Destination UK: Scotland

Task 1 – Scotland Quiz

Test your knowledge of Scotland with this quiz.

1) What’s the capital city of Scotland?

a) Glasgow
b) Aberdeen
c) Edinburgh

2) When did Scotland unite with England, forming Great Britain?

a) 1507
b) 1707
c) 1907

3) What colour is the Scottish flag?

a) Blue with a white cross
b) White with a blue cross
c) Green with a white cross

4) What’s the name of the famous lake where a monster is said to live?
a) Loch Monstro
b) Loch Grass
c) Loch Ness

5) What’s the name of the type of clothing, that Scottish men traditionally wear instead of trousers?
a) Kilt
b) Sporran
c) Skilt

6) What’s the national drink of Scotland?

a) Vodka
b) Gin
c) Whisky

7) What’s the name of perhaps the most famous musical wind instrument that is from Scotland?
a) Wind pipes
b) Bag pipes
c) Scottish sax
 8) When did Scotland get its first Parliament after the union with England?
a) 1899
b) 1959
c) 1999

9) How many regional languages are spoken in Scotland?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3

10) What’s the name of Scotland’s national poet?

a) Robert Burns
b) Robert Louis Stevenson
c) Walter Scot

Task 3 – Get to grips with Gaelic!

Did you know that English isn’t the only language spoken in Scotland? In addition to minority languages
related to immigration, such as Urdu and Cantonese, Scottish Gaelic is an indigenous language which
approximately 86,000 people who live in the north of Scotland and the Western Isles speak. The word for
Scotland in Gaelic is Alba. Have a look at the days of the week and the numbers one to ten and then
discuss the questions below.

Days of the Week Numbers

Diluain – Monday Aon – one
Dimàirt – Tuesday Dhà – two
Diciadain – Wednesday Trì – three
Diardaoin – Thursday Ceithir – four
Dihaoine – Friday Còig – five
Disathairne – Saturday Sia – six
Didòmhnaich – Sunday Seachd – seven
Ochd – eight
Naoi – nine
Well, I see it as a challenge as
Deich - ten
the language it descended
from is archaic and the
grammer might be different
then what I am used to.
• Do you think Scottish Gaelic would be easy to learn? Why / not?
• Some people think that by the end of the century, 90% of the world’s 6000 languages will be
extinct and there will only be ten languages spoken in the world. Do you think this could happen?
Yes, as means of communication grow bigger, the necessity of diverse language seems to disappear which is so
sad as they preserve culture, not just a means of communication.
 • Do you think it’s important to keep minority languages alive? Why / not?
• How can we try to keep minority languages alive?Imposing schools to learn the native tongue of the area.
• Do you think your native language will ever die? No
• Do you think that the growth of ‘English as an international language’ is helping to kill other
languages? Yes.
• Do you think that the world of technology is helping to kill languages? Yes.

Task 4 – UK in Focus reading task: Living in Scotland

Read about Scotland, then write the questions to these answers! Q = question, A = answer.

Q1) How many of Scotland's islands have people living on them?

A1) 130.

Q2) What is the largest city of Scotland?

A2) Glasgow.

Q3) What is the famous Scot duo's name?

A3) Travis and Franz Ferdinand

Q4) When was the Scottish Parliment open?

A4) 1999

Q5) What is contemporary Scotland being more recognized in?

A5) The computer games industry

Q6) In what year was Edinburgh voted a top travel city?

A6) 2010

Living in Scotland

Where it is
Scotland is the UK’s most northern country and has around 790 islands off its coasts – 130 of which
have people living on them. Scotland is well known for its stunning landscapes, beautiful beaches and
lochs, which are fresh water lakes. There are over 600 square miles of lochs in Scotland including the
most famous one, Loch Ness.

It has a population of just over five million people which is about 8.5 per cent of the whole UK
population. Over 2 million of these live in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and almost half of Scotland's
population live in the Central Belt, where both the largest city (Glasgow), and the capital city (Edinburgh)
are located.
 Festivals and music
Scotland also hosts one of the biggest arts festivals in the world. This is commonly known as the
Edinburgh Festival but is actually made up of a number of different festivals which happen at different
times of the year, though many do take place in August and September. Many people have heard of the
Fringe Festival, but there are also the International Festival, the Film Festival, the Children’s Festival
and the Edinburgh Mela which is an intercultural festival.

Musically it has recently produced bands Travis and Franz Ferdinand and other famous Scots include
Ewan McGregor, Sean Connery and JK Rowling.

Political devolution
In July 1999 the Scottish Parliament was opened, the first for over 300 years as Scotland had been
governed from London. Scottish Parliamentary responsibilities include health, education and local
government. In 2014 there was a referendum for full Scottish independence, although Scotland voted to
stay part of the UK.

Stereotypes
Stereotypical images of Scotland often focus on things like tartan, kilts, heather and haggis as well as
the scenery. These are all still a part of the country but contemporary Scotland is building a name for
itself in other areas, such as its thriving computer games industry.

International fame
Scottish cites are big hits abroad. Glasgow was designated European city of culture in 1990. In 2010
Edinburgh was voted by travellers to be one of the top 25 favourite places to visit in the world.

Task 5 – Castaway
Scotland has 790 islands. Most of these islands are very tiny, only 62 are more than 3 square miles! In the
year 2000 the BBC made a TV programme called Castaway. It was filmed on a remote Scottish island.
They put 36 men, women and children on the island and they had to work together to survive. Discuss
these questions in groups, then decide who would be the best person to participate in the programme and
complete the sentence below.

• Do you like spending time outside? It depends on the weather outside.

• What sort of weather do you like? When I am outside, I like sunny weather that lifts my mood.
• Do you like having a lot of people around you? Yeah, I like being surronded by friends and family.
• What would you like about living on a remote island in Scotland? The privacy and calm nature.
• What or who would you miss if you lived on the island? My family and closest friends!
• What type of people would be good for the new Castaway programme?

We think ....................
My Dad would be the best person to go on the new Castaway programme because .......
he always complain about not sleeping peacefully and about his neighbors.
Task 6 – Haggis: Scotland’s national dish

Scotland’s national dish is called ‘Haggis’. People from other parts of the UK sometimes find the
ingredients a little unusual and your students may be surprised by the recipe. The ingredients include:

• Sheep’s heart
• Sheep’s liver
• Sheep’s lungs
• Sheep’s windpipe
• Beef suet
• Toasted oatmeal
• Herbs and spices.

Method:
The ingredients are mixed together and put inside a sheep’s stomach. The haggis is boiled before eating

When is it eaten?
Haggis is eaten on special occasions like Burn’s Night, a special dinner to celebrate the life of Robert
Burns, Scotland’s national poet, which is held on January 25th. There is even a special poem called ‘To a
Haggis’ that is read when the national dish is brought to the table. There are now many vegetarian
versions of the dish so that everyone can join in the party!
Yes, because trying a new dish for me is divulging into a
• Would you like to try haggis? Why / why not?
new culture.
• What’s your country’s national dish? Hamburger
• Now write a similar description of your national dish:

Hamburger
Our national dish is called:______________________________________________________
Ingredients:
-Patty [usually beef] - Onion [fresh or caramelized]
- Lettuce - Condiments
-Tomato - Pickles
- Bread Buns - Cheese [optional]
Method:
First, you cook the patty on the grill with very little spices. Usually, just some salt and pepper. After its done, you
put it first on the bun, then add the rest of the filling in a specific order. The order is this: cheese, pickle slices,
lettuce, tomato, and onion. Its optional to put the condiments in between whichever layer, I like it on the cheese.
Once your done, it is custom to put mustard, ketchup, or/and mayo on the top bun. Then you just put it on top,
give it a good squeeze and enjoy!
When is it eaten?
Its eaten casually, but you can find it in the 4th of July alongside hotdogs on the grill as there are other specific
dishes for certain holidays.