Gaelic Learning Opportunities at Cothrom!

Jessie MacDonald is involved in an interesting and innovative Gaelic language development programme, here is her story.

“I started working at Cothrom Learning Centre in South Uist in April 2024. My job title is Gaelic Conversational Development Officer. As well as the title of my post being unique the job is definitely unique too as there is no syllabus or curriculum and is almost entirely verbal and conversational, although I do refer to written resources. The aim of my job is to highlight how important it is to practice speaking Gàidhlig verbally, alongside the theory and grammar.

I have a variety of students, including retirees, local workers, parents and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig students who just want to maximise their Gàidhlig conversational skills. My largest group are Education Attainment Apprentices from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar who work with young people of all ages across the Western Isles.

I primarily work using the Zoom platform as not many of my students are in Uist and find its features work very well for my teaching. My resources are limited and I can go online and share the screen quickly whilst we discuss topics. Doing this also means we can adapt and change things quickly to meet learning needs. Classes and learning methods vary with each student and it’s been an exciting learning curve finding ways to meet individual aims and objectives. Some find phonetics more useful, some just want repetitive discussion, others will prefer reading aloud.

I recently participated in a training course called Turas & Tog which was delivered recently by Eòghan Stewart, Education Scotland, in partnership with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. We engaged in four 1.5hr long sessions. I learnt a lot and was also pleased that I was already doing some things that was being suggested. It was a brilliant mix of presentations and information, with group discussion and exercises. Making it interactive just made it so much easier to take the information in and put yourself in similar shoes to your prospective students. I would highly recommend the course.

Every day is different and I feel privileged to play a small part in achieving confidence and fluency to my students”

CEO of Cothrom Learning Centre, Adam Keltie, said: “A commitment to the Gaelic language and its development is one of our core values here at Cothrom, so it is great for us that these values align so closely with Jessie’s own. We also see the provision of a quality Gaelic childcare service in our nursery as central to this development, and the role of Gaelic Conversational Development Officer sits well as part of our overall offering. We all feel very fortunate to have Jessie here as part of the Cothrom family.”

Muriel MacKenzie is an RMPS teacher at the Nicolson Institute and has been receiving tuition from Jessie. Muriel further added: "My Gaelic classes with Jessie are always a highlight of my week. Having been raised in a Gaelic speaking home, I find the conversation style of learning makes me feel relaxed and is helping unlock a lot of the Gaelic I already have. I can already see the difference it is making to my teaching practice and I am very thankful to CNES, Cothrom Learning and my own school for their amazing support with my Gaelic journey."

If you would like to find out more about the learning opportunities offered by Jessie at Cothrom, please contact enquiries@cothrom.net.