Calmac staff go on-line to brush up on their Gaelic

Scotland is a core aim of the many Gaelic-related initiatives currently underway, so CalMac’s initiative in finding a way to make language training accessible to as many staff as possible is to be commended. For many people, other than passing road signs, seeing the ferries’ names and the onboard signage in Gaelic may be their first known exposure to the language, so it is great to see CalMac going a step further and teaching staff useful Gaelic words and phrases.”

“Gaelic to fluency.”

Donella Beaton, Chief Executive of Cànan, said: “The brief from CalMac was to create the means by which as many staff as possible could become familiar with some Gaelic and use it in their day to day work. The geographical spread of staff and complicated working hours means that it is not possible to send them all on courses, but they have been able to overcome this by using online technology to take Gaelic into their homes. We believe it is a model which could be adopted by other companies and organisations who would like more of their staff to be able to speak some Gaelic and understand why it is important. ”

Arthur Cormack, Cathraiche of Bòrd na Gàidhlig, said: “The Bòrd is focused on increasing the numbers of Gaelic speakers in Scotland and we are happy to support this initiative by CalMac offering the opportunity to all theirstaff to learn some of the language.  This type of online learning, relevant to the organisation, is an example that other public bodies, councils and private companies could follow, and is essential if services are to be offered in Gaelic.  We hope that, through introductions such as these in the workplace, more and more people may be encouraged to go a step further and learn Gaelic to fluency.”

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