Gaelic language used and abused in tokenistic job adverts?
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:53 pm
litir sa Phàipear bheag, 16.7.10
I WAS INTERESTED to see, on page 21 of last week's Free Press, a half-page advert by the Scottish Government for a Gaelic Language Plan Developement Officer.
Perusing the Gaelic version of the "bilingual" advert I counted six basic grammatical errors, numerous errors in punctuation and no less than 13 spelling mistakes, some of them real howlers (including the Gaelic word for
"government"!). Yes, I need to get out a bit more.
But worse, much worse, than these basic errors was the near incomprehensible pseudo-Gaelic
employed by the translators. This has become the norm in official documents from the public sector.
I fully understand the need for, and symbolic importance of, bilingual adverts. But if we get it this wrong, what's the
point? The language is being turned into a laughing stock, used and abused in tokenistic job adverts which nobody actually reads. Another nail in the coffin. Maybe the Scottish Government, as part of their "Gaelic Language Plan", should
make it a priority to employ an erudite native speaker (there are still a few of them around!) to compose readable Gaelic
texts for their ads without reference to the English form of words. Now, that really would be a "development".
NEIL MCRAE
`BRAES OF KILBRIDE'
KILBRIDE
SKYE
IV49 9AT
I WAS INTERESTED to see, on page 21 of last week's Free Press, a half-page advert by the Scottish Government for a Gaelic Language Plan Developement Officer.
Perusing the Gaelic version of the "bilingual" advert I counted six basic grammatical errors, numerous errors in punctuation and no less than 13 spelling mistakes, some of them real howlers (including the Gaelic word for
"government"!). Yes, I need to get out a bit more.
But worse, much worse, than these basic errors was the near incomprehensible pseudo-Gaelic
employed by the translators. This has become the norm in official documents from the public sector.
I fully understand the need for, and symbolic importance of, bilingual adverts. But if we get it this wrong, what's the
point? The language is being turned into a laughing stock, used and abused in tokenistic job adverts which nobody actually reads. Another nail in the coffin. Maybe the Scottish Government, as part of their "Gaelic Language Plan", should
make it a priority to employ an erudite native speaker (there are still a few of them around!) to compose readable Gaelic
texts for their ads without reference to the English form of words. Now, that really would be a "development".
NEIL MCRAE
`BRAES OF KILBRIDE'
KILBRIDE
SKYE
IV49 9AT