Calum Alasdair Fraser, from Tolastadh a’ Chaolais, talks to Maggie Smith about his family connections and upbringing on the west side of Lewis.
In his childhood he spent a lot of time outdoors. Though still young himself, he remembers the sound of weaving from many houses – a sound that is no longer heard. After leaving school he tried various jobs in different locations. Now he works on Gaelic issues with An Lanntair in Stornoway.
He talks about how he values the Gaelic language and its close connection to where he lives, even though it wasn’t his home language growing up. He also talks about his musical activities, and his interest in maintaining local interest in Gaelic, relating it to a changed way of life that still has close connections to previous generations.
A full transcript with the video embedded can be viewed on the Clilstore platform here: https://multidict.net/cs/9331
Interest is growing in the new opportunities and facilities that may open up for Gaelic speakers and learners, as and when Automatic Speech Recognition in the language becomes a working reality. Island Voices has been following recent developments with interest through our “Same-time Subtitles” and “Creative Craigard!” posts. In fact, we’ve been participants in the process, as both contributors and beneficiaries, with 80 Gaelic videos now featuring subtitles enabled by the project team – from Guthan nan Eilean Series 1 and 2, plus further material from Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal and Guth nan Siarach! The project began with Soillse funding, and Will Lamb has now produced a short summary report on this initial stage of the work, including numerous links for further reading and examples. It’s available on the Soillse website.
Agus ‘s cinnteach gun robh spòrs gu leòr aig Alasdair MacLeòid aig a’ BhBC nuair a bha e a’ cur an aithisg seo ri chèile airson Radio nan Gàidheal. Èistibh ris an intro aige, agus e a’ cluich leis a’ ghuth air an satnav aige fhad ‘s a bha e a’ draibheadh mun cuairt air na rathaidean san Eilean Sgitheanach! ‘S e cuspair na h-aithisg Google Translate agus na leasachaidhean a th’ air a bhith ann le Gàidhlig thairis air na bliadhnaichean, a’ togail air a’ phost againn fhèin – “Google learns Gaelic“. Ach, a bharrachd air plug beag airson Guthan nan Eilean, bha beagan eachdraidh ann cuideachd, le Will Lamb a’ bruidhinn air mar a chuidich e Google aig toiseach a’ ghnothaich le bhith a’ cur Gàidhlig san t-siostam, cuide ri rabhadh glic bho Anna NicSuain mu dheidhinn cuid dhe na duilgheadasan a tha ann fhathast an lùib eadar-theangachadh, agus a dh’fhaodadh a bhith ann gu bràth…
Seo an tweet a sgaoil sinn ma dheidhinn:
Intro spòrsail le Alasdair MacLeòid, a' cluich leis an satnav. 😆 Beagan eachdraidh is beachdan inntinneach bho eòlaichean #Gàidhlig, @UilleamUan nam measg. Agus plug beag airson Guthan nan Eilean fhèin… 🙏👍💪https://t.co/ihm9O1GBPY
— Guthan nan Eilean – Island Voices (@GuthanVoices) April 17, 2021
Calum Alasdair Fraser, from Tolastadh a’ Chaolais, talks to Maggie Smith about his family connections and upbringing on the west side of Lewis.