Introduction
Pairt o the Scots Warks project.
Ae week in August twinty-twinty, the warld's attention turnt tae written Scots.
Seiven year afore this, a twal year auld sittin ahin a computer in Americae taen tent o a Wikipedia in whit they seen as a sair neglectit language, Scots. They decidit they wantit tae len a haun, tae dae some guid fir oor language an the fowk thit speak it.
Ower the years they taen a somewhit naieve approach, tho no uncommon, tae writin Scots - takkin airticles wrote in English an swappin in Scots wirds taen fae a dictionar athoot a knawledge o the wird uisage, grammar or juist hou tae pit it, thit'd be familiar tae Scots speakers. Sometimes they hit the mairk an ithers they sairly missed it. But in their efforts, wi a haunfae o ithers, they pit thegither a hale foondation fir a Scots Wikipedia
Wi attention on the quality o the writin in the wiki, an a awareness thit it wis the wark o volunteers tae edit it, hunners o Scots speakers cam forret tae len a haun in the big redd up. But whit they fun whan they got stertit wis thit even tho they spoke this language every day o their lifes an wrate messages in it aw the time, writin at lenth in the kin o style a encyclopedia wantit wis somehin they'd ner encoontert afore.
Sae wi the braw support o The Scottish Government, the Scots Language Centre brocht thegither ten experienced an accomplished Scots writers fae aw the airts an pairts tae explore whit we gae throu lairin wirsels hou tae become literate in Scots.
We ran a wheen o language advice engagement sessions alangside Scots Wikipedia Editathons, an gaithert aw wir experience thegither intae wir buik Adult Literacy in Scots: Support and Guidance for Writers, noo available on wir wabsteid in English an in Scots translation bi Dr Dauvit Horsbroch.
An on tap o this ilkane o wir writers haes taen their experience fae the project tae produce original creative responses tae the value o becomin literate in oor language. It's oor hairfelt howp tae inspire ye tae pick up a pen an stert writin yersels. A'm prood tae present tae yees - Scots Warks
Dr Michael Dempster, director o the Scots Language Centre