Clì Gàidhlig - Ùlpan

the voice of Gaelic learners

the gaelic access and promotion organisation

More information

This method of language teaching has been developed in Wales over 40 years, where it has been pivotal in recruiting adult learners to swell the number of children reaching fluency through Welsh-medium education. 

Wlpan, as it is called, was itself adapted from an Israeli system, created to bring immigrants from all over the world to fluency in a common language, Modern Hebrew. 

Clì Gàidhlig is working with a Glasgow-based company, Deiseal Ltd, to bring the new Gaelic course, Ùlpan, to Scotland.

Deiseal was set up by Guto Rhys and Dàibhidh Grannd in 2005 to adapt the Welsh system to Scottish Gaelic.  A secondary-school teacher, educational researcher and linguist, Guto has first hand experience of teaching Welsh by Wlpan. 

Many Gaelic learners will know Dàibhidh as a tutor of short courses for Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Clì Gàidhlig and elsewhere. 

With funding from Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the project took off in late 2006, after 18 months of planning. 

Who will benfit from Ùlpan?

Anyone who wishes to learn to speak Gaelic well and with confidence e.g.–

1. people who need Gaelic for their work
2. parents with children in Gaelic-medium education
3. people seeking an evening class
4. students at college or university
5. people who have moved to a Gaelic-speaking community
6. employers wishing to provide in-house language tuition

In addition, tutors offering language classes in a wide variety of environments will be interested in Ùlpan, as will fluent speakers – even those who have not considered teaching before - as a way of earning and simply to encourage the language.

What will Ùlpan do for Gaelic?

1. promote access to Gaelic as a modern spoken language
2. increase the number of fluent Gaelic speakers
3. establish a national standard of excellence for teaching and for learning Gaelic
4. increase the number of Gaelic tutors
5. promote language tutoring as a source of income for Gaelic speakers
6. provide the opportunity to revive dialects that are disappearing

What will Ùlpan do for Gaelic learners?

1. provide a fast and effective method of learning Gaelic
2. bring students to fluency in 324 hours of teaching
3. increase confidence in speaking the language
4. improve the quality and availability of Gaelic learning
5. provide trained and accredited teachers throughout the country to ensure tuition of the highest standard
6. supply structured course materials and a national framework for learning the language
7. improve employment opportunities

 How does Ùlpan differ from other Gaelic courses?

The Ùlpan system teaches the student to use Gaelic, learning through listening and speaking.  Most other systems focus on teaching about Gaelic, through a more academic, written and grammar-based approach.  With traditional methods of teaching, many adult learners achieve dexterity in reading and writing skills rather than in their main aim – to speak and understand the language. With Ùlpan, speaking and understanding come first, with reading and writing used to reinforce the spoken word.

With Ùlpan the teacher will get a comprehensive structured course and all teaching materials. Students who have started in the system will be able to go to classes in any part of the country in the knowledge they will be following the same course. Or if they wish, they could do an immersion day occasionally to complete more units in a shorter time. Ùlpan also supplies tutors who have been trained and accredited according to international standards.

One of the great advantages of Ùlpan is that for the first time there will be a national scale for tutors and students to gauge progress. This will be of great benefit to tutors and students alike: it’s lack has been a major obstacle in teaching of the language up till now. Tutors will no longer have to deal with an “intermediate” class covering a wide range of abilities.

What are Ùlpan classes like?

Classes are structured to enable students to acquire and use new skills actively. They hear and repeat short phrases which target key language points and then practice the new structure with specific activities like games.  In each unit, sets of these phrases build up to a short scripted dialogue, which puts the new material into a conversational setting. The class also revises elements from previous sessions. Finally there is a section on vocabulary building which lays the foundation for successive units. The class language is Gaelic, but tutors need to be good at miming from time to time!

Ùlpan classes are fun and rewarding for learners and tutors alike, as everyone can see a steady growth in ability and confidence, week on week.

How long do Ùlpan courses last?

The full Ùlpan course consists of over 200 units.  Each unit takes a full one and a half hours.

In community or workplace classes Ùlpan will usually be delivered as two separate one and a half hour sessions (i.e. two units) per week.  This increased frequency over the conventional weekly class is in itself an advantage.  Depending upon tutor- and class-availability, 72 units can be covered in a year.  At this rate, the full course would take around three years to complete.

The fastest rate will be 24 units a week available in a residential, immersion setting.  The whole course could be completed in just nine weeks.  However the essence of Ùlpan is flexibility. An evening class may opt to undertake a weekend course to spur them forward eight units or even a six-day course to leap ahead 24 units. In Wales, many variations on these timetables are used. Periods of tuition lasting from one to nine weeks are often offered as summer schools.

How much do Ùlpan courses cost?

It is vital to the renaissance of Gaelic that as many learners as possible have access to quality tuition.  Therefore classes are offered at little above cost-price.

Course costs will vary according to the provider, but generally a five-day course will cost about £140-150, non residential, i.e. the same as existing summer schools.

A full nine week course of six hours a day, six days a week would be around £900, non-residential.

For bi-weekly classes, students will pay around £266 a year (at 72 classes a year, this is equivalent to £3.70 per class). This includes all the class materials and the course-book.  It is expected that students will be able to use an ILA account towards the cost of the course.

Ùlpan in the workplace

Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s National Plan for Gaelic will implement the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 will require a number of public bodies each year to produce specific plans for increasing public visibility and use of the language. As a consequence, organisations will need to recruit or retrain some employees to a sufficient standard of proficiency in Gaelic.

Ùlpan taught in the workplace is a fast and cost-effective way of achieving this. In Wales, many companies and organisations (e.g. the Welsh Assembly and the South Wales Police) offer Wlpan classes as in-service training to increase the skills-base of the workforce. Classes often run before or after work, or during extended lunch breaks, with employers contributing 1.5 hours of worktime, to be matched by the employee’s own time.

For information on training as an Ùlpan tutor, click here.

Ulpan@cli.org.uk