Welsh wedding invitation.

[Spikeyplant]

Just as it says in the title really.

My DH has a significantly younger relative who is getting married this summer. We have just received an invitation to the wedding, written entirely in Welsh. Neither DH or I speak Welsh and the bride and groom are well aware of this.

I am totally cool with somebody who grew up in a Welsh first language family wanting to celebrate their wedding in their language. However I can't help feeling it is a bit rude to send out invitations in a language many guests can't understand without even a short note in a mutually spoken language.

AIBU?

[Gwenhwyfar]

"well, that is not brain surgery is it?"

What a strange comment. Did I say it was brain surgery? What I'm saying is that some non-Welsh speakers can't do this. They won't realise a conversation is in Welsh until they're closer to the group of speakers and I think it accounts for some of those people who say they 'never' hear Welsh in certain places. I hear Welsh almost every weekend in Cardiff and some people say they NEVER hear it. Either those people are lying or they're just not picking up on it.

[AntigoneJones]

" . As a Welsh speaker I can even pick out people using English words but having a conversation in Welsh, so I'll hear someone say sori instead of sorry or saying the word just in the middle of a phrase and be able to tell they're speaking Welsh whereas some non-Welsh speakers might need to hear quite a few full sentences to realise. "

well, that is not brain surgery is it?

[cardibach]

welshweasel I was that non-Welsh speaking (single) parent of a child in Welsh medium education. My Ddad was a first language Welsh speaker, so I had/have a positive view of the language, but I couldn't help DD as I only knew. Few words (I've learned more since). She went into Y1 and by Y2 she was winning Welsh poetry competitions I the school eisteddfod. She has learned both French and Mandarin since and I'm sure her bilingualism has helped.
Welsh medium education for very young children is ace. Older ones can have issues, but it can still work.

[GreatFuckability]

Yes, over, I kinda thought you meant 'not interested' to a weirdly strong level rather than 'can't' speak any words. which as I said, says something about you as a person. Anyone who would be so willfully ignorant of their own country or any country/language is just anathema to me.

[SatelliteCity]

BestIsWest Stare deeply into Neil Kinnock's eyes!

[TittyGolightly]

What about words you see regularly though? Heddlu? Araf? Bws? Tafarn? Gwesty? Ysbyty? Croeso? They're generally with the English translation, so kinda hard impossible not to notice or know what they mean.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"I suspect people who aren't Welsh speakers don't necessarily pick up on it as frequently - if you just hear a word or two as you're walking past it might well not register as familiar."

Absolutely. As a Welsh speaker I can even pick out people using English words but having a conversation in Welsh, so I'll hear someone say sori instead of sorry or saying the word just in the middle of a phrase and be able to tell they're speaking Welsh whereas some non-Welsh speakers might need to hear quite a few full sentences to realise.

[stretchedturtleneck]

I completely accept that not everyone can string the most basic sentence together in Welsh, or count to three, but I genuinely, genuinely can not comprehend how any Welsh person, raised in Wales, could not know a single word more than 'cwtch'.

Even OverByYer, who initially said they didn't know a word of Welsh, actually seems to know a good few words and phrases and is familiar with the national anthem.

I think saying that a Welsh person, raised in Wales, would to have their head up their ass to genuinely not know more than one word is completely fair. It doesn't sound believable to me, as illustrated by OverByYer.

[BestIsWest]

Satellite City. Is beetroot nicer than ham?

[OverByYer]

Anyway I'm bowing out now as I can see that I annoy you.
Sadly nothing that you have said has made me feel any differently about speaking Welsh.
I have my views, you have yours.
Diolch

[BestIsWest]

An example where neither parent speaks Welsh - Best friends DCs were educated through medium of Welsh The DH grew up in England and neither parent speaks Welsh. The DD now teaches in Welsh in a Welsh medium primary.

[OverByYer]

Of course I know a few words. I just choose not to speak them.

As I said, can't avoid it.

[GreatFuckability]

I agree titty unless you willfully avoid it, there is no way you couldn't know a few words.
I spent less than a week in Denmark and Sweden with my kids, and even my couldn't-be-less-interested-in-anything-thats-not-an-ipad 11 year old picked up 4 or 5 words (please, thank you, hello, goodbye etc).

If after an entire lifetime in a country you know NO words then that says something about you as a person, I think.

[OverByYer]

Hmmm satellite I don't recall being aggressive?
I haven't accused anyone of being dim or of having their head shoved up their arse.

[OverByYer]

Why does it bother you so much Titty?

[TittyGolightly]

I don't believe for one second that anyone that's been in Wales for more than 6 months couldn't - if required to due to being held at gunpoint, say - recall 10 Welsh words.

[SatelliteCity]

Over You didn't show up with an opinion about compulsory GCSE subjects, you showed up with an aggressively worded post about how Welsh was being "shoved down your throat" (despite also not speaking "a word" of it so it can't have been a very successful campaign).

You very clearly indicated you were annoyed by Welsh, so I think it's pretty clear why other posters are annoyed by your opinion. I also suspect you know that but painting your opponents as the ones who are overreacting is a useful deflection from the hyperbole of your original post.

[OverByYer]

Will your husband and I seem to have had the same experience and lack of exposure to Welsh.
Not sure why some posters are getting so annoyed by it.
No where have I said Welsh shouldn't be taught or spoken.
My personal view is that it shouldn't be compulsory at GCSE.

[Willyoujustbequiet]

Stretched

Do you mean to be so rude?

Shock horror people can have different experiences. It does not mean my dp has his head up his ass.

Unbelievable.

[SatelliteCity]

NotDavid I was out in Cardiff last week on a walk across the barrage and heard two different groups speaking Welsh. I wouldn't say it's common but I probably hear it on the street on a weekly basis. I suspect people who aren't Welsh speakers don't necessarily pick up on it as frequently - if you just hear a word or two as you're walking past it might well not register as familiar.

[NotDavidTennant]

"Not at all. If you go shopping in Cardiff you walk past thousands of people. It makes sense that some of those would be speaking Welsh. 11% doesn't mean you never hear it!"

I didn't say you would never hear it, but if you're a non-Welsh student you will rarely ever hear it unless either you happen to have Welsh-speaking friends or you specifically search out opportunities to hear it.

If you're a parent I accept you might hear it more often due to the growing popularity of Welsh-medium education. (Indeed the last time I heard Welsh spoken in a public place in Cardiff it was a mother and children.)

[SatelliteCity]

welshweasel yes I do if you have any questions? My non Welsh speaking parents sent me to Welsh medium schools. I ended up fluent very quickly - don't even remember the learning process tbh. It never affected my English language skills and I've always been very glad I could speak Welsh (even when I was being a naughty, rebellious child and speaking - gasp! - English on the playground). It's helped me get jobs. I also left Wales and didn't use my Welsh for many years and it all came back to me very quickly.

Can't speak to how my parents felt about it or if they felt left out of my education (though all letters home/parents evenings etc were bilingual) but I've always been grateful they made that choice for me.

Happy to answer any further questions.

[GreatFuckability]

totally agree ovaries, bilingualism has been a life saver for my son with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. it gives him extra words when hes struggling, it gives him a language that is far less complicated to read/write that english, it gives him choices and a brain with neural pathways that can work around problems.

[welshweasel]

As an aside (because it seems like we are all banging our heads against a brick wall trying to get our point across) is there anyone on here who has experience of Welsh medium education when neither parent speaks Welsh? I need some advice before a house move!

[ThisisrealityGreg]

There are a lot of people who would go to Finland, walk into a shop where some salespeople are talking in Finnish, ask a question in English and be thrilled to get a response because they don't expect it. In the same situation on Wales, the very fact the salespeople were speaking Welsh would lead to suspicion that they were secretly gossiping, particularly if they went back to their conversation after serving the customer.

Absofuckinglutely. Wales is NOT in England but some people don't seem to grasp this.