To think that people should respond to a greeting in the language of the country?

[Whitlandcarm]

I work in a place where we get lots of visitors popping in and out, part of my job is to say good morning/good afternoon as they enter.

The language of my workplace is Welsh. Every member of staff is fluent. The place in which I work is a place to learn about Wales.

I say "Bore da" with a smile, and get a "err hi" "morning.", or my fave, nothing.
Often with a face like I've just shit on their shoe. Perhaps sometimes even a hint of disgust.

AIBU unreasonable to expect people to answer me in Welsh? Then speak to me in English if they please afterwards?

Would you go to Spain and answer in English, if a shop keeper etc greeted you? Certainly not.

Even some Welsh seem to do this, but 99% of the time they are English.

Many Australians, Americans, Canadians, other Europeans put effort in and reply "bore da", "prynhawn da" etc.

Are there lots of people wanting to learn Welsh in Hampshire? Really surprising.

Ohtoblazes One of the best posts I've read on this thread.

Is it any wonder us Welsh or Cymraeg speakers are so defensive of our language when we regularly have to put up hearing people say it's pointless as everyone speaks English anyway, it's a waste of money, that we only turn to Welsh to exclude non-Welsh speakers etc. etc, etc.?

I often hear people saying it's pointless to learn Welsh, and French or Spanish is more useful. My answer to that is - how often do you go to France or Spain? A week or two once a year? They could speak Welsh to me regularly and to many other local people!

I am extremely proud to be a Welsh speaker. I have a Welsh identity, something that marks me out as being of Wales. It's part of the rich cultural heritage of the UK and should be celebrated, not mocked and derided as it so often is in the UK media.

Stockholm syndrome comes to mind when I hear non-Welsh speaking Welsh people saying what a waste of time speaking Welsh is!

Wouldn't it be a good idea for all UK school children to be taught

"I don't know what the OP put in the comments that were deleted but since they come immediately after mine, I would love to know"

Mine was deleted for quoting and replying to OP. It was sweary abuse to someone who disagreed with them.

Posted too soon

Wouldn't it be a good idea for all UK school children to be taught about Celtic cultures culture and a few basic words, sentences of Welsh and other Celtic languages?

It would be a better idea for all UK children to be taught French or Mandarin or Spanish. A language which can only be maintained by being made compulsory in schools is doomed to die.

No because when would they ever use it. It hard enough getting people to learn languages they feasibly may use. Unless you are going to live in Wales there no point and even then as mentioned above most people speak english

Ah thank you for explaining Don and mrsHathaway

I had no idea 'bore da' meant hello until I heard Leanne Wood in interviews during the General Election... the first time I wondered what she was saying then deduced she must be saying 'good morning' or 'hello'.

I often get people say to me that they don't see the point of learning Welsh. That French etc. would be far more useful.

Do you know what my answer is (and these are people I see regularly)? French or Spanish is useful once or twice a year when they go on holidays, but they could speak to me and other people in our town regularly in Welsh. There are going to be exceptions for those whose career will depend on speaking other languages, but how many school/university leavers are going to have a career where it is essential to speak French or Mandarin?

What is the point of learning history or RE? Is it not to give a knowledge of English British history or giving an understanding and hopefully a tolerance of other faiths? Wouldn't a study of the ancient British people and a brief outline of the history of what we now call the Celtic people, and the fact that there are still people in the UK who use the ancient languages still, be just as useful as those subjects?

I'm not talking about making it a compulsory GCSE subject, just an acknowledgement that not every UK citizen uses English as their main language.

Unless you are going to live in Wales there no point and even then as mentioned above most people speak english

Every Welsh speaker also speaks English... I believe the last Welsh monoglot was a reclusive centenarian who lived in the remote Llyn penninsula and had never been further than Caernarfon.... she died in 1980 I believe.

I'm not talking about making it a compulsory GCSE subject, just an acknowledgement that not every UK citizen uses English as their main language.

That's a argument for teaching Urdu etc in schools, not Welsh.

I agree that a bit more compulsory history of migration to (and from) the British Isles would do wonders for tolerance, though!

I'd think it was lovely to be greeted with "Bore da".
Leanne Woods uses it when she's on the radio and I find it sounds friendly.
When I work with people who are in other countries, I try to learn a few phrases like Guten Morgen or Buenos dias or whatever as it seems friendly. They seem to like it.

Oh dear Maiden you are still coming across as having issues. I do feel sorry for you, I wonder what your problem is with Welsh and with That Imaginary Welsh Person you go on about?

Many people in countries like Holland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark are bilingual in English (I guess the similarities between the languages helps). In a generation or two there might not be a person in those countries who is not bilingual. Are their languages useless too, are their cultures obsolete and to be derided?

Nos da i bawb/ good night all

Wood not Woods.

I speak Welsh and English fluently but I only ever speak welsh if I am in a shop or pub and some English people walk in.

I do this because I am pig ignorant and rude. You get French people like that too. When I went to France, I popped into a shop and as soon as I walked in, they switched to French so that I couldn't understand them.

MrsHathaway Once we get rid of these pesky foreigners and close the borders, we'll stamp down on those Urdu speakers, put an Urdu Not around the children's necks if they're caught speaking it in school, tell them it's a pointless language, The Times could inform everyone that Urdu causes insanity and will hold them back in life.

We'll soon have everyone speaking only English, which will see most of the posters on this thread happy. After all, what's the point of speaking another language if you can understand English?

I'm getting too wound up now.

Nos da

Maiden, I doubt that you were forced to go to a Welsh-medium school. Your parents probably chose it for you.

You turned down an opportunity to learn and use another language. Your choice. I find that speaking more than one language is an asset.
It has meant that it is easier for me to learn other languages for a start.

To be fair Mike all Welsh people do that. Never a word of Welsh until English people are around. Disgusting show offs that we are, speaking our own language in our own country just to embarass the English.

Wrth gwrs, TincliLitylLaff, a 'da ni mond yn gwneud hyn I ypsetio season.
Winc.

(Of course, TinklyLittleLaugh, and we're only doing it to upset the English people. Wink)

autocorrected. S a e s o n (without spaces) not season.

I do feel sorry for you Maiden. Pity I suppose even. So I do apologise for calling you a rather naughty word.

Donquix- your post also was very offensive and anti welsh- however much you protest innocence

A relative didn't bother to try to learn Welsh at school. Trained to do a job that needed welsh and had to learn in her 20s. She managed but it wasn't easy.

Some acquaintances with English as their third language but living in England chose to bring their PFB up in English, so they ended up speaking their language to each other and not particularly brilliant English to PFB. PFB and his grandparents struggled to communicate. PFB learnt scrappy English and not the other two languages, which are useful international languages.

I'm sorry I wound you up, Cantores - I was mainly agreeing with you after all. I was thinking of The Lingo Show on CBeebies which showcases languages its viewers are likely to encounter, including Welsh and Urdu among others.

We're going to Pembrokeshire on our holidays and I'm rather wondering now if I should brush up on my Welsh greetings. The only sentence I know in Welsh (and I can't spell it) is from Horrible Histories and is about Owain Glyndwr!

I've been told this generates from when the Welsh used to take down the road signs so as the English tourists got lost and they also burnt down cottages bought by the English too I believe. Not sure why this all started.

You have to look at this through the context of history, the welsh have always (historically) been treated as 2nd class citizens and the hatred towards the english tends to come in cycles when the economy of the country is hit hard or some large event has taken place.

I live in Gwynedd and have done for most of my life, so when you look at some of the things done only as far back as the 50's and 60's with the demolition and drowning of the village of Capel Celyn to provide a reservoir of water for Liverpool, or out-pricing locals on houses that were only going to be occupied a few weeks of the year coupled with the high unemployment of the 70's and 80's caused the rise of the Meibion Glyndwr.

It won't harm to learn a few phrases. Please and thank you aren't the easiest to get your tongue around but you can say them in English.

Wouldn't it be a good idea for all UK school children to be taught about Celtic cultures culture and a few basic words, sentences of Welsh and other Celtic languages?

Yes, agree. I don't know any Welsh (aside from happy birthday) as I said, only a little latin and even less Old English.
I've been having a look at the Welsh app Maiden suggested and it seems quite good so far, if anyone else is interested, will have a proper look tomorrow.