Learn Gaelic with your children!
It is extremely important that pupils use and hear Gaelic in the home as well as the school. For pupils in Gaelic Education, it will make a big difference if they have the opportunity to use and hear Gaelic at home. Not only for fluency and to develop their abilities in Gaelic but also to foster respect for the language. If parents who are not Gaelic speakers make an effort to use words and phrases around the home, pupils will see Gaelic as a living language which is part of every area of their lives, not just a language of school. Fortunately, there is plenty support for families that are learning Gaelic and for those who already have the language but require encouragement to use it. We have created a list below on some of the resources that are available that would be useful for families to use more Gaelic around the home. We want our own resources to be appropriate for families, and if you have any ideas for additional resources, please contact us.
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On our other website, neadan.scot, there is a focus on the early years and Gaelic in the home and community with information about Gaelic Bookbug, early years groups and activities and classes that are available free of charge to parents. There are resources such as posters and flashcards on different subjects.
This is a vey good course, that will take you from A1 (simple) to C1 (fluency). There has never been a Gaelic course that is so complete as this one. You will get taught in different ways, whether that would be learning independently or attending classes face-to-face or online.
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Dictionaries and guidance with grammar
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For older pupils, these dictionaries would be helpful to them: Faclair na Sgoile – Apps on Google Play – This is not a Gaelic – English dictionary, but it will give you the meaning of the word in Gaelic. If you are searching for a word that you don’t recongnise in Gaelic, we would recommend using these online dictionary to help:
Am Faclair Beag - Scottish Gaelic Dictionary This is good also for the youngsters to take responsibility for doing and checking their own work. Also, we would recommend that there is a dictionary in the house for everybody in the family. If you are looking for clear advice on Gaelic grammar rules and spelling, have a look at these handy app from Sealgar Ltd, IùlGhràmair
Homework club – Monday to Thursday between 5:30 to 7:30, Gaelic4Parents offer a live homework help. There are teachers available to answer pupil’s questions about their homework. This is particular helpful for families who don’t have a lot of Gaelic at home.
Sound Files – there are plenty of sound-files of Gaelic books on the website, Gaelic 4 Parents, There are books for the early year that you find in the BookBug bag. Also the series of Storyworld & Oxford Reading Tree books.
As well as this, there are games for children to do online, fun ways to develop their language skills
There are videos and plenty of other learning materials for Gaelic Education from BBC Alba online. Short videos in Gaelic for a range of topics such as Maths, Literacy, Science and Social Subjects. There is a lot of material available secondary level for National 4, National 5, higher and Advanced Higher and also for Gaelic (Learners)
Education Scotland - Parentzone
There is advice & ideas from Education Scotland about using more Gaelic outside the school. You will get full information here.
Acair’s focus as a publisher is Scottish Gaelic children's books and a wide range of titles in Scottish Gaelic and English. We have over 400 books in print in a range of genres, bilingually and in several languages, as well as children's books. Acair also publish a range of free children's Scottish Gaelic audiobooks.