Welsh
Yes, I want to keep our native British languages alive. Forty years ago Welsh was widely spoken throughout Wales, yet it nearly died out because it wasn't taught in local schools. Languages quickly become endangered.
Sent by: Melanie
Comments
Although I think it's great to keep a language alive by voluntary support, being forced to learn Welsh in a school where most of the pupils and teachers are not Welsh just causes extreme resentment for the language, and consequently not much learning.
In France state schools may only teach in the official language (French). In Belgium, even though there are 3 official languages (French, Dutch and German) schools may only teach in the designated one for that area. In Britain however, schools can teach in Welsh and Gaelic. If I want to broaden job oppurtunities I will learn French, German, Spanish, Dutch etc., not Welsh or Gaelic where everyone can (and should) speak English.
It's a shame that tourists think of British culture as being constrained to England, or even London. It's an even bigger shame to see that Welsh politicians want that to be the case. We are a United Kingdom with English as our (sole) official language. You are not allowed to speak Welsh in Parliament. Wales is a REGION of the UK (EU and UN agree)!
Of course minority language should be preserved and saved to understand where we once came from we must understand our native tongue and our written language if there is a will amongst its people then it is easy to preserve the difficulty comes when a neighbouring nation destroys the language through an act of parliment and the population is forced to speak a foreign tongue an example of this is the introduction of the Welsh not in the 1800's and that every public position from a policeman, teacher, judge, solicitor or any position of high esteem you were not allowed to use the Welsh language not even in a court of law where at the time the people being convicted could not even understand what was going on.
The charges to speak Welsh .. This as far as I'm concerned a criminal act carried out by the English goverment of the day. Where children were persecuted as young as five, flogged and made to wear a plank of wood around their neck if they spoke Welsh. All true but you dont hear that side of the story, do you?
In a multi cultural world we should be striving to speak the same language instead of wasting time and resources trying to save obscure languages just for the sake of it. Money is wasted on stupid projects like duplicating existing languages which everyone speaks and adding Welsh or Gaelic to signs just to appease a few luddites.
I belong to the non-Welsh speakers in Wales but I do believe that the Welsh language should be preserved as for that matter any other minority language. It is only with continuation of the language will the culture and history of a country survive. Who will be able to rerad ancient documents,in the future, if no one speaks or understands the language.
Put simply languages do not die they are killed off. Usually the reasons are for trade and conquest and religion. The suppression of Welsh in the 19th involved punishing school children for using it and the use of English only in matters of law.
With many of the comments above I find absolutely repulsive. The comment about that it should be voluntary? Why? Why should it be? If you were born in Wales or not at least have the deceny to learn the language. Don't go accusing the Welsh leaders because they want to save our language and not let it die.
Wales is as much a part of the United Kingdom as any other region/area. Therefore the language of the Welsh should be regarded as such. It may not be a key language in economics or business because it has been quashed by the English language. Those who do not wish to learn the language shouldn't be forced to outside of Wales yet the language should still be regarded as an official language of the UK, otherwise it is a mark on the identity of the Welsh as being merely a "sub-culture".
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