In order for Welsh language to become used, Welsh culture must be dominant in Wales. What is Welsh culture? I don’t have any good examples that come to mind, a lot of them seem forced and inconvenient.
People are efficient. If they get nothing out of going to Church, they won’t go to Church. If they go to the shops and there’s a poor selection of food on the shelves they probably won’t go there unless it’s the only choice they have.
When I was in school, learning Welsh, I only found myself wishing I cared, because I didn’t, because there is no reason to care about Welsh culture and language because it doesn’t do anything.
If they want Welsh to be learnt, they should invest into Welsh art, Welsh music, any Welsh performance they can find. Instead, they are cutting funding on Welsh culture. This is basically doom for the Welsh language.
If anyone is still unconvinced, think about getting your drivers license. Having even a provisional driver’s license opens a lot of doors for you, as it acts as an ID, which can be used in essentially countless situations. If you go all the way and learn to drive and get certified as a driver, you can directly use that skill to make money, or indirectly use it as a leveraging tool to get more money from your work, as you are a more flexible employee.
What does Welsh do for most people? Sweet fk all. Most humans are smarter than just doing things for the sake of doing them. It isn’t even cool to know Welsh.
Da iawn.. heres the jist of it..
“A bill has been passed by the Senedd which it is said will help raise standards in learning Welsh. Senedd members voted unanimously to pass the Welsh language education bill, which aims to ensure all pupils become confident Welsh speakers by the end of compulsory school.
Welsh language minister Mark Drakeford said the bill will open doors for pupils, offer job opportunities, provide access to the rich culture of the language and allow people to use Welsh in their everyday lives. He said it would open a new chapter in the history of Welsh education.”
In before the raging gammonite monoglots complain that this is a wAsTe oF mOnEy
>”There will be a duty on the government to set targets, there will be a duty on local authorities to say how they are going to help schools ensure children can speak Welsh and there will be duties on schools, and through the institute [National Institute for Learning Welsh] we are going to give more help to schools and teachers to help children in our schools, after a decade of learning Welsh, to become Welsh speakers.”
[BBC Article on the Bill](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y2dg97j14o)
I’m a bit skeptical of whether this will help or not, as a person from a non-welsh speaking household who was afforded the great opportunity to become bilingual through a welsh medium school the problem to me has always seemed to be retention of speakers and a lack of available spots for primary school immersion learning rather than goals and catagories.
I know from personal experiences some local authorities and colleges were previously ‘meeting goals’ by making fluent speakers like myself take “Bore da, fy enw i yw-” classes to bump up numbers. So ultimately the targets this bill sets in my opinion will need concrete strategies rather than just local number targets that might be able to be fudged.
I’m not seeing any mention of increased funding in either article as well, though maybe they intend to use some of the increased education funding we were granted last year? At any rate the fact the Tories voted for it has me skeptical that it will involve any substantial financial comitments to primary school immersion learning, which is to me the best tool for helping kids from non-welsh families become fluent.
I suppose we’ll see how things are panning out for this strategy in 2032 and 2042 when we see if speaker numbers are still declining or not in the census. Hopefully I’m just a cynic, although I’m skeptical I wouldn’t want perfect to be the enemy of good.
Amazing!
In order to fit this into the curriculum, what other learning will be sacrificed?
I’d like good options for adult welsh learning. Has a non native Welsh person I have not yet found a suitable Welsh course for someone that works full time hours.
If I know my Welsh friends, all that’ll happen is that it will be impossible for English speakers to get jobs, those that cannot or won’t learn the language will leave – the true Welsh will of course be really happy to see the back of the English – and in time, it’ll be a backwater where nothing much happens. Like North Wales is at present. Good luck with getting in to Europe, Spain would fight to the death to stop you since they don’t want an independent Catalan.
Any news on additional training for adults?
What another load of bullshit. What does this do to contribute to the inequality in Wales and our ever decreasing living standards? I’m Welsh, I had mandated Welsh lessons. It has been of no value to me. If anything it will create division between those, even indigenous Welsh, that speak Welsh and those that don’t. Never mind the English. That time available to learn could be spent on STEM lessons. But let’s spend it on division instead! Perfect!
Edit: As always I get downvoted right away by people who think they know Wales and speak on all our behalf. As if I don’t have a lifetime of being Welsh with skin in the game. There’s always a lot of virtue signalling when this topic comes up. Usually by people who aren’t even Welsh!
I know people who literally shout about Owain Glyndŵr and want rid of the English through violence even! This bullshit is just going to create division, cost money and we have none!
This is not going to go down well with the Reddit r/wales contingency but it has to be said .
We are so far behind our counterparts in education in other subjects how are we going to fit in the time and also fund this .
Our schools are already struggling to keep up .
It’s an admirable idea but we must catch up with others first and foremost to give our Welsh children a fighting chance, not just in Wales but the world !
As mentioned before, you need free and accessible adult courses so the kids can speak Welsh at home, otherwise it’s just another lesson which some will excel at, some will fail and many will just not use the language and forget. When it is normalised in the home environment and spoken daily then you can not only achieve the goal but exceed it.
Also, where are all the Welsh speaking teachers coming from?
Speaking as an English person who spends a lot of time in Wales and who has attempted to learn some very basic Welsh out of respect for the fact that I’m visiting another country, this is great news.
More people speak Latin. Dump it.
[removed]
Yawn. Welsh education system is failing and this is all they care about. Let people choose which language they learn in.
They’re going to put “ Superted” on in a continuous loop in school..
Good for you Wales. I love your language and songs. It helps me go to sleep.
Reform are probably going to ban Welsh education if they get in.
Cymru am byth 🏴 🏴 🏴
I might have to rely on the translater because I have difficulty learning vocal welsh language even if i am welsh
I think it’s all words and nothing of substance. Wales has massive poverty and as a result many kids (at least 1 in 5) don’t own a book. We set up a website where children can come, read and listen to stories for free. We have approached various government organisations about getting the site translated into Welsh and there is no help out there for us. 😢
22 comments
In order for Welsh language to become used, Welsh culture must be dominant in Wales. What is Welsh culture? I don’t have any good examples that come to mind, a lot of them seem forced and inconvenient.
People are efficient. If they get nothing out of going to Church, they won’t go to Church. If they go to the shops and there’s a poor selection of food on the shelves they probably won’t go there unless it’s the only choice they have.
When I was in school, learning Welsh, I only found myself wishing I cared, because I didn’t, because there is no reason to care about Welsh culture and language because it doesn’t do anything.
If they want Welsh to be learnt, they should invest into Welsh art, Welsh music, any Welsh performance they can find. Instead, they are cutting funding on Welsh culture. This is basically doom for the Welsh language.
If anyone is still unconvinced, think about getting your drivers license. Having even a provisional driver’s license opens a lot of doors for you, as it acts as an ID, which can be used in essentially countless situations. If you go all the way and learn to drive and get certified as a driver, you can directly use that skill to make money, or indirectly use it as a leveraging tool to get more money from your work, as you are a more flexible employee.
What does Welsh do for most people? Sweet fk all. Most humans are smarter than just doing things for the sake of doing them. It isn’t even cool to know Welsh.
Da iawn.. heres the jist of it..
“A bill has been passed by the Senedd which it is said will help raise standards in learning Welsh. Senedd members voted unanimously to pass the Welsh language education bill, which aims to ensure all pupils become confident Welsh speakers by the end of compulsory school.
Welsh language minister Mark Drakeford said the bill will open doors for pupils, offer job opportunities, provide access to the rich culture of the language and allow people to use Welsh in their everyday lives. He said it would open a new chapter in the history of Welsh education.”
In before the raging gammonite monoglots complain that this is a wAsTe oF mOnEy
>”There will be a duty on the government to set targets, there will be a duty on local authorities to say how they are going to help schools ensure children can speak Welsh and there will be duties on schools, and through the institute [National Institute for Learning Welsh] we are going to give more help to schools and teachers to help children in our schools, after a decade of learning Welsh, to become Welsh speakers.”
[BBC Article on the Bill](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y2dg97j14o)
I’m a bit skeptical of whether this will help or not, as a person from a non-welsh speaking household who was afforded the great opportunity to become bilingual through a welsh medium school the problem to me has always seemed to be retention of speakers and a lack of available spots for primary school immersion learning rather than goals and catagories.
I know from personal experiences some local authorities and colleges were previously ‘meeting goals’ by making fluent speakers like myself take “Bore da, fy enw i yw-” classes to bump up numbers. So ultimately the targets this bill sets in my opinion will need concrete strategies rather than just local number targets that might be able to be fudged.
I’m not seeing any mention of increased funding in either article as well, though maybe they intend to use some of the increased education funding we were granted last year? At any rate the fact the Tories voted for it has me skeptical that it will involve any substantial financial comitments to primary school immersion learning, which is to me the best tool for helping kids from non-welsh families become fluent.
I suppose we’ll see how things are panning out for this strategy in 2032 and 2042 when we see if speaker numbers are still declining or not in the census. Hopefully I’m just a cynic, although I’m skeptical I wouldn’t want perfect to be the enemy of good.
Amazing!
In order to fit this into the curriculum, what other learning will be sacrificed?
I’d like good options for adult welsh learning. Has a non native Welsh person I have not yet found a suitable Welsh course for someone that works full time hours.
If I know my Welsh friends, all that’ll happen is that it will be impossible for English speakers to get jobs, those that cannot or won’t learn the language will leave – the true Welsh will of course be really happy to see the back of the English – and in time, it’ll be a backwater where nothing much happens. Like North Wales is at present. Good luck with getting in to Europe, Spain would fight to the death to stop you since they don’t want an independent Catalan.
Any news on additional training for adults?
What another load of bullshit. What does this do to contribute to the inequality in Wales and our ever decreasing living standards? I’m Welsh, I had mandated Welsh lessons. It has been of no value to me. If anything it will create division between those, even indigenous Welsh, that speak Welsh and those that don’t. Never mind the English. That time available to learn could be spent on STEM lessons. But let’s spend it on division instead! Perfect!
Edit: As always I get downvoted right away by people who think they know Wales and speak on all our behalf. As if I don’t have a lifetime of being Welsh with skin in the game. There’s always a lot of virtue signalling when this topic comes up. Usually by people who aren’t even Welsh!
I know people who literally shout about Owain Glyndŵr and want rid of the English through violence even! This bullshit is just going to create division, cost money and we have none!
This is not going to go down well with the Reddit r/wales contingency but it has to be said .
We are so far behind our counterparts in education in other subjects how are we going to fit in the time and also fund this .
Our schools are already struggling to keep up .
It’s an admirable idea but we must catch up with others first and foremost to give our Welsh children a fighting chance, not just in Wales but the world !
As mentioned before, you need free and accessible adult courses so the kids can speak Welsh at home, otherwise it’s just another lesson which some will excel at, some will fail and many will just not use the language and forget. When it is normalised in the home environment and spoken daily then you can not only achieve the goal but exceed it.
Also, where are all the Welsh speaking teachers coming from?
Speaking as an English person who spends a lot of time in Wales and who has attempted to learn some very basic Welsh out of respect for the fact that I’m visiting another country, this is great news.
More people speak Latin. Dump it.
[removed]
Yawn. Welsh education system is failing and this is all they care about. Let people choose which language they learn in.
They’re going to put “ Superted” on in a continuous loop in school..
Good for you Wales. I love your language and songs. It helps me go to sleep.
Reform are probably going to ban Welsh education if they get in.
Cymru am byth 🏴 🏴 🏴
I might have to rely on the translater because I have difficulty learning vocal welsh language even if i am welsh
I think it’s all words and nothing of substance. Wales has massive poverty and as a result many kids (at least 1 in 5) don’t own a book. We set up a website where children can come, read and listen to stories for free. We have approached various government organisations about getting the site translated into Welsh and there is no help out there for us. 😢
Comments are closed.