At the end of 2023 the brilliant Lingo Flamingo came out to Flourish to run a 10 week course of Gaelic for beginners. Lingo Flamingo is a social enterprise based in Glasgow, running courses for all abilities & making language learning fun and accessible. They work with community groups across Scotland, promoting the well-being and health benefits of learning a new language.
Lingo Flamingo have previously run courses at Flourish in Gaelic and French, both of which were really popular. There was so much demand for another Gaelic course they brought it back!
Our 5 Gaelic learners all achieved an SQA National 2 qualification – on February 22nd Rosie and Carolyn from Lingo Flamingo came to our House Meeting to present them to the participants.
Flourish House member Neil participated in the course and answered a few questions:
What made you want to learn Gaelic?
I was already learning French and the instructor asked me in front of the class if I was coming to the next class and I felt I had to say yes, haha! I also wanted to be doing more activities
Had you ever spoken Gaelic before?
No!
Did you enjoy the class?
Yes I did – one week was a real struggle though the teacher did say that was the most difficult week. We all passed the exam at the end, despite lots of people feeling anxious about the test. Some folk came to the language classes who don’t often come into Flourish.
Was it challenging?
It was very challenging. The way it is written is nothing like how it is pronounced – almost like trying to learn Sanskrit or Mandarin
What’s your favourite Gaelic phrase?
Ciamar a tha thu (How are you) or Tìoraidh an-dràsta (Cheerio just now)
Margaret, who also participated, said “I liked the fact I was using my memory for the Gaelic class and although people were apprehensive about doing the speaking exam for the qualification I was determined to go through with it and I’m glad I did. It was a nice achievement”.
We can’t wait for the next Lingo Flamingo language course.
