Welsh kids, being disadvantaged?

[MrsT]

Just watching the news. It seems that since devolution most changes seem to be in the area of brainwashing the kids. There seems to be a renaissance in the language. Do you think that the teaching time spent on this dead waffle would be better spent on proper subjects like the 3 R's? Is it a pointless pursuit given that most new Welsh words are English anyway? Is this a form of taffy Jingoism?

[mightyWBA]

Totally agree but you'll probably get slaughtered.
I've just watched the same item and really despair.
15 people took their driving tests in Welsh last year,enough said!
Only sign makers benefit from this twaddle,I'm off to learn Klingon.

[whqttt]

The Marquis of Bute (the former owner of Cardiff castle), took the view that learning more than one language was invaluable.

His children had two maids, one French, one Welsh, and they only spoke to the kids in their own language.

The result? By the time they were adults, they were trilingual.

How many adults do you meet who are even fluent in English these days?

This has nothing to do with the three Rs, and more to do with how lazy society is. Don't blame the schools, they teach what the employers want their future employees to learn.

However, if you wish to take the view that it is worth only learning English because all new words are English anyhow, I suggest you look up the history of your own language.

It's the language of the invaders, and not the original occupants.

Welsh is far closer to that, than English.

If only the English were as keen to preserve their own heritage, eh?

[MrsT]

whqttt: I'm not talking about history I'm talking about NOW. Most people in the world are learning English as best they can. I don't care about it's origins it's the world language now. Ok before the pedants jump in I know, Mandarin blah blah. you know what I mean. It's pointless learning a language that isn't even the main language in Wales! Learn Spanish by all means at least there are a lot of speakers but Welsh ? Perlease, more people speak Klingon. It can olny be for propaganda purposes.

[sandbach99]

In parts of Wales, Gwynedd for example, Welsh is their first language and always has been, yes, most but not, all understand and speak English. It's just like being abroad.
There lessons i the 3Rs are in Welsh not English

Their National Anthem is virtually always sung in Welsh. doesn't sound right in English.

Welsh is hard to learn therefore some people are jealous of the natural Welsh speakers. Flemish is not widely spoken in the world but no-one says it cannot be taught in Belgium.
More are learning Welsh as the schools have more freedom now there is a Welsh Assmbly and not a London based dictatorship

I am not Welsh nor do I speak Welsh but I see no reason why they cannot keep there own language.

[ne2]

Hear Hear sandbach, Welsh is not a dying lauguage. North Waliens use it as their 1st language and also parts of South and West Wales. We have 3 welsh only speaking schools in Cardiff. The most recently opened one is very successful with parents having to put their childrens names down. My grandson attends a welsh school which is just outside Cardiff and speaks welsh fluently.

[1rovert]

I think it is good that the Welsh are learning their own language in schools, its a pity English isn't taught in our schools (If it is, it doesn't show). People now, 'talk English' they do not 'speak English'. Reading the way ABers write, it seems like shorthand is also being taught.

[jno]

when you learn English at school it's fine. When Welsh kids learn Welsh it's 'brainwashing'. When Chinese kids learn Mandarin it's 'blah blah blah'. Hmmm.

[Booldawg]

It'd be great to learn Welsh; I'd be able to watch re-runs of Pobl-y-cwm on UK Gold and understand whats going on.

[Loosehead]

I agree, it's a waste of teaching time, why fill their heads with some minor language that only a small area of a small country speaks. It has curiosity value of course but mainstream education should concentrate on more relevant things. I do agree about some of the points about the teaching of English though.

[nedflanders]

God forbid that the Welsh people should want to keep some of their heritage. No wonder that the welsh want to keep wales welsh judging by some of the comments on this thread. Why do English people not understand that the welsh, scots and irish are feircely proud of their history and want to protect it?
I am scottish and would loved to have been taught scots gaelic in school especially as my (real) name is gaelic.
Good on them I say.

[welshwil]

I am a welsh speaker living in london, when at school we had a choice of two from, english (compulsory) welsh or french, a lot of my friends opted for french as it was supposedly easier, they regret it now! i speak in welsh to three of my mates back home, but not in the company of non speakers, welsh as well as english should be compulsory in schools, As you english always say about foreigners in england - learn the language or go home. maybe the non welsh living in wales should learn it then maybe it wouldnt die out. my son is 4 and speaks both welsh (to me) and english (to amost everyone else)

[mightyWBA]

Of course the brainwashing of Scots and Welsh children in their schools creates the English hating rabid nationalists of tomorrow.
My 11 year old isn't taught any English history at all,the only Nelson she has heard of is Nelson Mandela,but at least when she grows up she won't have any malice towards Welsh or Scottish people.
All Celtic angst is based on events hundreds of years ago.
My passport says I'm British.
God save the Queen and Rule Britannia!

[Kleiber]

I'm a Scot, living in a Welsh speaking part of West Wales and my passport says I'm British. I'm proud of all our nations in Britain and although I only speak a little Welsh, I agree that it is a language that shouldn't be allowed to die, along with Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx and the language of Cornwall. Many of my friends have Welsh as their first language and one I know didn't speak English till he was 19! I speak several European langauges (and I can't spell in English..!! I meant "languages") and I really think that it's a poor reflection on the education system in Britain, particularly in England, that languages are put on the back burner. We should all try & learn even a small bit of another language - lets face it, aren't we grateful when someone from another country, visitin Britain, attempts to speak English, even if it's not perfect? I think that other nations feel the same, but I also think that British people don't learn other languages because they're afraid of making themselves look daft if they get it wrong. It doesn't matter - you don't have to be perfect, just so long as you make the effort! (And it's not Taffy jingoism - we have the Welsh Language Act, to ensure that Welsh is kept alive, as it should be.)

[whqttt]

Mrs T, I think "Most people in the world are learning English as best they can" is wildly inaccurate - look at the recent news report of a police force having to provide translation services into 90 languages - if your assumption is correct, that surely couldn't be the case.

I think shows a woefully inaccurate view of the world to assume that everyone wishes to learn English. There are literally billions of people who aren't interested in doing so.

Something in the order of 40% of Americans speak Spanish as their first (and in a great proportion) only language, and if you look at countries where English isn't an official language, obviously the numbers are even higher.

This isn't being pedantic, it's you who states that most people wish to speak English.

The Welsh speaking their own language has nothing to do with propaganda, it's merely to ensure their own culture doesn't die out.

Sadly this isn't the case for the English - how many kids do you know who seem to think that American TV shows are a guide to how behave, let alone speak?

Embrace your history, or lose it.