Post by NewsHound on Jun 8, 2004 15:27:19 GMT -4
The Nova Scotia government wants to keep Gaelic alive on Cape Breton Island, and it will start by spending $100,000 this year, the province announced on Monday.
The strategy came at the same time a report produced by the Gaelic Development Steering Committee was released.
The plan calls for a 20-year plan to promote the language and to teach people to speak it.
A century ago, 50,000 people spoke the language in Nova Scotia. Today fewer than 500 do so.
Gaelic is currently taught in four Cape Breton high schools and at the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Ann's.
"I think we have to make the opportunities for people and make it a little bit more accessible," said Mary Jane Lamond, co-chair of the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia.
The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia polled people around the province and found many who wanted to learn Gaelic.
"Certainly this can be done," she said, citing models in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The strategy came at the same time a report produced by the Gaelic Development Steering Committee was released.
The plan calls for a 20-year plan to promote the language and to teach people to speak it.
A century ago, 50,000 people spoke the language in Nova Scotia. Today fewer than 500 do so.
Gaelic is currently taught in four Cape Breton high schools and at the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Ann's.
"I think we have to make the opportunities for people and make it a little bit more accessible," said Mary Jane Lamond, co-chair of the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia.
The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia polled people around the province and found many who wanted to learn Gaelic.
"Certainly this can be done," she said, citing models in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
