The Gael Winds

In the past Highlanders spoke Gaelic, (a Celtic language)  and the Lowlanders spoke Scots, (an old form of English influenced by Gaelic, Dutch and French.) Scots is the language of old nobility suffered when the King and his court moved to London in 1603. 

Today, most Scots speak English but always with a distinctive Scottish accent.

Scots survived still speaking amongst themselves, though often watered down English and read in the poetry of Robbie Burns. 

Scots words are expressive and colourful as in, "Am'm fair Farchen" (I'm exhausted!) or, "The bairns a wee bit wabbit." (The child's a little tired!) . 

Gaelic survives in isolated areas of the Highlands where only about 80,000 Scots still speak it fluently. 

**Below is a list of sites that can teach the beginner to understand the basics with phrases you can use to create a sentence.**

List of international Gaelic Courses 

Gaelic Lessons On-Line
This is the course that I use. It's very helpful and even has audio clips so you know how the words are suppose to be pronounced.

Gaelic Learner's Association (CLI)
Worth joining if you're serious about learning Gaelic.

SOL-NET
A research study was carried out by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to determine the effectiveness of internet-based learning. As a model, these lessons were based on the first five lessons from Speaking Our Language.

Elementary Course of Gaelic
The first thirty pages or so, are from an old out-of-copyright Gaelic tutor.

Gaelic-English dictionary
An out-of-copyright Gaelic-English dictionary typed in at Sabhal Mór Ostaig and converted to html by Angus MacKinnon.

Focal an Lae
"A word a day", by Dennis King.
Concentrates on Irish Gaelic, but there are references to Scottish Gaelic and the words so far have been all been practically identical in Scottish and Irish Gaelic. An excellent way of learning vocabulary, because he refers to the Indo-european origins of the words, and thence to related English words, which makes them easier to remember. He also gives well-known phrases and names in which the words occur.

Solas Eireann
Learn online the benefits of Gaelic. This site has much to offer including a discussion forum.