Mejia 1

Monica Mejia

Ms. Cunningham

English Literature (1)

7 February 2019

Annotated Bibliography

"Voices - Multilingual Nation." BBC. 29 Oct. 2014. BBC. 08 Feb. 2019

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/scots_gaelic_history.shtml>.

In the article ‘History of Scottish Gaelic’ by BBC, explains the background of the soon to be lost

language in Scotland. Originating from Northern Eastern Ulster and expanding to the Northern Highlands

along with Isles, the language continued to strive until the 18th century. After quickly gaining its own

recognition it also provided Scotland with their own independence, retreating to the Highlands during the

middle ages. This specific article clearly reveals the rise and fall of Scottish Gaelic, from the peak to the

now fading. During the Lordship of the Isles to the Jacobite rising (Forty-five Rebellion) between

Scotland and England which really ended the majority of the language. By the end of the 19th century it

was only spoken in the Highlands and Hebrides, same as today. This information will help support my

project because it further proves a decline in a society’s identity. Many centuries have passed and people

still haven’t really passed their native tongue onto the next generation.

Woodbury, Anthony C. “What Is an Endangered Language?” Linguistic Society of America,

www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language.

In this article, ‘What Is an Endangered Language?’ by Anthony C. Woodbury, tells how the once

widely spoken languages have now become a distant memory to extinction. In order for a language to

become deceased sometimes it is replaced by another language, for example English. Aside from the fact

that some native speakers don’t teach their kids the language, it used to be because they would be

severely punished just for uttering a word in their tongue. Despite there being about 6,703 languages

spoken separately in 1996, over a thousand of them were spoken in America. According to linguistics,

many of them firmly believe at least half of them will soon fade away into nothing, a century from now.
 Mejia 2

Not only does this affect the cultural identity negatively, it can also affect the whole community as well,

further proving my main point.

Campsie, Alison. “Gaelic Speakers Map: Where in Scotland Is Gaelic Thriving?” World, The

Scotsman, 30 Sept. 2015, www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/gaelic-speakers-map-where-in-scotland-is-gaelic-

thriving-1-3903467.

The article ‘Gaelic Speakers Map: Where in Scotland Is Gaelic Thriving’ written by Alison

Campsie, unveils recent research about the amount of people who either understand, read, write, or speak

the language all together. Campsie has stated that “Research looked how many people were able to speak,

read, and write Gaelic (37 percent) to being able to speak the language (66 percent) to being able to

understand the language (27 percent) but not being able to speak, read, or write it.” She also goes on to

explain that the main places are the Highlands, Eilean Siar, and Glasgow City have the largest amount of

speakers “containing almost half (49 percent) of those with some Gaelic language skills.” The younger

generation (around 3 years and older) have actually gained basic skills learning the language. While there

has been a decrease the amount of speakers is slowly making a comeback from the younger audience.

Theintrepidguide, Michele. “14 Top Language Learning Resources You Should Use in 2019.”

The Intrepid Guide, 13 Jan. 2018, www.theintrepidguide.com/top-language-learning-resources/.

In this article ‘14 Top Language Learning Resources You Should Use In 2019’ by Michele,

describes a variety of helpful websites and apps to guide the student in the right path when learning a

foreign language. While learning a new language can be either difficult or easy, Michele provides simple

ways to achieve our developing communication skills. One of the helpful suggestions Rosetta Stone, is

both an app and a website that you can join. This resource actually allows you to book live sessions with

other native teachers to assist you, “you can schedule a 50 minute session with a teacher, where you can

see them by video feed… The teachers are friendly, patient, very professional, and clearly excellent and

experienced teachers of the language”. Another aidful suggestion is also a website and an app, called

Rocket Languages. This gives you the ability to record your voice as your trying to listen for mistakes,

“One of my favorite features is the ability to record my voice and receive tips on how to improve my
 Mejia 3

pronunciation”. All of these resources will help me learn my language of choice and hopefully achieve at

least some sentences to where I can engage in a simple conversation. I also think that whenever

Americans such as ourselves go to another country, we expect them to speak our language so why not

reverse it and take the time to explore their language and their culture.