About Us - Mar Deidhinn
The Full Story - An Sgeulachd Air Fad
Ann knows what Gaelic learners are going through when trying to master the Scottish Gaelic language by distance learning, as she started her journey 25 years ago without internet, without access to conversation opportunities nor the variety of resources which are available these days. The overall learning experience in those days was very different and was a time when all lessons were sent through the post on recording tapes and took weeks to travel between student and teacher. She now offers you her experience and knowledge accumulated over the years, to help you achieve your goal of speaking Gaelic easier and faster than ever before and most importantly, focus on your overall Gaelic life experience straight from the Gaelic heartland of the Outer Hebrides.
The journey to creating an online Gaelic language business has long been a dream of Ann Desseyn - Nic a' Chùbair. Her love for the Gaelic language began when she was a teenager interested in Celtic languages from Irish to Breton, so she began to research Universities that would teach Gaelic as a core subject but was met with disappointment on discovering that the universities in her native Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany did not offer such a course and consequently, began searching further afield for a way to learn the language. She discovered distance learning courses with the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye and in April 2000 completed her first National Certificates.
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In the year 2000 Ann moved to Newtonmore in the middle of a severe snow blizzard to take up her first full-time Scottish job in the hospitality industry and at the same began studying for a BA (Hons) in Humanities with History which she graduated in 2004. During this period she continued her Gaelic education and completed the Pre-Higher course with Telford College, Cùrsa Inntrigidh with SMO in 2004 before moving to the Gaelic college for full-time study of the Cùrsa Comais between 2005-2006. On completion of this course, there were no development jobs within Gaelic available, so she moved to Fife and secured a job as Internal Auditor and HSEQ Assistant with Bosch manufacturing where she stayed till 2013.
Despite the setback of not finding a job within the Gaelic world she continued her quest to achieve more Gaelic qualifications and in 2010 completed the Ùlpan teacher training and in her spare time set up and successfully expanded the Fife Gaelic Community Development project that promoted Gaelic learning with adults and schools.
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With a deep passion for the Gaelic language and eagerness to increase the learning of it, Ann taught evening classes for Fife Council and set up her own Gaelic teaching business for adults in 2010 while still working full-time at Bosch. In 2013 Ann decided to become a PGDE Gaelic Medium Secondary (History) school teacher at the same time as some of her friends, after a recruitment drive by BnaG and graduated from Strathclyde University in 2014. In 2015 she completed a Probationary year in Portree High school before moving to Uist to cover for a teacher who intended to take time out to study Gaelic. Sadly on arrival, it turned out that the school's plans had changed and Ann left for Glasgow instead to work as an English medium social studies supply teacher, as there were no Gaelic medium teaching jobs available at that time.
In 2016 she returned to her house on Uist full-time, married a crofter, learned to work with sheep and focused on building her online business, using her training, skills & experience, hereby securing Audit and HSE contracts in manufacturing as well as Gaelic students. She also volunteered to teach German for a year in the local school as they could not find maternity cover. It was a desperate wait of years, hoping a permanent Gaelic Medium History teaching job would be advertised somewhere which wouldn't mean moving away from her family and the island. The lack of full-time permanent GME teaching jobs was making it impossible to settle down in a place. It also made it impossible for her to complete her ATQ teaching Gaelic as a subject, so she finally gave up her teacher registration, cut her losses and tried to salvage whatever what was left of her amazing career which she gave up to become a Gaelic teacher.
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From 2019 onwards, she has solely focused on further developing the Gaelic teaching adults side of her business which over the past years has consequently grown into a sustainable island business. With satisfied students from across the world and continued refining and development of her online resources, Ann has now expanded to running multiple unfunded sustainable businesses which add quality and value to the language itself. She has a team of professionals around her whom are helping her businesses grow.
Some of her Qualifications
BA (Hons) Humanities with History
Dip. European Humanities
Postgrad Cert. Integrated Safety, Health and Environmental Management (OU)
Cert. Gaelic and Related Studies - Cùrsa Comais
PGDE Secondary (History) English & Gaelic Medium​
ISO 9001QMS/Quality Lead Auditor – IRCA
Award in Leadership - ILM
Certificate in International Auditing (CertIA) - ACCA
Certificate in International Financial Reporting - ACCA
F1 Accountant in Business - ACCA
Bosch Internal Controls Auditing
Prince2 Practitioner - Project Management
Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste)
Regulations Improvement in Energy Efficiency and Reduction of CO2-emissions for sub-project managers at Bosch Rexroth AG
​UK National Air Cargo Security level D
Access and Identity Management
Data Protection & Information Security
Bosch Protection Security
Benchmark Quality Audit
Emergency Planning - Massey University
Mass Fatality Management - Columbia University
Elements of Leadership - Decision-making & Problem-solving under
Emergency Conditions - Columbia University
Climate Change: Public Health Preparedness and Response - Columbia University
Public Health Risks of Ionizing Radiation - Columbia University
Analysis of Information in Humanitarian Emergencies - Columbia University
Sea Level Rise and Flood Risk - Columbia University
International Organizations Management - University of Geneva
Forensic Accounting & Fraud Examination - West Virginia University
Introduction to Coaching & Mentoring - Kaya Humanitarian Leadership Academy
L.C.H. Dip. in Life Coaching