To not want my ds to have to take Welsh for GCSE

[slushy06]

He is only 3 but it has started bothering me the thought that like me he may not want to take and may be no good at it and may have to take it and get a poor grade when to be honest I just don't see the point of it and would much rather he learn something more useful if he doesn't like it.

I would have no issue with if he wanted to and I have no problem with Maths English and Science being compulsory but I just don't think Welsh is as important as those subjects and should not be compulsory.

I am posting this but I have to go out then so will reply when I get back. But I will be very interested to hear responses and maybe a reason as to why it is compulsory.

[Chaotica]

YABU It's payback from my dad's time at school when the kids were beaten if they were heard speaking welsh.

And what harm could it do? He might be good at welsh and terrible at maths? (And if he starts young, he'll do well and get a free GCSE.)

[chimchar]

tbh, i think you need to concentrate more on the 13 years you have to get through before worrying about what his gcse grades will be like!

[cory]

At dd's school, French is compulsory and I have absolutely no quibble with this. Like maths and sciences, learning a language (any language) is really really useful for later life, because it teaches you a new way to think. OF course you might prefer one of the larger languages, but I honestly don't think it matters all that much: it's what is known as a transferable skill. As a university teacher I can confirm that students who have never studied another language really are at a disadvantage. Definitely not something I'd want for my children.

Besides, you don't know- he may love it. Don't feed your own emotions into it; let him get on with it. I hated maths with a passion; dd is perfectly happy with it.

[TrillianAstra]

Then you've got 13 years in which to move out of Wales.

[slushy06]

I wont put my emotions into it if he likes it then I will be happy but as he will only be allowed to take three subjects by choice for GCSE I don't see why it is so important. Surely it would be more useful to children to learn French or Spanish.

As for the mistreatment in the past two wrongs don't make a right. I am Welsh by the way as far back as I can tell.

[angelene]

I have an issue with Welsh being compulsory at the expense of other MFLs. We are in SE Wales in an almost exclusively English area.

DD (4) is learning loads of Welsh at nursery at the moment, and it's interesting how much she picks up 'naturally'.

I think that it's almost a missed opportunity to not teach French or Spanish while they see it as exciting, rather than when they are older and see it as a chore.

OP, there are loads of other GCSEs that are not 'useful' (DH is an RE teacher ), it's a bit of a waste of time getting hung up about just one really. Anyway, I think education is about more than just exams, and the passing thereof. Learning other things, that may not be useful but could prove fulfilling or interesting is just as important

[twooter]

i totally agree with you. my cousins' children have lessons in gaelic, which seems to me to be a similar waste of time and effort

[cory]

what I said: transferable skill

and ime students who have Welsh or any other Different language do have an advantage: develops the brain power

bilingualism is good for you!

Why only 3 subjects by choice for GCSE anyway? What is the upper limit for how many he can take, and how many compulsory subjects are there?

In dd's school French, Maths, Science, English and one tech subject is compulsory, and that still seems to leave her with more than 3 extra options.

[llareggub]

If you don't like it, leave Wales. But don't forget, in Wales you get free prescriptions so the money you save on those could pay for your DS to a modern language GCSE of your choice privately.

But really, he is 3. Though to be honest, if he has the same welsh teacher that I had in school he'll spend every lesson watching Grease in english and never learn a word of it anyway.

Oh, and if he wants to act or present if he has welsh he'll walk into a job on S4C!

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

You live in Wales. If you don't want him to learn welsh live elsewhere. I think you will also find that in Wales other modern languages are compulsory at GCSE. It has also been shown that children that learn several languages (no matter what those languages are) perform better in other subjects as learning a lanaguage is a form of "brain training" so has benefits beyond the ability to speak a different language. For crying out loud he is only 3 ! You may be surprised how many other things you will worry about in the next 13 years!

[Portofino]

what tmmj said!

[macdoodle]

He's 3 lol You have more to worry about than that!!
FWIW we are in Wales too, DD1 is 8 and her Welsh is pretty good actually, DD2 is 2 - can honestly say it isnt something I hace spent much time worrying over!!

Just out of interest I went to a private Jewish school in South Africa, so ended up having to do English, Afrikaans, and Hebrew compulsory for GCSE - didnt do me any harm at all - as I successfully went to med school and became a GP, learning for learnings sake is never a bad thing

[Fennel]

I realise that perhaps this is a minority interest, but Welsh is a really useful language if you want to study linguistics. Lots of my linguistics lectures included bits of Welsh, as it's such a unique language, there aren't many others like it in terms of language structure (Basque is another language that was always being used as an example).

[brassick]

Although I am 100% happy with the decision we made to send our dds to Welsh medium schools - we are also in SE Wales where I speak Welsh (am English)better than most of the natives - I also wish that they would teach other languages much earlier.

In my experience, most of the children at dd's primary school were fluent in Welsh by Christmas of reception year - and that's despite most children having 2 non-Welsh speaking parents (my dh has Welsh as first language, so my dd's had a bit of an advantage). The way they soaked up the new language was a revelation, and I'm sure it would work just as well for French, Spanish, German, Cantonese, Japanese or any other language.

Although I have always subscribed to the "if you learn one language it is easier to learn others" way of thinking, I have to say dh is not an example of this, despite being bilingual Welsh-English.

[angelene]

Fennel - all those bloody mutations! I bloody hope it's unique!

I think Welsh is a really 'old' language in that so much of it is developed from the oral rather than the written tradition still. And the 'North' and 'South' versions are so different.

[Vallhala]

My English cousin was brought up in SE Wales. His parents accepted the "when in Rome" theory and he took Welsh without a quibble on his part or that of his parents.

Because he learnt Welsh from an early age and had it spoken around him occasionally was one of the GCSEs he passed and so got a "free GCSE" virtually with his eyes closed and hands behind his back as no doubt your DS will. It was of little or no practical use in his choice of BSc hons course at a very good Uni but any extra high grade GCSE can't harm a Uni application.

My cousin got a First so clearly the SE Wales schools are doing something right!

[LynetteScavo]

YABU to live in Wales.

[angelene]

Whereabouts are you brassick?

[slushy06]

Oh I know he is only 3 I don't lose any sleep over this and I am aware there are much more important things to worry about I am just curious as to why learning a near dead language is so important (unless it is ancient Egyptian of course) but while I live in a English speaking area many of my friends send their children to welsh schools which again is their choice but why do Welsh schools get more funding than English schools.

I would never move just to stop him having to learn Welsh as I said it is not something I spend hours worrying over more something I am curious to know why?. I guess this is less about my son because as you say he may like it and more about me.

In my high school I was told I had to take English, Maths, Double award science, Welsh, P.E and R.e I was only allowed to take 3 subjects technology was not run So I had to choose between I.T French Art Geography or History. We also had 3 vocational studies health, Leisure and tourism, or Business studies, If a vocational subject was chosen it accounted for two of your choices.

[DoingTheBestICan]

[LynetteScavo]

You should move. To England. We have less rain and less hills.

And nobody speaks Welsh.

[DoingTheBestICan]

Biscuit is not to you op btw.

[Botbot]

DD (also 3) has one (non-Welsh speaking) Welsh grandparent and I would LOVE her to learn Welsh at school - though as we live in London I don't think there's much chance.

I loved doing languages and I hope DD does too. It's possible to enjoy them for their own sake and not for how 'useful' they are.