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A’bdy welcome! Doric lessons to help foreign settlers feel more at home in Fraserburgh

Fancy brushing up on some Doric? Free online lessons are taking place this month as Fraserburgh celebrates the traditional tongue

Moving to a new country can pose many challenges, and learning another language is among the toughest.

Spare a thought then for folk who have relocated to the north-east, where picking up English is only half the battle.

To really understand locals, any incomers will have to become fluent in Doric too.

And help is now at hand to help teach new Brochers a’hing they need to ken about the traditional tongue.

As part of Fraserburgh’s Doric Month, classes are being set up to teach people everything from the correct response to “fit like?” to how to refer to their swimming costume*.

Dinna miss oot…

Organiser Ashley Mackie is putting together the beginner’s guide along with Rotary Club member Bob Watt.

She said: “There are so many people in the area who don’t have English as a first language but may work with other locals who speak a lot of Doric.

“We thought it might be helpful to run these three lessons, going from basics like ‘fit like’ to some phrases even I might struggle with.”

People attending the session will learn the correct term for a gull is a “scurrie”, in Fraserburgh. Picture by Jason Hedges

As well as helping non-native Brochers to adjust to their surroundings, Ashley hopes the lessons might help bridge the generation gap between family members.

The classes will also be for teenagers who sometimes find themselves scratching their heads at something their parents or grandparents may say to them.

The lessons will last an hour at most, and people interested in taking part should email hello@shopfraserburgh.com to sign up.

There will follow sessions with former teacher and current councillor Charles Buchan about the role of Doric in education.

Much more to Doric Month

The classes are just one part of Doric Month, which has been engineered by the newly formed Shop Fraserburgh group to bring more people into the town.

Councillor Doreen Mair will be staging a “big fat Doric quiz”, a word hunt featuring 10 local businesses got under way today, a golfing taster session with a Doric twist, poetry competitions and new boards installed in the town.

Author and playwright Mike Gibb will perform a talk and book reading at R&S Dyga on Broad Street at 2pm on Saturday.

The event will focus on his works about the “forgotten” heroes and heroines of the north-east.

Bob added: “We are very excited to celebrate our first Doric month in the town and are hoping to make this an annual event.

Bob Watt. Picture by Wullie Marr

“Many of our locals are passionate about the language and it is a good way of involving the younger generation that may want to be inspired and learn more about its history.”

Doric Month part of plans to boost footfall in wake of Covid

The month-long celebration has been paid for through Aberdeenshire Council’s Town Centres Phoenix Fund – a scheme designed to boost footfall following Covid restrictions.

The fund is led by three groups in Fraserburgh – Broch Businesses Together, The Fraserburgh Rotary Club, and Fraserburgh Community Council.

Local PR and marketing agency Talented Marketing is managing the project.

A full list of all the activities taking place is available on the Shop Fraserburgh website.

People who want to take part can call Ashley on 07940458127 or email hello@shopfrasrburgh.com

*Respectively, they are “chavvin’ awa'” and “dookers”…

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