Category: Video

Stòras Beò: Pàdruig

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

Pàdruig Moireach brings a new Leòdhasach voice to the Guthan nan Eilean site with this recording made with Archie Campbell. An experienced teacher of Gaelic, Pàdruig’s also been closely involved with sociolinguistic fieldwork in the Western Isles in recent years, working for Soillse, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and the UHI Language Sciences Institute.

A Lewisman now based in Inverness, he’s worked in different fields and travelled widely, as you’ll hear in this recording.

Pàdruig and Archie have both been training up to take part in Soillse’s Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal project. Part of that training included conducting practice interviews on each other. We’ve already shared Pàdruig’s interview of Archie. Here the tables are turned, and it’s his turn in the hot seat!

Here it is on YouTube:

As usual, you can also access this video on a Clilstore unit with an accompanying wordlinked transcript, in case you want to read while watch and listen: http://multidict.net/cs/7689.

Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

Island Voices are delighted to see some of our video recordings being added to the Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic (DASG), hosted by Glasgow University. The spoken texts of Saoghal Thormoid, produced under the Soillse banner, were included in DASG shortly after their creation, but under a new initiative, thanks to Eilidh Cormack, all the Gaelic interviews of the original Guthan nan Eilean Series One have now been incorporated into the “Cluas ri Claisneachd” audio archive. This is the first time DASG have used video recordings in their archive. It’s meant quite a bit of extra work for them, as they have added same language subtitles to every video. So this offers another viewing and reading option to Island Voices viewers – you can now follow written transcripts directly on the video screen as an alternative to using our own Clilstore platform.

You can browse the Island Voices material here. So far, only Series One is currently available in DASG. However, agreement has been reached for all Series Two interviews to receive similar treatment in due course of time. We’re happy to contribute to this collaborative venture. Cumaibh cluas ri claisneachd!

Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal

~ Gordon Wells ~ 2 Comments

Followers of Island Voices need no introduction to Archie Campbell.

He’s been a stalwart supporter and contributor since our very early days.

In recent months he’s been involved in a new pilot project in which the UHI Language Sciences Institute with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Soillse, together with Irish partners, embark on recording the natural speech of Irish and Scottish Gaelic speakers in their own communities with user-friendly equipment and techniques.

This film was made with Pàdruig Moireach in an early training session, and may be viewed as a sample of what’s to come. It builds on the model of the Saoghal Thormoid series, using the same basic two-camera set-up, with minimal editing work afterwards, so that the viewer gets a real feel for the natural conversational flow of two people speaking to each other, with all the normal repeats, reformulations, hesitations, and interruptions that characterise authentic spoken communication. Pàdruig quizzes Archie on his recollections and opinions on growing up and continuing to live on Benbecula. It’s a fascinating half-hour listen.

You can watch the video by itself on YouTube:

Or you can follow this link to catch it with an accompanying transcript on Clilstore:

http://multidict.net/cs/7628

Un viaggio gaelico

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

Il gruppo del progetto scozzese Voci delle isole (Island Voices/Guthan nan Eilean) visita l’Irlanda. Questo documentario è stato doppiato in italiano. Sono presenti anche dialoghi in lingua gaelica d’Irlanda e di Scozia, la cui traduzione è posta nei sottotitoli.

Seo cànan ùr dhuinn aig Guthan nan Eilean. Mòran taing do Francesco La Rocca airson am film seo a chur gu Eadailtis!

We were delighted at Island Voices a little while ago to receive an e-mail from Francesco suggesting we do an Italian version of A Gaelic Journey, and even more pleased when the translated text and sound files came through a short time later. What a great job he’s done!

Another linguistic brick in our steadily rising wall of Other Tongues, and all a part of our Sharing Gaelic mission.

As usual, you can also access the video on Clilstore – Unit 7505 – so you can watch, listen, and read at the same time.

 

 

Shantiniketan Presentations

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

 

Island Voices co-ordinator Gordon Wells’s “lightning tour” of India concluded with a session in the Bhasha Bhavana (Languages Building) of the world-famous Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan. Wearing hats from both Guthan nan Eilean and Soillse (for which he is the project manager), Gordon Wells delivered a summary of the overall Island Voices project while highlighting the partnership with Soillse, particularly in relation to Saoghal Thormoid.

Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s talk. (Click to enlarge.)
CFEL publications. (Click to enlarge.)

Like the previously visited Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Shantiniketan also hosts a Centre for Endangered Languages, another link in a chain that connects many different parts of India. Soillse Director, Conchúr Ó Giollagáin, who also spoke in all three venues on the tour, is keen to develop dialogue and links between Irish and Scottish Gaelic interests and Indian efforts and initiatives to protect and promote linguistic diversity. In his talks on Irish and Scottish Gaelic culture and demography he noted in particular the striking disparity in international academic attention and resources devoted to India, with its rich mix of languages and cultures, in comparison with, for example, Western Europe which has far less linguistic variety.

The speakers, hosted by Profs Kailash Pattanaik and Abhijit Sen. (Click to enlarge.)

Both visitors certainly found Shantiniketan an inspiring venue to complete their tour, where they were warmly received by faculty members, research scholars, and students, and treated to a fascinating tour of the campus, as well as Rabindra Bhavan, which houses the Rabindranath Tagore museum.

Rabindranath Tagore’s house. (Click to enlarge.)

A PDF of Gordon’s presentation with live links can be viewed here.

Mediating Multilingualism: Video Documentation

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

“So, tha cunnart ann a bhith a’ dèiligeadh le aon chànan a-mhàin… Ma tha cànain eile agad tha an saoghal a’ sìor leudachadh a-muigh, agus faodaidh tu roghainn a dhèanamh, faodaidh tu deagh thaghadh a dhèanamh.”

(“So there’s a danger in dealing with only one language… If you have other languages the world keeps widening out, and you can make choices, you can make good choices.”)

This extract from Saoghal Thormoid, particularly in keeping with the theme of the Indo-Scottish colloquium at Amity University Haryana, was used as the final example in Gordon Wells’s second presentation, in which he was invited to speak on aspects of Video Documentation in an ethnographic context.

The PDF of the presentation, with live links to further exemplifying material is available here.

Skol-Veur C’houezelek Bro-Skos

~ Gordon Wells ~ 2 Comments

Teul-film berr evit an deskidi diwar-benn Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skol-Veur C’houezelek Bro-Skos.

Film aithriseach goirid ann am Breatnais airson luchd-ionnsachaidh mu dheidhinn Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

Short Breton documentary about Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic College.

While you watch and listen you can read a transcript here with online dictionary access to every single word on Clilstore Unit 7207: http://multidict.net/cs/7207

Many thanks to Fañch Bihan-Gallic for the latest “Other Tongues” addition to our Sharing Gaelic Voices theme! Fañch is also a keen Gaelic scholar, with an interest in the informal learning of the language. And outside his formal studies he is an active member of the Misneachd campaign group.

 

Peatcutting: slow burner catches fire

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

Among the 200+ Island Voices videos on YouTube, the documentaries and interviews on peatcutting, featuring Archie Campbell, have constantly attracted a steady, if not eye-catching, stream of hits. Slow burning, you might say, like the stuff itself.

Well, there appears to have been a shift in the wind in the YouTube algorithms, judging by recent analytics for the English version of the documentary. This looks more like a muirburn out of control!

Suddenly, viewers all round the world – from the United States to Sweden, to Romania, India, Indonesia, Brazil and elsewhere – are taking an interest in how peats are cut in Benbecula. It’ll be interesting to see how many move on to listen to Archie talking about the process and the social customs attached to it in either English or Gaelic – all available on the Series 2 Outdoors page. And any Polish-speaking viewers can also get a version of the documentary in their own language – Kopanie torfu!

 

Uist Guide for Gaelic Learners

~ Gordon Wells ~ Leave a comment

A year has passed since Ceòlas’ Liam Alastair Crouse last spoke to Gordon Wells about his work in Uist. He took time out from helping with the latest immersion course for Gaelic learners at Kildonan Museum to talk about what he’s been doing. He’s not been idle!

Part of his work involves helping organisations (local and national) develop their Gaelic, particularly online. Here are some of the sites he mentions.

https://www.runnach.co.uk/
https://www.toradh.org/
https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/gd/taigh-chearsabhagh-taigh-tasgaidh-agus-ionad-ealan/
http://digital.nls.uk/learning/iolaire/

He then goes on to mention the latest initiative to help Gaelic learners in Uist – a listing of likely places where you might hear and practise the language, together with some helpful tips on how to engage in Gaelic conversation. You can download and print off the guidelines here. It’s also available on the Ceòlas site here.

In the final part of the conversation with Gordon he talks about further plans for local development. Watch this space!