As some of you might know, I finished my degree at Glasgow University in June last year (which means nearly a year ago, time flies...) and have spent this year at the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye to learn more Gaelic. And learning more Gaelic is definitely something I have been successful with - I could write a whole essay on how good this place is for getting confident in speaking Gaelic (and another one on the pleasures and pains of being based at a tiny college in a remote area - it's certainly been an experience unlike any other...).
One of many interesting things I've noticed during my stay here is that when people I don't know strike up a conversation with me in Gaelic, they don't ask me about my nationality to the same extent as when speaking English. When speaking English, my 'Ostrobothnian lilt' is strong enough to have people eventually ask me where I'm from, but when speaking Gaelic I have a similar pronunciation to that of Scottish people (I think I do at least!) and as the spoken skills of the students and staff here vary greatly, there's no striking difference between my way of talking and the others.
As this is a very small college, most students and staff members obviously know where I (and everyone else) come from, but it's happened a few times that people such as distance learning students and Gaelic-medium student teachers who visit occasionally have started talking to me (this is one of the few places in the world where you can start talking to a complete stranger in Gaelic) and that we've been chatting for a while without the question where I come from ever arising.
As I don't consider my nationality an important part of my identity (my hometown and local region, yes, but the country of Finland, not in particular) I find this quite liberating.
As this college is based in a remote rural setting as opposed to in a big city you would think it would be the other way around, yet I have noticed that people seem to pay less attention to nationalities and backgrounds here than at Glasgow University. Before going here I thought I would be *the* outsider, the one European foreigner among all the insular Gaels, but if I've ever felt like an outsider here it's been more to do with my age (at 24 I feel a bit 'stuck in the middle' as most students here are either 18-19 or in their 50's) than my nationality!
This lack of attention to nationalities and the encouragement to speak Gaelic regardless of background and fluency is something that I thoroughly appreciate and as a result I feel more 'included' in the Gaelic world than I was before.
One of many interesting things I've noticed during my stay here is that when people I don't know strike up a conversation with me in Gaelic, they don't ask me about my nationality to the same extent as when speaking English. When speaking English, my 'Ostrobothnian lilt' is strong enough to have people eventually ask me where I'm from, but when speaking Gaelic I have a similar pronunciation to that of Scottish people (I think I do at least!) and as the spoken skills of the students and staff here vary greatly, there's no striking difference between my way of talking and the others.
As this is a very small college, most students and staff members obviously know where I (and everyone else) come from, but it's happened a few times that people such as distance learning students and Gaelic-medium student teachers who visit occasionally have started talking to me (this is one of the few places in the world where you can start talking to a complete stranger in Gaelic) and that we've been chatting for a while without the question where I come from ever arising.
As I don't consider my nationality an important part of my identity (my hometown and local region, yes, but the country of Finland, not in particular) I find this quite liberating.
As this college is based in a remote rural setting as opposed to in a big city you would think it would be the other way around, yet I have noticed that people seem to pay less attention to nationalities and backgrounds here than at Glasgow University. Before going here I thought I would be *the* outsider, the one European foreigner among all the insular Gaels, but if I've ever felt like an outsider here it's been more to do with my age (at 24 I feel a bit 'stuck in the middle' as most students here are either 18-19 or in their 50's) than my nationality!
This lack of attention to nationalities and the encouragement to speak Gaelic regardless of background and fluency is something that I thoroughly appreciate and as a result I feel more 'included' in the Gaelic world than I was before.
