From Newtonmore to new Gaelic website
“Outlander” star and Gaelic student Gary Lewis has launched the new-look Gaelic learners’ website.
“LearnGaelic.scot will provide a first stop for anyone interested in learning Gaelic with a new emphasis on adult learners,” said Lewis, who features in the blockbuster series shot partly in Badenoch, at the film producers’ dream setting of the Highland Folk Park in Newtonmore.
Launching the website in his home town of Glasgow, Gary, who has starred on the big screen in films such as Billy Elliot and Gangs of New York as well as TV programmes including Silent Witness, had to learn Gaelic for his part as Colum McKenzie, the Laird and Chief of Clan McKenzie, in the TV series Outlander.
Gary was joined by Gillebride MacMillan, the celebrated Gaelic singer who plays Gwllyn the Bard in Outlander, and the Gaelic coach for the series, Àdhamh Ó Broin.
Since the original version was launched back in 2011, the LearnGaelic website has proven popular with Gaelic learners of all ages but in particular, the adult audience.
As well as the distinctive .scot url, the new design focuses the site’s resources specifically on adult learners. The LearnGaelic.scot/dictionary has become the most comprehensive language tool for Gaelic learners containing 70,000 specially recorded sound files which give instant access to the correct pronunciation of Gaelic words.
The site has grown significantly with a particular spike on Twitter following the launch of Outlander. Over the last year, covering the period June 2014 – May 2015, over 207,000 unique visitors used the site, a 90 % increase over the same period the previous year (June 2013 – May 2014) and 412,103 site visits were recorded in total over the course of last year.
Endorsing the website and highlighting the importance of the Gaelic language in the broadcasting industry, Lewis said: “I have connections to North Uist where my wife’s father hails from so I have enjoyed the Gaelic language for many years and have a strong interest in learning it. My role in Outlander has allowed me to gain my own respect for the language and the enhanced LearnGaelic.scot website is a great online resource which should help encourage other learners of the language.”
