''Speaking our Language'' is a

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

learners' television programme that ran from 9 January 1993 to 22 November 1996. Running for 72 episodes through four series, the series was produced by

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation ...

( STV Studios) and presented by Rhoda MacDonald, STV's then-head of Gaelic output. It was frequently repeated on

TeleG TeleG was established as the first daily digital Gaelic TV channel in Scotland on 31 October 1999, and was available on the Freeview platform until 23 May 2011. Programs were transmitted on TeleG between 6pm and 7pm each day. The channel slot w ...

and is now repeated on

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal ...

, and all four series have been released on DVD.Comhairle nan Leabhraichean
/ref> The series was based on ''Now You're Talking'', a similar Welsh-language learners' series broadcast on S4C and developed by Acen, a resource service for Welsh learners, who acted as programme consultants for ''Speaking our Language''.

Structure

Each episode begins with Rhoda introducing where it was recorded and what it will cover. Each set of new phrases is introduced by Rhoda and then followed by some short dramatisations which show examples of how the words and phrases are used. Once an episode an extended drama (with a continuing story line through the series) is used to give a deeper example of how the vocabulary introduced in the episode can be used. In the first two series the drama is called ' (At Home), following a family who have moved to Glasgow and are settling into life there; whereas in last two series the drama for intermediate learners ' (Friendship) is about the complexity of love and friendship among the protagonists – , , , , , , , Bill, etc. The episodes are summed up during the episode and at the end with the voice over going over the phrases introduced.

References

External links

Information from MG AlbaFuture episodes on BBC Alba
*Program video clips with transcripts and English translations a
LearnGaelic
1990s Scottish television series 1993 Scottish television series debuts 1996 Scottish television series endings BBC Alba shows Language education television series Scottish Gaelic education Television shows produced by Scottish Television {{Scotland-tv-prog-stub