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Let me see your anecdote with another, growing up in Scotland I had the exact opposite experience. Depending on the area and interaction, you'll find Scots. Fo

Let me see your anecdote with another, growing up in Scotland I had the exact opposite experience. Depending on the area and interaction, you'll find Scots. Formal encounters are most certainly conducted in English with the odd Scots word thrown in however in my experience, particularly when concerned with community work, Scots was more common than not. On a lighter note, I recall visiting a comic theatre production in Arbroath which to my surprise was mostly spoken in Doric, and found myself odd one out and missing many of the jokes. Regarding education, in high school we had entire units where we read and wrote Scots, and the majority of classroom discourse took place in Scots. This was not a special language nor otherwise remarkable school in any sense, it just seemed to be par of the curriculum in Angus at the very least.

raesene9 8y ago
Well times are obviously different where you are. Over in Glasgow we had no contact or mention of Scots as a language in school whatsoever. Out of curiousity, what rough timeframe was your schooling in? I have a feeling that it's been seeing more of a resurgance in recent years, my schooling experience was in the 70's and 80's for comparison. I find Scots words in vernacular speech all the time, but I don't think I've ever heard someone speaking it as a distinct language. I've heard weegies speak Glaswegian, and I've heard people from the kingdom speak with their accent and dialect, but not people speaking "Scots".
- dboreham 8y ago
  Not parent, but : school in Edinburgh. We code-switched, although the term wouldn't be coined for decades yet. RP in school, some variety of Scots (or whatever we're calling it) outside school.
  - koralatov 8y ago
    In school it's likely you were speaking Standard Scottish English. Received Pronunciation (RP) is an accent, not a dialect -- though most RP speakers speak Standard English, so there's a strong correlation between RP and Standard English. I've yet to come across and RP speaker who speaks another variety, excluding the occasional phrase or borrowed word. Outside of school you were almost certainly speaking Scottish Standard English, rather than actual Scots. Scottish English is a branch of English that's been influenced by Scots and borrowed vocabulary from Scots, but isn't actually Scots. Almost no-one in the 20th century speaks actual Scots; those who do are immediately identifiable and generally hard for a non-Scots speaker to understand. The last vestiges of Scots language speakers are parts of Aberdeenshire and the Borders. Sources: Highlander born and raised, living in Aberdeen for >10 years. One parent is a Gael whose second language is English, the other parent is from the Borders whose first language is that variety of Modern Scots. Native speaker of Scottish Standard English, with a little time spent studying linguistics and an interest in the subject.
- kylegordon 8y ago
  "Over in Glasgow we had no contact or mention of Scots as a language in school whatsoever." Pretty unsurprising, given that it's Glasgow. You're totally outwith the areas being discussed. It even says in the article that Scots is predominantly in the North of Scotland.
  - raesene9 8y ago
    Eh, the Highlands speak Gaelic traditionally not scots in the way they're discussing in the article. Also to quote the article "Over the next few centuries, Scots, which was the language of the southern Scottish people, began to creep north" So that doesn't really support your point EDIT: so unless I miss my guess you're actually in Glasgow, so I'll ask, have you ever heard anyone speak "scots" as a distinct language, in real conversation? I'm genuinely curious about whether my experience of 40+ years not having heard it is unusual.

raesene9 8y ago

Well times are obviously different where you are. Over in Glasgow we had no contact or mention of Scots as a language in school whatsoever. Out of curiousity, what rough timeframe was your schooling in? I have a feeling that it's been seeing more of a resurgance in recent years, my schooling experience was in the 70's and 80's for comparison. I find Scots words in vernacular speech all the time, but I don't think I've ever heard someone speaking it as a distinct language. I've heard weegies speak Glaswegian, and I've heard people from the kingdom speak with their accent and dialect, but not people speaking "Scots".

dboreham 8y ago
Not parent, but : school in Edinburgh. We code-switched, although the term wouldn't be coined for decades yet. RP in school, some variety of Scots (or whatever we're calling it) outside school.
- koralatov 8y ago
  In school it's likely you were speaking Standard Scottish English. Received Pronunciation (RP) is an accent, not a dialect -- though most RP speakers speak Standard English, so there's a strong correlation between RP and Standard English. I've yet to come across and RP speaker who speaks another variety, excluding the occasional phrase or borrowed word. Outside of school you were almost certainly speaking Scottish Standard English, rather than actual Scots. Scottish English is a branch of English that's been influenced by Scots and borrowed vocabulary from Scots, but isn't actually Scots. Almost no-one in the 20th century speaks actual Scots; those who do are immediately identifiable and generally hard for a non-Scots speaker to understand. The last vestiges of Scots language speakers are parts of Aberdeenshire and the Borders. Sources: Highlander born and raised, living in Aberdeen for >10 years. One parent is a Gael whose second language is English, the other parent is from the Borders whose first language is that variety of Modern Scots. Native speaker of Scottish Standard English, with a little time spent studying linguistics and an interest in the subject.
kylegordon 8y ago
"Over in Glasgow we had no contact or mention of Scots as a language in school whatsoever." Pretty unsurprising, given that it's Glasgow. You're totally outwith the areas being discussed. It even says in the article that Scots is predominantly in the North of Scotland.
- raesene9 8y ago
  Eh, the Highlands speak Gaelic traditionally not scots in the way they're discussing in the article. Also to quote the article "Over the next few centuries, Scots, which was the language of the southern Scottish people, began to creep north" So that doesn't really support your point EDIT: so unless I miss my guess you're actually in Glasgow, so I'll ask, have you ever heard anyone speak "scots" as a distinct language, in real conversation? I'm genuinely curious about whether my experience of 40+ years not having heard it is unusual.