to think that most welsh people should speak some welsh

[mumof2children]

i am no way fluent in welsh by know very basic welsh.

but sould more welsh people speak some welsh

BigOfNoorks, I'm not sure I know what you mean by "a very large minority".

Excuse me I got flu and the dc gave me 3 hours sleep last night [Blush] I meant a small minority

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Ah right. Well, three hours sleep is a pretty good excuse. Agree to disagree, and hope you have a better night's sleep. (See how lovely we Welsh speakers are?)

I live in SE Wales and have never learnt Welsh and have no inclination to either.

When I was ggrowing up very few people spoke it.
It is becoming more popular and is almost the badge of the middle classes to send your children to a Welsh Speaking school.

My DS's are learning it at school but I would rather them learn a language that is going to benefit them more in later life.

I know Welsh speakers are nice my great grandad was one .

The welsh language is spoken by a tiny minority, but unfortunately this minority is very vocal, and has been hugely successful in bullying the welsh assembly in to using million of pounds in taxpayers money on utterly useless projects.
I love wales and visit often. One of my best friends lives in South wales, and her dh is originally a south walean.
The reason why many people send their children to a welsh speaking school , is usually because they percieve the local one to not very good, nothing to do with been passionate about welsh.
Also, and perhaps more telling, small class sizes are the norm in welsh medium schools, while english medium ones are full to busting.
They also (welsh schools)get pots of money thrown at them from the welsh assembly.
All of this for a language that is all but dead.

All but dead?! Have you read the thread? People live through the medium of Welsh! Real people. But... Hang on... One of your best frinds live in South Wales, so you must know all about it.

Interesting to know that my culture is an "useless project" to you. Sod it, why don't we all have one language, so that everyone on earth can speak to each other? Naturally, we'll make that the language that is spoken by the biggest majority on earth.

I am looking forward to learning Mandarin, are you?

Mandarin would be a lot more useful to you. Trying to prop up a dead language for the benefit for a tiny minority, will run its course. The sooner the better...

I disagree. Strongly. Welsh will not die. There is no point us disagreeing on that, as only time will tell. But you are wrong to say it's a dead language. And I say that with a smile on my face.

I honestly love it when people call Welsh a language that is 'all but dead', I was thinking about the last thread like this yesterday in the hairdressers when the stylists and the customers were all chatting merrily away in Welsh, then in Tesco when the checkout people were all shouting to each other in Welsh.

And when I hear my mother everyone repeating 'well if they are going to teach another language why not French', I roll my eyes but as I'm not as good at forming a point (I'll leave Nerdy to that, lovely posts was going to say I loved you but I don't want to be taken the wrong way now!). Surely the point of regaining the language is in response to the forced English language of fairly recent years. Welsh is not a language that died out naturally but was beaten into submission.

Anyway, I'm hopless at arguments like this, but to anyone who is worried that the language will die can rest easy, unless a huge portion of the country falls into the sea it's safe for a good while yet.

Bessie and Norks, let me know next time your in Cardigan and I'll make you a cup of tea, I only live down the road. Dwi'n byw yn y fordd i Cardigan. I hope that's right I'm dysgu ATM! (not to make any political point either but my 3 DS' are all bilingual and can hatch plots infront of me as I don't understand them!

Right..Seems even I got dragged back in.

I am sorry curryfreak but you are a tremendous "Gont" for all those in the know.

How DARE you call our Language "All but dead", the only REASON we have to be Vocal and try to bring it back is because for the longest time it was Illegal to speak it in schools etc.

I am SORRY you view our culture as a "Useless" project and all we welsh speakers do is bully money out of our government.

But funnily enough, the WELSH government probably wants to spend money making sure the WELSH language survives!

People like you make me sick, do you go to Spain and deride their language?..Point and things and speak louder?

It's people like you that cause all this problem in the first place.

Point at things

(And thank you lostinwales I don't get this wound up about much!!)

It is all but a dead language because it is being artificially propped up , not incidentially just by the welsh government, but by westminister.
S4C, the welsh language cahnnel is a prime example. It is funded by central government to the tune of millions. To say its output is parocial is a massive understatement.It's viewing figures are tiny.
There are many other examples.
spanish is, is an international language, and welsh is not. It never will be.
Withouth all the subsidies, and articial propping up it would be dead in the water by now..

"You cannot be proud of The Welsh people or Wales without being proud of the welsh language.

A country is not a country without it's language."

I could agree more, Nerdyface. There's an Irish Gaelic saying, "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam" - "A country without a language is a country without a soul" - which I think is very true.

...or even "I couldn't agree more..."

please tell me when you "use Welsh all the time?"

OK, I use Welsh:
when talking to my husband, children and wider family
With my friends.
When in work (a workplace where only Welsh is spoken)
When dropping my children off at their Category A Welsh medium school.
When volunteering at the same school.
When out shopping.
When borrowing books from the library.
To my GP, dentist, optician..
etc, etc, etc...

I read Welsh books, listen to Welsh radio, watch Welsh TV.

So basically just as you would use English in England!

Thank you so much noyoucant that saying is perfect!

I always find Ireland and Gaelic in a very simmilar situation to Wales and Welsh.

I also find it comforting going to Ireland since you have the signs in English and Gaelic!

CurryFreak Ffwcia'i o'ma

So why do you need millions of pounds of taxpayers money to help you speak your own language then, and why should the english speaking majority suffer financially, because all the language facists shout loudest??

"It is all but a dead language because it is being artificially propped up"

How is it being artificially propped up?

My DC speak Welsh at home and to their friends. They are being educated through the medium of Welsh. Just as we, their parents were. Their grandparents and great grandparents, despite speaking only Welsh at home, had to be educated through the medium of English as it was the thought at the time that Welsh was an inferior language. So there is about a 2 or 3 generation blip in a long line of doing everything through the medium of Welsh.

Nobody is propping it up artificially, we speak the language of our homes and families.

All the WAG is doing is ensuring that we are able to go about our lives using our first language.

the irish situation is not at all similar. The irish identity has never been bound up with language alone.

"the language facists"

Ah yes, Language Facists

As part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland I would except residents of Wales to be able to speak English. If someone wants to learn Welsh then good speed to them but I'm afraid I see it as little more than a cultural curiosity.

For pure utility if you're going to learn a second language then French or Spanish seems like a much better bet than a language that has only been kept alive due to political campaigning than any real need to use it. And is only actually spoken by a (relatively) tiny number of people...

And if you want to learn a language for the sheer joy of it I strongly recommend Latin...

To be fair, we are only part of the "United Kingdom" because your lot came over here and went "Ohhh...Found some Coal...Right we are having this."

"As part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland I would except residents of Wales to be able to speak English"

England is one country within the United Kindgom. By your reckoning we should all speak all of the languages of the UK and Northern Ireland.