 features a poem about the priest who looked after the occupants of the ruin.

You can also read a wordlinked transcript of Part 2 with the video embedded here: https://multidict.net/cs/12145

Tadhail air Island Voices – Guthan nan Eilean