Gaelic: a strategic asset
Spoken in Scotland for more than 1,500 years Gaelic is the intangible glue that binds many of our communities. It can also be a unique and invaluable asset for businesses seeking a distinctive edge for locals and visitors alike.
There are many ways for you to unlock Gaelic’s potential for your business or organisation. We've gathered a range of useful resources to help you.
Cultivate success with Gaelic: Where to start
Seamlessly integrate Gaelic into your organisation for enhanced communication, ambience, increased sales, and product development. Harness its potential to create cultural connections and shape your organisation's distinct identity.
Why not develop a Gaelic policy? It’s a great way to embed Gaelic within your organisation, and create ambitious goals for its evolution. It's a unique journey for each organisation, but the rewards are boundless.
Some examples:
Unlocking potential - easy ways to incorporate Gaelic in your business
Discover some ways to create new connections through Gaelic for your organisation.
Communications:
- Greetings in Gaelic, fostering a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
- Bilingual marketing and branding, showcasing cultural awareness.
- Gaelic signage within your premises, creating evidencing a sense of authenticity.
Some key expressions you could use:
- good morning - madainn mhath
- good afternoon - feasgar math
- welcome - fàilte
Product development:
- Development of products in Gaelic, for Gaelic
- Add Gaelic labelling in Gaelic, adding a unique cultural touch.
- Incorporate Gaelic phrases and terms into products and services.
- Enhance existing offerings with Gaelic elements, everything from knick knacks to quality products incorporating Gaelic as part of their story.
- Use music in your premises – there’s lots to choose from – traditional, to contemporary bands, to Electronic Celtic fusion!
You could incorporate Gaelic into your services – bilingual menus, notices on everyday things like weather, using Gaelic words naturally.
Community engagement:
- Use Gaelic in social media to capture attention and foster connections.
- Explore the landscape with resources like Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, unravelling the roots of Scottish place names.
People:
- Support staff in developing Gaelic language skills.
- Foster Gaelic conversation support and encouragement within your team.
What about promoting language learning resources like Learn Gaelic, Duolingo and Speak Gàidhlig?
Some useful resources:
- Kist o' Riches – Scottish cultural audio recordings since the 1930s
- The National Library of Scotland
- VisitScotland toolkit
The impact of Gaelic
Pre-pandemic VisitScotland website research into Gaelic content emphasises its importance as a selling tool:
Published on 28/02/2020
increase in popularity in content
searching for content were under 35 years old
users were from overseas