And then another gap year. Finally, after twelve gap years he went to University. As a mathematician and scientist he worked for twelve years in the field of computing and accounting. So naturally, when he finally considered going to University he thought he might go and study French! He'd given up French aged 13, disliked the lessons intensely, and never studied it to O level. He lived in Germany at the time, and hence German was the more practical choice. And he also learnt Dutch from watching Dutch television!

In his twenties Scott spent all his spare time and all his spare money travelling. He taught himself some Latin American Spanish before his first USA and Mexico trip, and only later went to Spain where he learnt they don’t speak it the same way! He learnt some Greek before a two city stay in Athens and Rhodes. He learnt a little Portuguese, and was astonished to see how different it is to Spanish.

By the way, he can tell you that Dutch and German may look similar in writing, but they are vastly different spoken languages.

With the Maastricht Treaty coming into force in 1992, the same year that Scott started at Stirling University, he could have chosen to simply go and live in France and learn the language that way. So, on the back of a recent trip to Japan, when he had prepared by using the Hugo Japanese in Three Months course, he went to Uni to study Japanese!

Later, when he started work in Brussels he went to evening classes and really learnt some French. Three years working there and three years working in Geneva taught Scott that when you speak French badly in these cities, people will respond in English! Nevertheless, his French improved vastly by living in Francophone countries.

As the work on the CopperWolf novels progresses, Scott is flirting with the idea of picking up some more Welsh, and learning a little Gaeilge and Manx. He looks forward to arranging a first visit to the Isle of Man.

Posted 25 Mar 2025