What's the point?

**mfc1876** · #1 03-09-2011, 04:51 PM

What's the point of this then? Is this service really essential? Are there actually any people in Scotland who can only speak this language and don't understand English? Waste of license payers money?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...em/7039484.stm

**Begbie** · #2 03-09-2011, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfc1876

What's the point of this then? Is this service really essential? Are there actually any people in Scotland who can only speak this language and don't understand English? Waste of license payers money?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...em/7039484.stm

We post links to the TV channel ALBA:

ALBA - Browser * UK & UK VPNs only *

and S4C:

S4C - Available on Zattoo * UK & UK VPNs only *

**mfc1876** · #3 03-09-2011, 05:06 PM

I didn't even know there was an Alba TV Channel, are there any people in Scotland who don't speak English then?

**mfc1876** · #4 03-09-2011, 05:11 PM

X-Men are on lol! Is that Gaelic?

**manUdave** · #5 03-09-2011, 05:11 PM

we've got plenty of people in england who can't speak english mate. That why all the forms are printed in different languages at a big cost to tax payers.

**elftone1** · #6 03-09-2011, 05:15 PM

Well said dave.

**mfc1876** · #7 03-09-2011, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manUdave

we've got plenty of people in england who can't speak english mate. That why all the forms are printed in different languages at a big cost to tax payers.

Ha ha yeah never thought of that Dave! My point is though, that if you speak Gaelic, (I'm presuming that's what that language is) then you're going to be able to speak English too?

**manUdave** · #8 03-09-2011, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfc1876

Ha ha yeah never thought of that Dave! My point is though, that if you speak Gaelic, (I'm presuming that's what that language is) then you're going to be able to speak English too?

Have you been to Wales, even the road signs are in welsh & english. Another waste of money as the vast majority of welsh can't speak it.

**elftone1** · #9 03-09-2011, 05:33 PM

As gaelic is part of scotlands culture i dont think it is a waste of money after all we pay our tv license fee too up here so some of that money should be spent for our own national programmes.

**Begbie** · #10 03-09-2011, 05:35 PM

You are moving into a quagmire there. Welsh, Scottish and Irish nationalists believe that the indigenous languages of the British Isles should be kept alive. Their argument is that radio, television broadcasts, and Celtic language schools (where English is rarely spoken) help to do this.

I disagree but when you consider the political situation in N. Ireland, things get even deeper here and the arguments become more diverse.

Edit: Posted before I read Elf's post. A response to the previous posts.

**Tats** · #11 03-09-2011, 05:48 PM

Its all fkin foreign to me . Ive no idea

**mfc1876** · #12 03-09-2011, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elftone1

As gaelic is part of scotlands culture i dont think it is a waste of money after all we pay our tv license fee too up here so some of that money should be spent for our own national programmes.

Fair comment, you pay your money and you want it, how can anyone argue with that? Do you think that would go for the majority of the Scottish population then? Would they rather pay for something that most people don't understand (I think that's the case isn't it?) because it's culture, rather than the money go into programming that the majority of the population do understand?

I'm not trying to be a clever twat here either, I'm genuinely interested as to how most Scottish people feel about it.

**Begbie** · #13 03-09-2011, 05:51 PM

It could be argued that those who don't speak those languages should 'go home' as those languages were spoken in the British Isles before the Angles arrived.

**mfc1876** · #14 03-09-2011, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Begbie

It could be argued that those who don't speak those languages should 'go home' as those languages were spoken in the British Isles before the Angles arrived.

Where did the English language originate from then? I've started something here that could go pear shaped lol! Honestly didn't mean to piss anyone off by it, but now that we're discussing it, it's interesting.

**Begbie** · #15 03-09-2011, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfc1876

because it's culture, rather than the money go into programming that the majority of the population do understand?

If offered a choice, the majority of the population would just ask for soaps, news provided by the Sun or Daily Mail, reality shows, cooking programmes and house buying/selling programmes. TV and life in general would become decided by the lowest common denominator. I don't think that I'd ever watch TV again.

Having said that, having channels dedicated to non-English speaking programmes is a step too far, in my opinion. BBC NI broadcasts some programmes in Irish (and they get switched over when they start) but I think that it is too wasteful to have a full channel dedicated to any non-English language within the UK, except for pay-as-you-go channels.

**mfc1876** · #16 03-09-2011, 06:22 PM

To be honest Begbie, I watch very little TV at the moment. Although I do have a soft spot for Homes Under the Hammer

.

It says a lot that I'm currently watching old episodes of The Twilight Zone from 1959 (series 1) online on an evening rather than watch the pure shite that's available for us today.

Our lass had summat on last night (well I say she had it on, it came on after some other crap she was watching) and the whole show was basically which slapper out of a possible 20 odd was Gavin Henson going to choose to be his bird. I actually sat and watched it for 5 minutes just in pure disbelief at how fucking low TV has got! Who even thought this show up? How did they sit round a table and convince numerous other people that this show is a good idea and that people will watch it and find it interesting?! The sad thing is it will probably get good ratings.

I did stick my headphones back on though and resume The Twilight Zone... if that gives me any more street cred?

**Begbie** · #17 03-09-2011, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfc1876

Where did the English language originate from then? I've started something here that could go pear shaped lol! Honestly didn't mean to piss anyone off by it, but now that we're discussing it, it's interesting.

Like most languages, English is a total bastardisation of other earlier languages, probably more so than many other languages. This is probably why the language is so rich.

Check any etymological dictionary to see the origins of most English words. They originate from Celtic, Gaelic, Latin, Angle, Saxon, Norman, German, French etc. As different peoples arrived, new words became assimilated into the language and new expressions and words evolved.

**mfc1876** · #18 03-09-2011, 06:33 PM

So it's not from anywhere really. Just bits of everyone else mixed in. At least our ancestors must have done a lot of shagging

**Begbie** · #19 03-09-2011, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfc1876

So it's not from anywhere really. Just bits of everyone else mixed in. At least our ancestors must have done a lot of shagging

Shag. Probably originating in the Old Norse word 'skegg', meaning 'beard' and the Old English word 'sceacga', meaning 'rough hair or wool'.

Seriously. You can see where it came from.

**mfc1876** · #20 03-09-2011, 06:38 PM