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I am originally a Basque from Spain and chose Gaelic<br />
medium education for my three children because I<br />
wanted them to have a similar lingu<strong>is</strong>tic experience to<br />
my own which was Span<strong>is</strong>h (home), Basque (school),<br />
French (learnt to fluency at school) and Engl<strong>is</strong>h (learnt<br />
to fluency after leaving school). It just felt natural at the<br />
time. I feel very privileged, for practical reasons and for<br />
having such a different experience and rapport with these<br />
languages/cultures: Span<strong>is</strong>h, the dominant language<br />
which I spoke at home and everywhere else except in the<br />
classroom; Basque, a “cradle gift”, taken for granted as a<br />
child, and closest to my heart as an adult; French, a foreign<br />
language I enjoyed learning and using; Engl<strong>is</strong>h, a foreign<br />
language which <strong>is</strong> very dominant in my life now. At home<br />
I speak Span<strong>is</strong>h with the children and my husband speaks<br />
in Engl<strong>is</strong>h to them and to me. The children converse and<br />
argue in Span<strong>is</strong>h, but play in Engl<strong>is</strong>h.<br />
Amaia Zulaika Carmichael, Edinburgh<br />
27
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