This month the Scottish census is being taken, and I received the form in the mail. I wasn’t sure if I was eligible/required to participate. I’m a British citizen, but not a taxpayer as I pay tax in Canada, so I called their 0-800 number and the official confirmed that yes, I was expected to complete the questionnaire.
It was pretty much what I had expected: age, family status, education, ethnicity, employment, and the last category, languages spoken. They asked about English (I consider myself quite proficient there, thank you), then Gaelic and no, apart from the words for ‘cheers’ (slainte), ‘party’ (ceilidh), and ‘lake’ (loch); I haven’t a clue. In fact, I don’t know how to pronounce half the towns in the Highlands because of their Gaelic spelling.
But then I was surprised to be asked if I could speak or understand spoken, or write or understand written Scots. I had no idea it was considered a real language! My mother would be rolling her eyes at that piece of news; to her Scots was a slang spoken only by people like those in the comic strips The Broons and Oor Wullie. But reflecting on the last few months being here talking to people, and the last couple of years following Scottish social media sites, I realized that while I can neither speak nor really write Scots, I can read it, and I can understand (mostly) when people around me are speaking it.
To give you an idea, “D’ya ken yon kirk?” “Ay, I wid nae bide there alane.” “No, I ginnae no’ dae that!” translates to, “Do you know that church?” “Yes, I wouldn’t stay there by myself.” “No, I’m not going to do that!”.
So it seems that I am more multi-lingual than I knew. Hunh.