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Two bilingual children living in Scotland

Alec and Maja are Scottish children who speak both English and another language.

In these three editions of 'Welcome to My World', presenter Ruth Chalmers talks to Alec and Maya and meets their families and friends. Alec and Maja describe what it's like to be bilingual – understanding and speaking two different languages with the people around them. And if you don’t speak Gaelic or Polish yourself, you might learn a few new words and phrases …

Each edition is approximately 5 minutes long.

1. We join Alec from Glasgow as he teaches his dad to speak Gaelic, and introduces us some of his favourite Gaelic words. His mum tells us why she thinks it's important to speak Gaelic.

2. Alec takes us around the annual Fèis in South Uist where Gaelic-speaking children gather to take part in activities like singing, drama and playing musical instruments. Afterwards there's time for a quick dip in the sea at Eriskay.

3: Maja’s family live here in Scotland but her family come from Poland and she mainly speaks Polish with at home and English at school. We join Maja at her guitar lesson, with her teacher Peter, who also speaks Polish. Maja explains why she enjoys being able to speak two languages, and gives us a quick lesson in Polish.

Presented by Ruth Chalmers
Educational Consultant: Gillian Campbell-Thow
Producers Uzma Mir, Gregor Reid, and Ruth Chalmers
Composer Tom Urie

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Thu 3 May 2018 03:30

Broadcast

  • Thu 3 May 2018 03:30

Podcast