Drivers taught Glasgow 'patter'

Advertisement

James Lillis started teaching 'Glaswegian' after learning basic Polish

A bus driver is to be recognised for teaching his Eastern European colleagues at First Glasgow bus company how to understand Glaswegian slang.

James Lillis, 55, will receive the 4th annual Helen Dowie award for Lifelong Learning at the STUC conference in Perth on Wednesday.

Mr Lillis, who has driven buses in the city for 30 years, runs the workplace learning centre at his depot.

He started teaching "Glaswegian" at the centre after learning basic Polish.

One in 10 drivers working for First Glasgow, the city's main bus operator, come from outside the UK. The majority of the foreign drivers come from Poland, with Slovak, Hungarian, Lithuanian and Czech drivers also employed.

Confusing 'patter'

Mr Lillis said: "When new employees come to Scotland and hear the Glasgow accent, it can be a problem. Drivers have to learn to understand what is meant when a customer says, for example, 'Gie us an aw day tae the toon' (Give me an all day ticket to the town)."

Much of the Glasgow "patter" can be impenetrable to non-local drivers, or have misleading double meanings, he said.

But helping the drivers to translate and understand "Glaswegian" expressions helped them with their jobs.

Mr Lillis said: "The language in Glasgow is sometimes so strange to them. When people would come on the bus and say 'Nae bother big man', they'd write it down and come to me saying, 'What does this mean?'

It's a brilliant thing to help others grow in confidence as they strengthen their everyday skills James Lillis Bus driver

"When someone says they're 'going for the messages', they might think they're talking about a text message, not about going for the shopping.

"We have a laugh about it and now they'll come in and say things in Glaswegian to me."

After several weeks of Polish lessons, Mr Lillis spent 10 days in Poland living with a colleague's family near Krakow.

He now runs drop-in sessions in addition to organised English classes at the learning centre.

The challenge of teaching "Glaswegian" has required using some unusual tools, such as CDs with listen-and-repeat phrases taken from television programmes set in Glasgow including Still Game. Books such as Michael Munro's The Patter, a guide to Glasgow dialect, were also useful.

Mr Lillis has been recognised for working to help other drivers

Mr Lillis said he had made good friends from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary through the project, and was now able to improve his own Polish through practise.

He added: "It's a brilliant thing to help others grow in confidence as they strengthen their everyday skills."

In his role at the First Glasgow learning centre Mr Lillis has also established short story competitions and several literacy and numeracy projects.

As well as running the centre and driving the number 44 bus between Eaglesham and Knightswood, he acts as a Union Learning Representative for the Unite union.

The honour, to be presented by Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop, is being given in recognition of his overall contribution to trade union learning.

Johann Lamont, the Labour MSP for Glasgow Pollok, where Mr Lillis lives, said: "I was delighted to learn of James' fabulous success.

"His role in developing the learning centre and his tireless work in supporting his fellow Polish workers to integrate within their community is an inspiration and speaks powerfully of everything that is best about trade unions and trade unionists."

The award for Lifelong Learning, sponsored by learndirect scotland, was established in memory of trade unionist Helen Dowie.