Gay Chinese welshspeakers

[PatFig]

WTF

What a waste of money

i wonder if I went to outer mongolia, they would pay for me to fit in

hmmm, emails the Outer Mongolian High Commission to check .....

I use the Guardian for our hamster. It spends much of its time weaving its droppings into clothes for the destitute and training for that charity marathon on its wheel. Ours is a thoughtful, sharing hamster.

I actually have been busy carrying out Equality Impact Assessments as a result of the Equality Act - it's turned up some interesting stuff (school related). Shown us what we could be doing better, what we already do pretty well, etc. Certainly a worth while exercise.

"i wonder if I went to outer mongolia, they would pay for me to fit in"

Don't know about that - but if any DM readers went to outer Mongolia, I would pay for them to stay there.

"i wonder if I went to outer mongolia, they would pay for me to fit in"

Probably not, but then OM is not an economic hub where people from all over the world come to live a better life, gain an education, use their skills and education to carve a career (doctors, teachers, lawyers)

Who needs equality though,we should stay 50 years in the past and treat everybody who comes to our country with indifference and disrespect. Keep them in the gutter where they belong or even better send them back where they belong.

Sod multi-culture, sod everybody - we're British and fuck the rest of the world?

Where did I put that neo-nazi hamster?

i thought your post was going to be about a chinese gay man who spoke welsh. i was intrigued.

I hate the way some English people are so dismissive of the Welsh. I have no connection with Wales at all but I am happy for some of my taxes to go to maintaining the Welsh language.

The first language of Wales is English, Welsh is a minority language.

I have not met anyone who is unable to communicate in English, most people can not communicate in Welsh

EldritchCleavage, I am Welsh!

My mother is welsh as are most of my relatives on her side. Two of my cousins, born and bred in Wales but not Welsh speakers cannot get work in their field due to not speaking Welsh (social work and teaching). They both commute to Bristol instead.

It does seem slightly sad for them.

Welsh is my first language. I speak only Welsh in my workplace. I speak Welsh to my DH and DC, and most of my friends. The DC are educated through the medium of Welsh, I speak only Welsh to their teachers. I speak Welsh in the bank, GPs, opticians, dentists, post office, pub... It may be a minority language but it is still very much alive and kicking. I don't see why people whose first language is Welsh should be forced to speak a different language just because other people haven't learnt a second language.

Good for you JemimaMop, but you write in English. No one is forcing you to speak a different language.

But what is the point of reprinting everything in Welsh when everyone knows English, it does not make sense. How much does it cost, must run into millions? The money could be spent on better things like schools and hospitals.

Not saying it should be taught or used

Welsh is to hard to learn, working on my accent though.

OK why can not correct errors on this site?

Correction

Not saying it should not be taught or used

Welsh is to hard to learn, working on my accent though :)

I think the point is that within living memory (just) Welsh speaking children were forbidden to speak Welsh at school. Local services were not provided in Welsh for first language Welsh speakers until very recently. All that carries a heavy historical weight with it - for the state to refuse to support Welsh speaking now seems like a retrograde step.

I grew up as an English speaking Welsh girl in a mainly English speaking part of South Wales, but it became English speaking in the 19th century because of English influence and government and industry. My Grandpa (born in the early 20s) grew up speaking Welsh at home but was not allowed to speak it at school and had to speak English to get a job.

The pendulum might have swung bit too far the other way now in terms of education spending, but you can't take away people's right to speak their own language when dealing with the government in their own country without it feeling terribly wrong.

A quick note to those who claim that bilingualism is too big a financial burden on the state and business - Canada seems to do fine! I'd be interested to know if they have this debate in Catalonia too.

Again notrightnow no one is saying anyone should be banned from speaking Welsh

However what is the point of having a sign in Welsh and then having it repeated in English when only 20% of people at the most living in Wales can understand the Welsh sign but everyone can understand the English one?

We are now in the 21 century!

You're missing my point. I know that no-one is being prevented from speaking Welsh. I'm trying to get across though that in the recent past Welsh speaking was surpressed at worst, and not acknowledged at best, by the state and that you can't make decisions about Welsh language now (21st century or not!) in a historical vacuum.

"gays"

FFS

I can speak Welsh a bit (but know lots of hymns...good Chapel upbringing!) and can say good morning/how are you/thankyou in Chinese.
Do I qualify?
Do I get a hamster?

Would we expect people in Switzerland to give up a language because they can understand another?

In a country the size of Wales they speak Swiss German, High German, Italian, French and Romansch. Never hear them complaining about the cost of someone wanting to speak the language they were born to speak?

I remember an ex's sister complaining about having to learn some Welsh when they moved from the north. She worked for the ambulance service - what if she needed to send an ambulance to:

Heol Meinciau, Mynyddygarreg, Kidwelly?

Would any English get that right without some help?

Why not change everything to welsh in England then, it is the older language in the UK after all? The majority of Welsh are accepting and affable about learning english, but this shouldn't be taken advantage of.

Is that who the Daily Mail are after next then, the Welsh?

They won't be happy until there's just the Leatherhead WI remaining in this country, with their husbands cowering in the potting sheds.

It's political correctness gorn mad, I say.

Princess Diana, house prices, gays, single mums, chewing gum causes cancer blah blah blah

notrightnow but your not getting my point

Recent past 18th century not recent past

But even if it was in the memory of some people what is the point of having a sign saying

fire exit ahead

and another one underneath saying

Allanfa dan

when everyone can read the first one but only a few people the second one.

Binfullofmaggotsonthe45 Been to Switzerland you do not get signs in 4 different languages, just one.

Again no one is suggesting people who can speak Welsh should not.

And Again I was born in Wales (making me Welsh) but do not understand Heol Meinciau, Mynyddygarreg, Kidwelly? and neither would the other 80%

"Government officials undertaking a study into India?s traditional caste system and its implications for discrimination in the UK."

This is fantastic. Good. Money well spent.

Love that song Hecate - you must get to dust it off quite a lot on AIBU

Appletrees - I agree that this is money well spent.

Because real people, living in this country, are potentially suffering real prejudice and abuse as a result of the Indian caste system.

So it's an excellent use of money if it prevents or minimises that.

Well said.

I also fully agree with Okaren about not wasting money on signage for the minority.

I hope the governments of most other countries in the world take this on board, stop providing expensive signage in English for a minority of tourists and visitors, and redirect the money saved to more important public services that benefit the majority.

I mean, some of these countries - like most of northern Europe - actually aren't that reliant on Anglophone tourism. It's about time they stopped pandering to us and started building hospitals.