To not want my ds to have to take Welsh for GCSE

[slushy06]

He is only 3 but it has started bothering me the thought that like me he may not want to take and may be no good at it and may have to take it and get a poor grade when to be honest I just don't see the point of it and would much rather he learn something more useful if he doesn't like it.

I would have no issue with if he wanted to and I have no problem with Maths English and Science being compulsory but I just don't think Welsh is as important as those subjects and should not be compulsory.

I am posting this but I have to go out then so will reply when I get back. But I will be very interested to hear responses and maybe a reason as to why it is compulsory.

Round here in North Wales each child has less spent on them than in South Wales.

My ds is also 3 & they have started learning some welsh words,i am very happy for him to do so,as like others have said any language learned is a bonus imo.

LynetteScavo are you being serious?

How many subjects he can take will presumably depend on the school, their timetable and their assessment of your ds's chances- you can't judge that from what you were told in your high schools decades earlier.

Don't know what Welsh schools are like these days, but in England 11 subjects at GCSE level is not that unusual, P.E. is rarely compulsory as a GCSE subject (though they do carry on having P.E. lessons) and R.E. is usually only compulsory in faith schools. I.T. is compulsory in dd's school though, had forgotten that.

Have also told dd that she will be learning German (not offered by the school), that we will organise a tutor when my own German gives out, and that if the school cannot organise her sitting the exam we will look at other options. Noone can stop you learning if you want to. (or if your Evil Mother wants you to ).

I am in the Ryder Cup city, angelene...that delightful place where you get broken into while you are sleeping in your bed (sorry, still traumatised by our break-in on Tuesday night / Wed morning).

And don't believe that Welsh schools get more funding than English ones. The secondary school my dd1 goes to, and dd2 will be going to next year is an old English one that has not had any work or more than basic repairs done to it in years. It is 12 miles away, but is the only Welsh school in the whole of the (old) county. The dining room seats 78, for a school of 900 pupils . As far as I am aware, all of the secondary schools in my city (all English schools) are being completely rebuilt - indeed, one is reopening this weekend with fantastic leisure amenities etc, etc. I could go on, but I would bore you.

I'm another one educated (well, for a while) in South Africa. I had to do English, Afrikaans, Zulu and French.
Wish I could speak Welsh though. My Great-Grandad was Welsh and used to laugh and tease my gran when she was little and asked him to teach her to speak the language
Besides, he's only 3. Lot of bridges to cross before he hits GCSE age.

Yep this really pisses me off.

WE live in SE wales (largely english speaking area) and both dc's go to catholic school.

dd was offered the chance to do spanish this year (Year 9) but to do so she would have to miss one hour of ENGLISH a week, she would also still have to do welsh and french.
What annoys me is that in England she could have done english, french and spanish without compromising anything.
Its not a welsh medium school and I think we should be offered a choice, I would much rather he learnt the second most widely spoken language in the world than bloody welsh!

But surely if you really want your child to learn another language you could hire a tutor?

I really dont get why people have such a downer about learning Welsh, its one of the oldest languages in the world & it would be a shame for it to die out.Round here it has had something of a rennaisance,all the teens speak welsh fluently & it is lovely to hear.

I would be very proud if my ds were able to speak it too.

Yes I see that learning a language can be fun I learned French but why cant he have fun learning a language that is also useful.

I live in south Wales and round here the welsh schools are given more funding and the Welsh school is all new many people I know send their children to Welsh schools because they have better facilities.

Do private schools really not have to follow the curriculum.

why should I have to pay a tutor?? And increase the workload of a not particularly academically minded child?

I appreciate that some people think its important and thats fine, but over that bridge it doesnt mean shit and no one else can speak it.

I think everyone should have the choice, it wouldnt mean the language died

mosschops, lots of English schools don't offer more than two languages. Dd had to choose between French and Spanish. If anyone came along and offered her Welsh lessons, I'd be delighted; I don't think one foreign language is anywhere near enough.

Welsh dieing out I personally think it is a shame to believe that the language is all that we ever had no one teaches Welsh history and things that great people from Wales have done.

Well its kind of a given that if you live in Wales & you attend a Welsh school then you learn Welsh also.

I disagree with you when you say that noone else can speak it,i think you will find that a lot of people speak it,maybe not in your circle of freinds,acquantences etc but it is spoken.

Oh & you do have a choice,you dont have to attend a Welsh school.

Also I am not saying no one should learn it but why should my free will be taken and I have been forced to learn a language I didn't want to.

Also I wouldn't pay for a private tutor as I think ds will have enough to do with his school work. Although I may change my mind on that it depends on how academic he is.

but of we were in england it wouldnt be more than two languages, it would be french and spanish.

Id be far more delighted about the spanish than speaking and language that is only spoken in one small country in the world. Its like learning oompa loompa - who cares? (not me)

I don't think you are being unreasonable. It is the reason we live 40 minutes drive from dh's work as I did not want my English children having to learn a minority language.

I hope that isn't offensive to Welsh people and I think it is great that the Welsh have preserved their language, but I didn't think it would be useful for my children to learn.

Learning welsh = Learning oompa loompa

I have to say to that oompa loompa comment too...

Im blaming my late pg hormones and the fact that I make no secret about my dislike for living here

Some people still speak Welsh as a first language in Wales, don't they? Then YABU, sorry. Whether he becomes an electrician, a doctor, a binman - whatever - he will at some point more than likely come in to contact with Welsh speakers, being Wales and everything. Bonkers to think that Welsh shouldn't be compulsory.

Mosschops, I am still smarting from a row I had with Moondog about 4 years ago re a Welsh woman who seemed to have a grudge against my English family, hence my careful use of words!

mosschops30 Thu 12-Nov-09 13:38:32
"but of we were in england it wouldnt be more than two languages, it would be french and spanish."

No, dd only got a choice between two languages: she can't do both. If we want her to learn more than one, we have to pay for a tutor.

Otoh a technology subject is compulsory because the school specialises in technology (all secondaries around here have a speciality, so you are usually stuck with whatever is the speciality of your catchment school). Though on dd who is disabled and finds it difficult to do things with her hands, but not a lot I can do about that.

I think you are perceiving the grass as somewhat greener than it is.

I sympathise. I learnt Irish for about 14 years and I can't say hello how are you? I honestly can't. But the time I spent taking Irish books in and out of my school bag, was time I wasn't learning maths and English.

No language should be compulsary imo.

Moss chops words fail me but "Dydw i erioed wedi clywed y fath rwtch hiliol yn fy mywyd" Go find an oompa loopma and find out what it means! By the way most people who speak welsh are of average height and intelligence

My dh's parents, brother, sister, nephew, niece and everyone they come in contact with pretty much live their lives speaking Welsh. They live on Anglesey, which is a strong Welsh speaking language.

I would imagine it would be very difficult to participate in the community there if you refused to speak or learn any Welsh. Not impossible of course, but just uncomfortable.

And yes, that isn't how it is in South East Wales, but perhaps it will be one day - they've recently opened a new additional primary Welsh medium school here, and in a couple of years they will have to provide a new secondary school, because of the demand for Welsh medium education.

I meant Anglesey is a strongly Welsh speaking community of course

I have a GCSE (grade A no less!) in Welsh. I lived in Wales for 5 years and left just before I took A levels - I would have loved to carry on and do A level in it too!!
Now I live in England and only find my Welsh handy when it comes to pronouncing Welsh name places etc!
But - I do have to say that learning any different language gives you an understanding of how different languages work and how a lot of different languages have all borrowed words from each other, latin etc.
It certainly wasn't a waste and didn't stop me from achieving equally as well in my other subjects.
My older sister still lives in Wales but did not learn Welsh at school and she is finding that this is a hindrance as it is something that is asked for in a fair number of jobs within Wales - particularly in education.