To think that if it was France & French no one would care about a name change but because it’s Welsh…

[Letshaveablackcelebration2022]

Welsh is trending on Twitter because a lot of people don’t like the fact that the Brecon Beacons will revert to its Welsh name https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/17/brecon-beacons-relaunches-with-welsh-name-bannau-brycheiniog-as-picture-of-hope-for-future

People also kicked off when Snowdon also reverted to its Welsh name Yr Wyddfa

Aibu to really not understand the issue. I am Welsh and a Welsh speaker. It makes sense to me to call place names by their Welsh names and not by their anglicised versions if you want to protect a language and culture. Which we do.

Noone would bat an eyelid if in France their decided to only use French names. We drive in France and get by without English alternatives. So what exactly is the problem with Wales doing the same?

@justasking111 , it makes sense without the word hiraeth, or you could have posted.
Hiraeth is just a Welsh word meaning longing, as in nostalgia or homesickness. It is no more special than other words having more than one meaning: for example, diniwed, which can mean simple, innocent or naive, depending on context.

Oops, the 'or you could have posted' aren't meant to be there.

Sorry, brain not in gear.
diniwed, which can mean simple, harmless or naive, depending on context.

Nationalism is all a bit odd anyway. I kind of get. It's good to take some pride in where you live in order to take care of your surroundings and fellows. But pride is something I associate with personal achievement. To say you feel proud to be of a certain nationality makes little sense. It's chance we were born where we were born.
I prefer to say that I'm glad I was born in the UK rather than Syria for example.
Strong Nationalism has a tendency to incite hateful attitudes
But I get the sentiment.

@foxandbee

I said nationalism leads to fascism.

I grew up in Wales and I see division being promoted. Anything to ensure we are different from our Shropshire, Hereford, etc… neighbours. Anything ensure that Wales keeps to Wales rather than work in unison with the whole UK. Wales is a one party state with very little real political challenge and it really shows in some areas.

I don't have a problem with it. 99% of the population will still refer to them as the English name, it's just an official name change. I don't think it'll have much of an effect either way, it seems like it's just a gesture that most people won't even register. 🤷‍♀️ Definitely not something to cause upset or anger.

This 100%

I live in Wales, about 40 mins away from Brecon. I don’t know anyone here who speaks Welsh as their mother tongue, and I rarely hear it spoken.

No issues with the name change, people won’t use it though.

I can see yr Wyddfa from our windows. Will always be Snowdon to our generation and the next. It's nearly as daft as the town of Conwy, in the county of Conwy.

@Bluebells1970 Bristol just changed the name of Colston Hall to the Beacon to get rid of slavery associations - I guess they'll have to change it again to be low carbon!

I agree entirely. You only have to see what has happened to many small, nationalistic states to feel worried about where Wales might be going. Because although it's Labour and will probably always be Labour, it's clear that Welsh Labour isn't interest in consulting the population to find out what it really thinks. The Welsh RSE curriculum is shocking, for instance. If parents really knew what was being taught to children in Welsh schools they'd be beside themselves. Authoritarianism is as much a issue of the left as the right.

It's nearly as daft as the town of Conwy, in the county of Conwy.
What's daft about Conwy? It's a pretty harbour town and a picturesque county borough.

If parents really knew what was being taught to children in Welsh schools they'd be beside themselves

What is being taught?

Oh we're doing RSE now, cool.

What is RSE?

Relationships and Sexuality Education?

I thought that was always taught. But I'm guessing it's off the scale bonkers these days

I used to sing in a multi-racial choir where we sang songs from around the world in their original languages. Georgian, Russian, French, various African languages, German, Spanish... But we never sang anything in Welsh, because if we tried to sing Welsh songs the Welsh-first-language speakers would fall out over the exact pronunciation of half the words.

I watched the Wales v England women’s six nations match over the weekend. At half time a multi racial choir sang a lovely rendition of Calon Lan.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to conflate preservation of language and heritage to nationalism and fascism.

I live in Canada, where indigenous children were abducted, by the state, and forced into residential schools with a view to eradicating their cultures and Angliscizing them. At the very least, it was a cultural genocide.

Reclamation and promotion of their cultures is important to many First Nations people and has led to, among other things, the official names of certain places being changed to their indigenous names.

While Welsh people obviously haven’t suffered injustice to the same extent, I don’t see how efforts to maintain the Welsh language are significantly different.

I was delighted to see bilingual Māori/English signage in NZ but I’m sure many people on this thread would hate them.

Yup. I think it’s very easy for those from a dominant culture to dismiss any visibility afforded to a minority culture as an example of harmful nationalism.

I've lived in Wales for half my adult life, so for many years (I'm old). I have no problem with bilingual signage or the Welsh language.

So, what was it that got me deleted? Mark's Drakeford's insistence that TWAW, which he's said repeatedly? My links to EJ Reynold's RSE materials?

And all over Wales I expect Welsh speakers bristled at the pronunciation! Although at least Calon Lan is so well-known that there are dozens of versions on You Tube for precedent.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to conflate preservation of language and heritage to nationalism and fascism.

They don't always go hand in hand, but sometimes they do.