I think William should have learned Welsh?

[antelopevalley]

William is the new Prince of Wales. He has known for years he will be, but still only knows a few Welsh words.
Charles learned to speak Welsh and can have conversations with people and has given many speeches in Welsh.
I don't understand why William has not done the preparation his father did for this role?

Other papers report that he does. This paper reports that he doesn't. Who is to say which is true?

The late Queen ruled 32 sovereign states, was she fluent in all those languages

15.7% (477,100) of people aged three or over reported that they spoke Welsh daily, 4.9% (149,000) weekly and 6.9% (209,300) less often. Around 1.6% (47,900) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak it, with the remaining 70.9% not able to speak Welsh.
So if William doesn’t speak Welsh he is in line with the vast majority of the people in Wales.

Well said

For someone living in England why would they spend time learning a minority language such as Welsh instead of something like Spanish?

Well, more than that, Spanish, French, German, Polish, Gujarati and others are all far more widely spoken than Welsh.

I agree that it's great if everyone learns another language of use but in the vast bulk of cases that's not Welsh.

Isn’t not speaking Welsh representative of the welsh population who in the majority don’t speak it either? What would be the point in him speaking it if most of the Welsh folks wouldn’t have a clue what he was saying?

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz The paper is reporting William's words that he is now learning Welsh. It is the Independent, not some trashy magazine.
Loads of sites say all kinds of stuff that is not true.

I'd the majority of wales doesn't speak Welsh, why do you think he should OP?

So lots of you think it does not matter he does not speak Welsh as hardly anyone speaks it anyway?
You don't pay much attention to Welsh politics and culture then.

I can't see that as it doesn't let you read the article unless you have an account.

Lol because he’s lazy.

You've seen the stats on this thread @antelopevalley but you still expect him to speak a language that at least 70% of us couldn't understand. Where's the logic in that?

But if 70% of Welsh people can't be arsed to learn 'their own' language, why should William?

Do all Welsh politicians have to learn Welsh? Presumably you think they should?

Are you Welsh yourself? Do you "pay much attention to Welsh politics and culture" in contexts other than your daily pop at the royals?

I’m Welsh and speak it fluently. All those saying that hardly anyone speaks it, it’s not as simple as that. Yes numbers could certainly be higher (though thankfully on the up) but there are still pockets and communities where Welsh is very much the first language and people use it as their first language at work, in correspondence etc.

There are far bigger issues with him being Prince of Wales than the language but yes, making the effort to at least speak it conversationally would go a very long way to make a better impression. I’d also imagine that Welsh speakers are often more hostile towards the monarchy and the title Prince of Wales, so that’s another reason why he might wish to make the effort!

And he’s the Duke of Cornwall (Cornish)
And Duke of Rothesay (Scots)
And Baron Carrickfergus (Irish, Ulster-Scots)
At some point he has to actually get other things done as well. What would be the point of him learning all these minority languages (and I say that as someone from the Gaeltacht) except as a stunt to make people like him for political reasons?

It’s just not necessary. Most Welsh people don’t even speak Welsh.

I understand (from people who have done so) that learning Welsh can be challenging. There were some google findings referencing a BBC report that William studied Welsh at Eton at Charles' request.

I used to speak Spanish to reasonable standard (Spanish was the primary language used in my then workplace) but wouldn't have said I was 'first language standard fluency' I still retain a good chunk of Spanish but with much less accuracy around some words and definitely much worse grammar - the lack of constant immersion over years will do that (am sure if I re-immersed myself I'd regain fluency/accuracy after a while). If William did learn Welsh at Eton and has sporadically dipped in and out he may have some core knowledge/understanding but not ready for conversational Welsh in public yet... I guess time will tell..

Especially as Welsh is a very difficult language and it would take years of study to attain anything near fluency.

Of the 70% who don't speak Welsh, none of them are given the title 'Prince of Wales'.

Lol because he’s lazy.

That's really unfair. He's thick as pig shit, so it would be very hard for him.

Kate can sing the Welsh national anthem in Welsh or she used to be able to

www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-12570615.amp

Of the 70% who don't speak Welsh, none of them are given the title 'Prince of Wales'.

It's not awarded on merit.

I know about 5 Welsh words and I was born here. He doesn't need to learn it

Okay got it.
He does not have to be sensitive to the issues around the Prince of Wales title still existing and being passed on to William. He does not have to do the bare minimum to try and get Welsh detractors on his side.
Just carry on as normal.

But by your own account, he’s learning it. So that’s all that matters, right? He’s making an effort to learn a very difficult language and embrace the culture.

I always assumed that he could speak it a little but not fluently.