EU green light for Scots Gaelic

You can imagine the field day my kids had when they saw this sign

I thought it was going to be this sign

In Ireland they have areas with monolingual signposting, in Irish only, ha ha. But then it's quite easy to get lost on roads in Ireland even if you can understand the signposts.

I'm all in favour of supporting minority languages. But I think you can spend too much money on initiatives that aren't the most effective use of that money, and I'm inclined to suspect that this comes into that category.

I've been to that place in Orkney a few times iviehoff, but never on the way to Aberdeen from Prestwick!

It's quite easy for me:
Signposts reminding us of the historical names of places are good, and even necessary.
Traffic instructions in Gaelic are a waste of money

"Ah, that makes sense. Irish doesn't do that, so I didn't realize that Gaelic did. Thanks for the explanation." 'S e ur beatha, Diana.

"I think you can spend too much money on initiatives that aren't the most effective use of that money." If less than one billionth of what was spent on killing 500,000 Iraqis and displacing a few million more is expended on communication I won't lose sleep over it - really.

"Traffic instructions in Gaelic are a waste of money" Unless, of course, they are in your part of the planet - and in your language. Else, I'm in favour of Spanish road signs in New York.

If less than one billionth of what was spent on killing 500,000 Iraqis and displacing a few million more is expended on communication I won't lose sleep over it - really.

The highest estimate I've ever seen of the total expected costs of the Iraq war, including the present value of caring for the wounded, is one trillion dollars. That was for the US expenditures. Let's generously add another trillion for the coalition partners and a third trillion for Iraq. One billionth of three trillion is three thousand.

I think I would agree with you, that if this whole project cost less than a billionth of that, i.e. $3000 or about £1800, then it's not worth losing any sleep over. It would have cost more than that over here, but perhaps labor is cheaper in Scotland.

:)

Unless, of course, they are in your part of the planet - and in your language
But they aren't, anywhere. Nobody reads Scottish Gaelic as a first language over English any more, let alone is monolingual in it, even if you could find someone who speaks it as a first language.

I say that as someone who lives in North East Scotland, visits the west regularly, has several friends originally from the Western Isles who grew up speaking Gaelic before English, and who has a number of friends who put their kids to the local Gaelic school

There are more French and German speakers driving in the Western Highlands and Islands, and apart from a few "links" and "gauche" signs at the airport and ferry exits, very little concession is made to them, although that might actually prevent some acidents

Is the situation in Scotland different from Wales? I remember a similar discussion about Welsh road signs (which I can't find anymore). I said that Welsh signs were more or less a waste of money because everybody who grew up in Wales and passed the driving test speaks and reads English fluently. I was rebuked for my opinion and was told to be wrong.

In northeastern Austria there are Czech road signs telling drivers to drive on the right side of the road. Czech drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road because the roads in their country have fewer potholes there.

It's not much different from Ireland either, istvan. There is no one who is literate in Irish who is not literate in English.

Is the situation in Scotland different from Wales?
yes - there are a lot more predominantly Welsh-speakers in Wales, although no reports of any monolingual Welsh-speakers these days.

However, I would draw a distinction between ancient place-names in Welsh or Gaelic, which I'm all for, and modern traffic signs with instructions in Welsh or Gaelic, which I'm against

Agreed, there's nothing wrong with bilingual (or even Gaelic only) place-name signs. On the other hand, Gaelic or Welsh traffic signs are just unnecessary and possibly confusing. It's been some time since I visited the Gaeltacht in Ireland, so I don't know if there are any such signs.

Edited by: istvan