Welsh language protest at 'lack of response' by government

[def90cars]

From the BBC.... just catching up on news at home.



Welsh language campaigners say they have chained themselves to the gates of Welsh government offices in a protest at a "lack of response" to the decline in the number of Welsh speakers.
Six members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg blocked the entrance to the building at Llandudno Junction at about 06:30 GMT.
North Wales Police confirmed officers were in attendance at an incident.
The Welsh government has been asked to comment.
The protestors say the action is part of a general Cymdeithas campaign to put pressure on the Labour administration in Wales to act urgently for the Welsh language.
They want the Welsh government to adopt six basic policy changes, including making Welsh-medium education available for all and what they call "fair funding" for the language.
Robin Farrar, chairman of the society, said: "We're here to speak out for the present generation, and those to come, who should be able to live in Welsh.
"There's a real crisis facing the language, but the Welsh government is not acting seriously.
"We're certain that our unique national language can thrive over the years to come with positive campaigning and political will."





He said in ENGLISH




I admire their right to protest, but English is the future.... and not because Parliament is in London, but because its what the World speaks now.

 

[Spinal]

I admire their right to protest, but English is the future.... and not because Parliament is in London, but because its what the World speaks now.

I thought both Mandarin and Spanish had more NATIVE speakers than English - and Mandarin more by total number of speakers?

M.

 

[def90cars]

I thought both Mandarin and Spanish had more NATIVE speakers than English - and Mandarin more by total number of speakers?

M.

I am not doubting your facts, but go anywhere in the world and you will find English.

People talk to other countries in English. In India it is the official language - too many others/reasons to pick another.

I guess my point was you can't fight the spread of it. And even worse, the ruin of it by the other countries..... starting with the US!

 

[Charles Morgan]

While touring the Ironbridge foundry museum with fellow Allard owners last year, there was a party of young primary school children from a Welsh medium school in Caernavon there too. Being of Welsh stock but entirely English monoglot it was rather joyous listening to the sound of Welsh being spoken as the principal language, although I did note a number cracked happily into English when the two, rather intimidating, teachers were not in earshot.

Amusingly, one of the ladies of my group, who had the innate ability to put both feet in it each time she opened her mouth, asked the teachers which language they were speaking as she thought they might be Dutch! Mrs Senior Dragon did not look amused.

I doubt speaking both Welsh and English is a particular problem for results, speaking numerous languages is good for brain power, but given the manner in which some of the Welsh language brigade conduct their campaign, they aren't very good at winning friends. As my grandmother spoke Welsh as her mother tongue I would be very sad if it died out, it is a beautiful language, although local Welsh radio (like gallic in the highlands) seems only to play country and western, which does seem a rather odd expression of ancient culture.

 

[Harrythedog]

As a cultural thing it should certainly be encouraged for those that want to learn/speak Welsh however chaining oneself to a railing demanding everyone should be made to speak it sounds a bit totalitarian to me

 

[guydewdney]

where I live is very close to south wales. I pick up several welsh radio stations. Of these, bbc cwmru is 99% welsh speaking, bbc wales is 99.99999% english and amusingly, nation radio (the only commercial one) plays 99.999% english songs etc, and the ONLY adverts that are in welsh are government ones (well, I can tell they are welsh govt as they always read out the website). All the non govt ones are in english, oft with a barely welsh twang.

so - the only people who seem interested in speaking welsh are the civil servants pushing some govt scam (sorry - scheme) in welsh. If welsh was so popular - wouldnt the radios be playing stuff in welsh?

 

[flango]

English is the world's Business language, its the language in aviation used by pilots and air traffic control, its the official language of the EU Parliament, United Nations, need I go on?

If the Welsh want to preserve the language thats fine but not at the expense of the English taxpayer, if they are that concerned maybe they should take a similar route as Scotland and put it to the vote, looks like the principalities are revolting again :

 

[Druk]

It's not just Wales. The Scottish government are spending a fortune on converting all the road signs anywhere north and west of Auchtermuchty to read bi-lingual English/Gaelic with the print in alternate white and yellow. Very confusing!

Just to placate a few vocal teuchters who know where they're going anyway and most of the time speak English to one another.

 

[Spinal]

English [...], its the official language of the EU Parliament, :

Multilingualism

In the European Parliament, all Community languages are equally important: all parliamentary documents are published in all the official languages of the European Union (EU) and every MEP has the right to speak in the official language of his/her choice. What better way to guarantee the transparency and accessibility of Parliament's work for all members of the general public.

English is [...] United Nations, need I go on?

https://www.un.org/en/aboutun/languages.shtml

The official languages used at the United Nations are:

Arabic;
Chinese;
English;
French;
Russian and
Spanish.

English [...]language in aviation used by pilots and air traffic control,:

I also do believe that ICAO has considered changing the language in 2012, and is still a topic that upsets many in commercial aviation.

In response to previous posts:
- India speak English because of colonialism, not because of business purposes.

As for "go anywhere in the world"; that's not my experience. Having lived in many ex-French colonies in Africa, most of the people outside of touristic circles stick to French/Arabic/local dialects.

Not that I contend English is a growing language, and extremely useful the world over - I just feel we have a certain sense of self-importance at times.

One of my pet hates is the (usually American) tourist who thinks that raising his voice, shouting and slowly repeating the same phrase will make the "locals" understand his request...

Which goes on the back of one of my favorite jokes to play on Englishmen when abroad - I'll strike up a conversation, then politely ask where they are from. When they say "Lambeth" or "Stoke" or anywhere else in the UK, I'll look puzzled and say "Is that on the west or east coast?" and feign ignorance to the existence of England or the UK. Queue a few minutes of rather frustrated people trying to explain where England is... I even had a chap tell me that "I was speaking English, so I better damn well know where England is" and another saying it was the "heart of the empire" (not that long ago).

I'll quiet down now... and let the thread continue on its inevitable route.
M.

 

[bluevenetian]

what goes around comes around. The authorities in Whitehall spent a great deal of effort in the late 19 th century trying to stamp out Welsh. It's about having a cultural reference and a sense of history; it would be a bit hard trying to appreciate some of the ancient Welsh poets if no one understood Welsh anymore

 

[flango]

Multilingualism




https://www.un.org/en/aboutun/languages.shtml




I also do believe that ICAO has considered changing the language in 2012, and is still a topic that upsets many in commercial aviation.

In response to previous posts:
- India speak English because of colonialism, not because of business purposes.

As for "go anywhere in the world"; that's not my experience. Having lived in many ex-French colonies in Africa, most of the people outside of touristic circles stick to French/Arabic/local dialects.

Not that I contend English is a growing language, and extremely useful the world over - I just feel we have a certain sense of self-importance at times.

One of my pet hates is the (usually American) tourist who thinks that raising his voice, shouting and slowly repeating the same phrase will make the "locals" understand his request...

Which goes on the back of one of my favorite jokes to play on Englishmen when abroad - I'll strike up a conversation, then politely ask where they are from. When they say "Lambeth" or "Stoke" or anywhere else in the UK, I'll look puzzled and say "Is that on the west or east coast?" and feign ignorance to the existence of England or the UK. Queue a few minutes of rather frustrated people trying to explain where England is... I even had a chap tell me that "I was speaking English, so I better damn well know where England is" and another saying it was the "heart of the empire" (not that long ago).

I'll quiet down now... and let the thread continue on its inevitable route.
M.

I've presented to both the EU Parliament and UN on many occasions and it was most definitely in English, what I should have said is the official working language of these organisations is English you can present in any of the official languages and it is simultaneously translated.

The only reason the ICAO consider changing or allowing other languages are because of stupid protests from French Nationals. Talk to any pilot that regularly flies into CDG or Orly they will tell you the Air France pilots routinely speak in French against the regulations making it dangerous for pilots around them as they can't work out who is where and what is happening unless they speak French, theres no way the ICAO will ever change the official language away from English, I have more chance of becoming Pope.

As for the French well I can't for the life of me work out why we built a tunnel to them, I would have turned left and gone to Holland i've been to most Countries in the World including those unstable ones in North Africa, Indonesia and the Asian sub continent in all my travels I have only ever found 2 Countries/Regions that genuinely hate the English, France and North Wales. I would much rather go to Libya, Nigeria, Algiers, Ivory Coast than France or North Wales. I also spend a lot of time in the Congo and even that is better than France or North Wales

 

[def90cars]

fy hofrennydd yn llawn o lyswennod

 

[flango]

fy hofrennydd yn llawn o lyswennod

The correct quote is

"fy hofrenfad yn llawn o lyswennod"

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hovercraft.htm

 

[def90cars]

The correct quote is

"fy hofrenfad yn llawn o lyswennod"

Translations of My hovercraft is full of eels in many languages

yeah, but where do you see hovercrafts nowadays?

 

[Charles Morgan]

Most of my colleagues in investment banking were foreign, and all spoke and wrote English to a level that many British with similar education failed to achieve. They, of course, learned English while being taught in their mother tongue.

I don't believe any Welsh medium school (perhaps the smaller ones...) fail to teach English, they just don't use it as the language of teaching and discourse. Most Welsh have access to numerous English media and the results from Welsh schools tend to be higher (which is not difficult - results in English speaking schools in Wales are the lowest in the UK, which is quite an achievement). Chaining yourself to railings just looks silly and helps no-one, but I don't see any harm in schools teaching in Welsh.

(reflecting on it -both the US and the UK levels of literacy in English are pretty shocking)

 

[BTB 500]

yeah, but where do you see hovercrafts nowadays?

Top Gear

 

[flango]

yeah, but where do you see hovercrafts nowadays?

This is the last commercial one in Europe AFAIK

Isle of Wight | Hovertravel Isle of Wight Ferries

 

[Ted]

I am surprised that people think that Welsh language is not spoken by most of the population of Wales.
Certainly when I have gone into a shop or pub (North Wales I admit) everyone speaks in Welsh.

After they have heard me speak in English.

 

[Charles Morgan]

It's out of politeness really. What they're actually saying is "crikey - who let him out? what is he wearing, at his age and with his build he really should know better, and that toupe, hasn't he got a mirror?"

 

[Peter T]

When I was a kid we lived in Blackpool and my parents liked to drive to north Wales for holidays.

I remember it as a beautiful place. The locals were generally friendly but it was very common to walk into a shop to find 2 or 3 women chatting away in English until they realised we weren't local and they switched to Welsh so we would not understand what they were saying!