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?

Yeah, all that time he was fannying about flying an air ambulance around the place, when he could have been using the time to learn Welsh instead. Honestly.

I disagree. I'm a language teacher and have tried my hand at learning lots of different languages. There's no way any language can be learned to fluency 'very quickly', certainly not a difficult language like Welsh, and certainly not when you're middle aged.

I’m Welsh and don’t speak fluent Welsh. A lot of Welsh people don’t so don’t see the issue with William not speaking fluent Welsh. Having lived on Anglesey he probably understands some.

That's right. That is what most of us think. Most people in the UK do not care that he might only speak a little Welsh or none at all. You aren't actually putting forward any argument except that you would like things to be different. It's just a title.

I'm Welsh

I don't want a Prince of Wales full stop.

However, if we have to go on with this farce, he should not only learn Welsh but support Wales at sporting events.
Is he big with English football?
He needs to do something to deserve the title. Other than accident of birth.

That would be great @KirstenBlest - the entire family could learn. A good opportunity for him and the children to move to Wales for a few years.

I’m Welsh and I can’t speak it 🤷🏻‍♀️ they did teach us in school but it didn’t stick. I didn’t grow up far West enough for it to become an issue.

@IcedPurple , we'll just have to agree to disagree then, because fluency can mean different things. I know people who have done immersion and been able to conduct business in the language.

It's like asking Harry and Meghan to learn Scottish Gaelic because they had/have (I can't keep up with their title situation) the Dumbarton title. They would be laughed out of Dumbarton.

He's patron of Welsh Rugby Union, but president of the FA which is just for English football.

Although several Welsh teams do play in the FA Premier League and FA Cup.

They should if they want to keep that title.

Ah @Coucous tell me you've never been to Dumbarton without telling me you've never been to Dumbarton.
Less than 0.5% of the population speak Scottish Gaelic in Dumbarton.

OP says that OW should learn about welsh culture? What are the most important differences between English and Welsh culture?

😂It doesn't sound enticing to be honest never heard of it before Pince Henry - but assuming more people than 0.5% of Dumbarton actually speak Gaelic in Scotland.

I think they all need to have a connection with whatever place they claiming titles for.

It all pretty much made up Victorian-era bollocks anyway legitimising and consolidating an overreaching imperial British Empire. Kings should have to lead their people into battle or there are just figureheads.

I think the argument that most people don’t speak welsh is a poor one as the reason for that is the language being stamped out by the English. Google the welsh not

that said, I don’t think Prince William ought to be fluent but it would be nice if he learnt enough to have a basic conversation with welsh speakers as he is now the Prince of the country. I don’t think it’s the end of the world he hasn’t learnt this already though, if he’s doing it now I think that’s fine.

My ex was Welsh. Didn’t speak Welsh. Like his parents. Like his grandparents. And his great grandparents. And so on and so on.

He served his country. Flew rescue helicopters. Maybe he was too busy with that and having a family to learn another language.

He has learned some words. According to that article, he is learning the language.

That’ll do for some. For some it isn’t enough.

And for some, it will always be yet another excuse to find a stick to beat them with.

Despite protestations that they don’t really care and yet thread after thread suggests otherwise.

Imagine how good it would be for the country if they moved to Swansea for example and lived amongst their subjects. I think it's a great idea. It would definitely drive tourism

@Fieldfly What are the most important differences between English and Welsh culture?
Where do I start?
We have our own language, our own literature, our own songs, our own history.
We have our own tv channel(s), radio stations, newspapers and magazines...

I'm welsh and hardly speak any Welsh, which I believe puts me in the majority in Wales, so find the idea that someone shouldn't use the title Wales without having learned welsh a bit insulting to be honest. A bit cliquey, like only certain types of welsh people count, and also a bit insular.

yes there are historic reasons why not as many speak welsh, which are sad, but how much of the English language comes from invasions, wars etc? Quite a bit I assume as it's made up of a mixture of Anglo saxon French, norse etc. History does affect language but i dont think that means you need to try and reverse changes that have come from bad events. Yes the Welsh have been oppressed in the past, and you can see the Royal family and prince of Wales title as representing that, but frankly I think they represent class oppression across the UK, so I don't think learning some Welsh would make me think any better of the Insitution!

I'm obviously not a royalist and I find the idea that William has to do anything at all to earn the title bizarre. Surely Either you think, like i do, that we should do away with hereditary monarchy, in which case focusing just on this bit is pointless, or you believe that they have a right to inherit titles regardless of anything other than their birth.

@Fieldfly , we also have our own traditions, recipes etc. Traditions like what happens at certain times of the year, eisteddfodau, dancing, rugby, all sorts.

*😂It doesn't sound enticing to be honest never heard of it before Pince Henry - but assuming more people than 0.5% of Dumbarton actually speak Gaelic in Scotland.

I think they all need to have a connection with whatever place they claiming titles for.*

How to insult all the people of Dumbarton in one easy lesson! And by this logic, what connection do the Sussexes have to Sussex 🤔

Doing what exactly?

To be fair expecting members of the RF to understand even basic English ways of life is probably unreasonable. I mean, just look at the Royal traditions 🤯 you’ll have more in common with a ‘commoner’ from Birmingham than you will with Prince William so we’re all in that boat.