https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65865223 Anyone with a car parking fine in Barnsley could ask for the notice it to be issued in dialect... (Worth a try ?) That said, the head of Wrexham school of Law says it does not set a precedent Nver understood this obsession the Welsh have with forcing a languiage that hardly anyone outside of Wales speaks or understands. Preserving cultures is fine but language is about communication and in an ever shrinking World, let's face it, Welsh is never going to become widespread or used in business throughout the World. Enforcing it in schools, the cost of producing road signage, political legal documents etc. seems an expensive way of spending taxpayers money and I am not sure that the majority of Welsh people are in favour of it given teh recent experiences of changing the name of Brecon Beacons to something most people cannot even pronounce let alone remember. It all smacks of nationalist zealots to me.
Not sure that is a glowing endorsement of the Welsh Govt spend on dual language policy. I'll packa bag.. (See what I did there).
Tekkytyke - o/p I can't be ar*ed to respond at length to your English supremacist views as it's a very busy time of the year for us Taffs keeping our sheep happy, fit and healthy.
I love living in Ireland. I love that it's similar to the UK BUT has subtle differences that make it different. The characteristics of the locals, their outlook on life, the tranquillity, the traditions etc. The Irish language, however, has no impact on that because virtually nobody speaks it. And I live on the edge of a gaeltacht which is an area where the Irish language is promoted. Grants are given to businesses employing Irish speakers. Schools teach exclusively in gaelic etc. My step daughter was purposely sent to junior and secondary schools that taught solely in gaelic. They both speak fluent gaelic and are proud of it. And yet they never use it. My step daughter converses with all her friends who went to the same gaelic school in English. I spend a lot of time in Dingle which is my nearest town and the centre of the Gaeltacht. You almost never hear Irish spoken. In fact for every time you do hear it spoken I can guarantee there are at least ten instances where you'll hear Polish or Czech. Go to Dublin where my in laws live and I've never, ever heard Irish spoken and most of the residents have little more than a very basic smattering or a few words that they picked up at school. Quite frankly if Irish wasn't propped up by the government it would die off completely. Whether or not that's a good thing is something I'm still unsure about. However, in a country that is chronically short of housing stock, and I do mean chronically, you would want to be absolutely certain money is being spent in the right places.
I heard it on the streets of Galway, although it was a single instance in a week. Slavic languages are indeed far more common. As for Welsh, I hear people round the UK speaking it from time to time. Never once heard Scottish Gaelic spoken, even in Scotland, although I realise I haven't been in places where it was likely.
"English Supremacist" What a load of Nationalistic nonsense. Hypocritical or what! My point is, and remains., is that language is all about communication. Nothing wrong with people if they choose to learn their 'mother tongue'. Nevertheless, the sense of belonging and 'identity' goes far beyond just language. The last paragraph in churtonred's post above 'hits the nail on the head' and is the point I was making. There are far more important things the Welsh Sennedd should be involved in and, more importantly spending their budget on, than forcing the education system to teach 5-16 year olds two languages. I am certainly not saying people should not have a choice but a lot of resources go into teaching Welsh as a primary or secondary language in mainstream education system. Under the guise of 'bilingualism' which is laudable the Welsh Government has imposed Welsh as the primary/or secondary language in schools. This is NOT the same as countries, like here in Italy, where the native language is a barrier to people wishing to seek employment elsewhere. If young Italians want to work abroad (many seek work in UK and elsewhere) they need a second language and most opt for English. Welsh SHOULD be an optional /elective subject on the curriculum for those that wish to study it. The same cannot be said about Welsh. More controversially, I am of the opinion that language evolves like life itself. Forcibly trying to maintain a diminishing language is a 'driven' by a romantic notion rather than having a practical purpose. ..i.e. the heart ruling the head. As the main form of communication between humans many languages have probably come and gone over the ages and all those that exist change constantly and continue to do so. In a shrinking World. Like it or not, certain languages come out on top whilst others fall into disuse . There are several widely used languages across the planet, mainly due to Empire, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, to name just 4. Mandarin is, apparently, the most spoken, but English remains the 'business language'. I would like to know the numbers of those, since the policy was introduced in 1999, who continue to use Welsh as their primary means of communication as well as those who bother to user it at all. Did people actually vote for these policies in large numbers?
Explain. Why is it 'gibberish'? Or is it I express a PoV you disagree with? Apparently it makes me an "English Supremacist"
Merely a joke based on some of your spelling (or typographical errors) nothing for you to get upset about.
OK sorry... feeling somewhat delicate this morning... still in bed and fat fingers, stinking head cold for this past week which got onto my chest. I have not been able to taste anything for a week and even took a Covid test (negative) because of that. The missus is suffering worse than me and I had to stack 4 tons of wood delivered in a pile yesterday (excuses excuses) .
I'm in Limerick at the moment on our 6 day whirlwindtour of Ireland and I've got to say I found it difficult at first to get through the Gaelic on the road signs before picking up the English text ( the number of signs to Amach, wow!) But as a foreigner I can't really grumble if that's what the nation wants to do to develop its identity. It's not like North Wales where the locals start speaking Welsh as soon as an English person opens their mouth. What I've found really warming though is the welcome given to Ukrainians over here. Every other house (and hotel!) seems to have a Ukrainian flag flying.
I did not mention it in the OP but going back to the days I was in a band and we toured Wales few times there was a huge gulf between North and South Wales when it came to attitudes. Rhyl to Caernarfon they were quite anti-English and yet, when we went to South Wales... Heads of the Valley , Tredegar, Merthyr etc. and lots of the small mining communities, they were incredibly welcoming. Nationalistic fervour was, for some unknown reason strongest up North.. The old joke based on a Solid fuel TV advert at the time summed it up.... ' Come home to a 'living fire' - buy a holiday cottage in Wales' with 'Meibion Glyndwr' on a campaign of burning houses owned by English. In fact, in those days, quite a few of the people we spent time with in South Wales actually said they did not like the Welsh in North Wales and did not understand them. Sounds, from your post that little has changed 'up North'.
I honestly wasn't trying to 'lamb'ast you or the Welsh people but I genuinely believe that the Welsh have sufficient National identity in many other ways to not necessitate enforcing a minority language in the population with what is IMHO a misguided educational programme- music (the distinct instantly recognisable sound of a Welsh male voice choir) and cuisine being just two examples. What next, mandatory courses on making Coracles ?
Love the casual slip into nationalistic nonsense in an otherwise relative sensible post. In parts of North Wales Welsh is the predominant spoken and written language as it should be.
