Growein Up Awa fae Shetland an Spaekin Shaetlan

Mi faimily is bøn in Shetland fir hunders o years - as far back as we ken - but I was brocht up abroad, maistly in Australia. We’d get letters fae wir faimly in Shetland an daa wid read dem oot lood til wis. My faimily ir fae da Delting area o Shetland an so my daa wid say ‘quarter’ for water or ‘quwhite’ for white an I ey loved tae hear dis. We also got da Shetland Times sent til wis an haed a special video documentary aboot Up Helly Aa we’d watch ivvri Janiwrry (nae fires as hit’s da middle o simmer an de’r a full fire ban). De wir some Shaetlan idda letters, so I kent twartree wirds as a bairn. Also, my dad wid tell wis stories aboot his days as a Merchant sailor an Shetland stories aboot his bairndom an folk tales in mixed Shaetlan/English. My daa played da fiddle an aa, an wid play wis Shetland tunes. I started skül in Australia an I wis taised fir my accent, my slightly aald fashioned klaes an my maet. I shün cheinged tae fit in. Lost mi accent an onnli spak ony Shaetlan wirds hameaboot, but even dat petered oot.

I startit comin hame til Shetland as a young adult eftir some o wir Shetland family wis come tae visit wis in Australia an encouriged me tae mak da trip. I’ll nivver forgit hoo blyde I wis tae come an meet aa da Shetland faimily an tae visit da hoose whar my faider was boarn, an whar my fokk bed wi mi granny (at A’m naemed eftir) an granda whin dey wir a young mairried couple. I felt dat welcome, dat at hame an wis aafil blyde tae be yunder. Mi faider said at I’d jüst ken hoo tae spaek becis it’s wha I im. Mi first day in Shetland an I wis strugglin tae understand my faimily - I gied intil mi bedroom an started tae greet! I wis braaly vexed at I fan it herd tae understand Shaetlan on mi first day. I wis ey felt laek a muckle pairt o me wis a Shetlander, so I wis aafil vexed at hit wisna jüst as automatic as daa wis said it wid be - but I jüst haed tae practice! Mi faider phoned tae check hoo I wis gittin on. He tellt da faimily tae knap so I cud understand. In hindsight, dis wisna dat helpful! I lairned wirds fae listenin til dem spaek wi een anidder though.

Onywye, ower da moni trips A’m geen hame til Shetland ower da hindmaist 11 years, A’m lairned mair an mair - bit still no fluent. I nottice some fokk dunna knap as dey say dey see me as a Shetlander, øswally if A’m wi mi daa, an hit’s aalder fokk. I ey feel self-conscious o my streinge accent - but da langer I bide, da mair hit starts tae soond okay til me.

I fan at whin I wis veesitin freends in Norwa an Denmark, I kent some o dir wirds tø – an cud understand dat muckle mair as I tocht I’d be able tae, as fir sure we hae da same baess language an dir liltin wye o spaekin wis dat familiar tø. Hit maed me feel even mair confident ithin my abeelity tae spaek.

A’m laekli lairned da maist fae messigin some faimily an freends in Shaetlan online, as since da pandemic A’m no bøn able tae come hame. A’m pairt of wir faimily Shetland facebook group whar fokk share stories in Shaetlan tø. I noo ken dat moni mair tales o wir faimly an life in Grobsness, Hubensetter an Papa Little, an moni mair Shaetlan wirds. A’m maed frrends wi mair members o my huge faimily an I canna wait tae meet dem aa on my neest trip hame. Een o mi cousins, Kenny Williamson, is bøn a graet help wi learneen tø – back an fore he’ll messige in Shaetlan an A’ll reply in mixed Shaetlan/ English but A’m gittin better at writin in Shaetlan onnly, an hoopfilly whin A’m back dis year, A’ll settle intae spaekin. A’m no perfect – but immersin mesel in da language is very helpful tae becomin fluent. I love spendin time readin books laek Jakob Jakobsen’s Shetland Place Names an aa, an tryin tae translate da aald plaess naems o whar my faimily øsed tae bide. I love tae sing tø an A’m taen time tae lairn tunes laek Da Unst Boat Song. I play da gaem Animal Crossing an aa, an gied mi island da Shetland plaess naem ‘Trondavoe’ an hae da villiger characters spaek in some Shaetlan! Silly I ken, but whin y’ir tinkin lang apøn a place you’ll dø onythin tae miss it less!

Hit’s funny fur I definitely tink in Shaetlan sometimes noo, an I struggle tae ging fae messigin Shetland fokk til messigin my Australian freends – I hae tae translate fae Shaetlan til English in my heid afore messigin. A’m dat prood o bein a Shetlander in Australia noo an I educate my freends aboot Shetland, wir language an culture – at w’ir no Scottish an no jüst a TV show! I tell fokk stories o my faimily tø. I maed a list o Shaetlan wirds I hae tae consciously mind no tae øs wi non-Shetland fokk as a playful way tae show fokk Shetland wirds. Fae dis, some freends laek me tae speak Shaetlan wi dem! A example is my pairtner Julian at plays Shetland fiddle music an aa – at’s helped me feel less hameseek whin A’m no bøn able tae come hame tae Shetland trowe da pandemic. He’s joined some Shetland Facebook groups so is lairned twartree wirds fae readin possts an comments dere, an so is braaly güd at spaekin some Shaetlan wi me. I wis aafil blyde tae set up a broadcast interview recently atween Dr Viveka Velupillai an Roy Mullay at I Hear Dee wi Dr Jackson Crawford at’s a Aald Norse speecialist fae da US an at haes a public education channel on YouTube. You can watch da interview here:

I wis dat blyde tae ferder promote wir language til an international audience, an da session wis dat interestin. I lairned things tø an fokk aksed questions o baith me, an Viveka & Roy. Viveka aksed me tae write dis Waeleen fir fokk at micht hae a similar experience.

My Shetland faimily ken at I want tae come an bide in Shetland fir güd. I hope tae be back neest simmer tae visit eftir five lang year awa. My hoop is at wan day I cud git a job in Shetland ithin mi fields of cultural heritage, libraries or copyricht laa. Anidder draem o mine is tae write a book fir bairns in Shaetlan aboot da plaess whar my daa grew up an da adventures o da bairns yunder an hoo dey celebrated Yül, an idder holidays or events idda aald wyes. I draem o creatin a bookshop in Shetland tø, een at wid be a magical place fir bairns wi storytime in Shaetlan tae ferder promote an preserve wir language an culture. A’m tryin tae record aa da stories o mi faimily, particularly my eens fae mi dad. I’d love tae help preserve Shetland’s culture in ony wye I can, an I tink haein bøn brocht up awa fae Shetland is maed me appreciate da language an culture even mair. Thank you til da fokk at I Hear Dee at aksed me tae share dis story. It tøk a bit fir me tae write it up in Shaetlan, an tanks til dem fir helpin me – but hit’s bøn graet tae dø dat. I hoop it helps idders laek me tae bigg confidence aroond spaekin Shaetlan, whin y’ir bøn brocht up awa fae Shetland.