A Syrian refugee who is now a pupil at primary school in Scotland’s Western Isles has gone viral after impressing with his progress in learning Gaelic.
Abdullah Al Nakeeb and his brother Majd have been awarded certificates for Gaelic language excellence at Stornoway Primary, four years after arriving on the Isle of Lewis.
His achievement first came to widespread attention after a neighbour published a picture of Abdullah with his certificate, which has so far been “liked” nearly 21,000 times on Twitter.
“I know English, Gaelic, Arabic, French...and a wee bit of Mandarin!”
10-year-old Abdullah and his family moved from Syria to Stornoway four years ago. In that time, he’s learnt English and is now mastering Gaelic ??????? pic.twitter.com/maOuk3sJTf
- The Nine (@BBCScotNine) April 29, 2021
Now, in a short film for BBC Scotland’s The Nine news programme last night, Abullah’s story of impressive linguistic progress since arriving in the Outer Hebrides has reached an even wider audience.
He explains that he struggled to understand people speaking English when he arrived in Scotland four years ago, but now speaks English, Gaelic, Arabic, French and “a wee bit of Mandarin”.
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The posts on Twitter have been inundated with positive responses about Abdullah, and also his two brothers.
One read: “What an incredible boy knowing 4 languages and learning a 5th at the age of 10! Inspiring for those like myself who are so much older and don’t know as many languages as Abdullah does!”
Another read: “We’re so lucky to have Abdullah and his family here in Scotland. We gain so much when we welcome others.”
And another Twitter user posted: “Good lads... I wish they taught other languages when I was at primary school.”
My neighbour Abdullah Al Nakeeb with his Gaelic Certificate from Stornoway Primary. Abdullah is originally from Homs in Syria and has a decent grasp of basic Gaelic (now his 3rd language) ?????????
*I got his Dad’s permission to post this image pic.twitter.com/bmJHlEGSYV
- Coinneach Morrison (@CP_IsleofHarris) April 21, 2021
