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The Welsh Knot (24th October 2010)
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- Опубликовано: 23 май 2012
- More and more children in Wales are going to Welsh medium schools. They are the future of the language, but what do they really think about the language and exactly how much Welsh do they speak and use outside the school gates? With an exclusive new survey of young people's opinions on the future of the language, David Williams explores the complexities of a bi-lingual Wales and the tangled Welsh Knot.
Three years ago on a visit to the UK, my wife and I were sitting in a cafe in Cardiff. On a table near us were a group of 6 or 7 teenagers, all speaking Welsh. My wife, who is Welsh speaking, was astonished and remarked that 20 years ago one would never hear Welsh spoken in Cardiff. So Welsh education is having some success, despite the gloom expressed here.
Mae hwna yn neic I clywed, thanks for sharing this comment.
I completely agree. I went on holiday to North Wales, then went down to the South and back to England via Cardiff. Was interesting to see the language doing well in North, and South. When at Uni in the late 90s in Cardiff the influence of Welsh was no where near as strong as it seemed on my latest visit in 2020. I can vouch that over the last 20 years they are making some noticeable progress throughout Wales, perhaps most Welsh people won't notice it but as someone who lived there for several years then was away a long time the change is marked. Hope it continues.
Makes me happy to hear. Diolch!
I think the solution is promoting Welsh throughout the UK. I wondered why I couldn't learn Welsh in an English school : Why could you not take a GCSE in Welsh in an English School? If Punjabi and Urdu are OK why not Welsh which is a native language.
I think all the Celtic languages should be available throughout the British Isles!
Good point. Wales is closest to where I live but yes there is Scots Gaelic, Irish, Manx and Cornish (the latter two are not dead languages). It would be good to give Breton a mention here: Teaching it might shame the French Government to drop its hostility to a language which had more speakers than Welsh a hundred years ago.
I suppose it's because Welsh isn't spoken by many people. I learnt French GCSE at school probably because there are many French speakers in the world and it's common for us to go to France on holiday, so it has practical use. If people want to learn Welsh of course that's fine, but the reality is that all Welsh speakers also speak English so learning Welsh doesn't give much of an advantage unless you're planning on moving to a predominately Welsh speaking area.
Yes, indeed. If the BritNats were serious (rather than being English Nats) they´d embrace all the languages and cultures of GB. After all, an early form of what is now Welsh was once spoken all over Britain as far north as Edinburgh and Dunbarton. How many people know that?
@@Paul2377 I'm a South-tyrolian guy, therefore i know some of your problems too, even doe my language is considered a dialect.
We are a Austrian Minority in italy which means that almost everyone which is traveling or going to live in our country is just learning italian because we all know that language, but the italians in our country refuse to learn our language because we are in italy and also it is called a dialect and not a language which in my opinion is only a matter of your Viewpoint, when a dialect is older then the actual language.
Hopefully you'll get your country back and this astonishing language that you used to speak. Best greetings from Südtirol.
I'm trying to teach myself Welsh. Greetings from England
DavidZebra1 aight butt. Its rare to find English people who aint dicks to us Welshmen
DavidZebra1 i
BinaryDV that is a stereotype! Most Englishmen love the idea of being welsh. I even moved to wales to learn
Shwamae (Hello)
pob lwc
I am a guy from Poland, currently living in Sweden. This is my second documentary about the Welsh language and since I love learning languages (I speak Polish, English, Swedish, Spanish and German well) I decided that I will learn this language. I already started with Duolingo and other resources and I find this language really fascinating. Dw i eisiau yn dysgu Cymraeg (Hehe).
+Leszek Trybala *Dwi'n dysgu C.* = I'm learning W.
*Dwi isio (eisiau) dysgu C. = I want to learn W.
Dysgu = 'to learn'; *yn* dysgu = 'learn*ing*'
Diolch!
@Lestry cwestiwn,sud ath y dysgu cymraeg. Dwin falch iawn dy fod yn cymeryd amser i ddysgu cymraeg mae'n andros o bwysig i gadw'r iaith yn fyw. Dwin byw yn gogledd cymru am mae pawb yn siarad cymraeg pob dydd yn ysgol,coleg,prif ysgol,gwaith ag mwyaf pwysig adref. Da iawn chdi.
@@markwilliams5733 You rotters. I only looked at this vid as my granparents were from Wales and I was just curious. Now looking through the comments ive got to look for my Welsh for beginners book.😄
Ps. Im in my 60s so i might guess some of what's wrote.
It is such a beautiful language. I would encourage all young people in Wales to learn Welsh. Greetings from Germany
Dw i'n meddwl bod y Gymraeg a Almaeneg yn hardd iawn!
Shame, dw'in siarad cymraeg
Stop speaking English and they'll start speaking Welsh. Thank me later
It's amazing the amount of discrimination that exists in Wales towards the Welsh language. I am trying to learn and have received some encouragement, but there are a lot of dinosaurs out there who have the old fashioned imperialistic views about English being a god send of a language.
English language monoglots will never be able to empathise with the plight of the Welsh language. Props to @Malcolm Sepulchre for his defence. Language is a conduit through which we can express our thoughts and feeling. It is a way which we live our lives. Song, dance, poetry. The notion that we should learn something for economical benefit defies humanity. What's the economical benefit of learning to paint, sing or play sport? For most of us- none. But these are the activities that give colour, depth and vitality to our lives. Proud Welsh Learner!
Oh and as for saving money - £100 Billion from trident anyone? Or how about £50 Billion for HS2 which will cut Llundain to Birmingham by...wait for it...20min...
+Knot a contest ''It's amazing the amount of discrimination that exists in Wales towards the Welsh language".This is true. Sadly, I moved to Crosskeys in Gwent when I was 10 years of age. I had been brought up in Ystalyfera and then Pontardawe prior to this, where the Welsh language is widely spoken. Almost all people there can speak basic Welsh, whereas for around 45 % of people, Welsh is their first language. The hostility towards us as a family, living in Crosskeys was truly shocking. There was hardly any Welsh spoken around us and we were hated by many people for speaking our mother tounge. I will always call Ystalyfera and Pontardawe my home- never Gwent.
+Knot a contest i like you
It sounds like Rome has conquered us again.
I noticed there's an amazing amount of discrimination of the welsh BY the welsh. Today the welsh assembly government came up with the idea that ALL future employees must speak welsh to be employed by them, even the cleaners. That's right, you're not even worthy of cleaning a toilet if you can't speak welsh. I'll be glad to see the welsh language die because I'm sick to death of it being rammed down my throat and I;m sick to death of it being used as a vehicle to discriminate at every possible opportunity. Can you imagine how much of a second class citizen you'll be if 50% of the population spoke welsh and you didn't?
@@mrdojob. That comment my
mrdojob reflects the amount of prejudice there still is against Welsh language. There is no reason to let the Welsh language die; it is a valuable and natural part of our cultural heritage; we just need to stop shoving it down everyone's throat (if that's even a good way to describe the situation). If mrdojob wants Welsh to die out because it is used to discriminate against people; then that very attitude is, sorry to say, linguistic discrimination and just plain bigotry; being intolerant toward a language. What i strongly favor is freedom of language, which, along with free speech, freedom of religion, etc., is an important component of personal freedom and freedom of expression; i consider it to hav three main components: 1. the right to use a language of your choice (and that definitely includes Welsh!); 2. the right to learn a second/foreign language (hence foreign language) of your choice; 3. the right not to be forced to study a specific foreign language, without good reason. To protect freedom of language, we must curb linguistic bigotry; otherwise people will be harassed, bullied, penalized, etc. for using the wrong language; and people will get comments like mrdojob's, that are blatantly offensiv toward their language. I am seriously considering whether, to curb the problem of linguistic bigotry by English-speakers, we should make sure all English-speakers are taught foreign language, at least somewhat, during K-12. Even if they don't develop full proficiency in the language, they will at least get a taste of it, and will hopefully be more understanding toward foreign languages and the peoples who speak them.
Is anyone here deluded enuf to think that the Welsh Not represents tolerance?
"I can convey my ideas more effectively through the medium of Welsh"
I live in South Wales and I'm half way through learning Welsh at my secondary school, I am 15 years old :)
Kiesha Thomas Mitchell I would have loved to have gone to a school where I could have learnt Welsh. My ancestors are Welsh and I would love to be able to speak Welsh fluently. Not that I have any use for it living in Australia!
its great! although its tough, my ancestors used to be fluent welsh speakers and im ashamed that i am not. It would be awesome to speak the language of my country but being in an english medium school just learning the simple things and the basics is actually challenging.
Da iawn
I live in llanelli
How did it go?
Reason why many welsh people don't speak welsh is because the English tryed to eradicate it. Simple as.
Christopher Griffiths it's a cycle of more people being able to communicate in English, therefore English being the first choice of communicating. If everyone in the area that the child lived in spoke Welsh, they would likely speak Welsh too.
partly, but the main reason was because English offered far more economic advantages.
Christopher Griffiths Exactly - you constantly here things like...they have a choice, and they choose English. How do they have a choice when everything they see is in English. It's amazing at the amount of Vile views and sentiment the language gets from within Wales itself. The English influence in the country is everywhere.
We all know the only way for the Welsh to really reclaim their language is to ban English for a few generation, but we all know.....it will never happen because of the World we live in. They did it to the Welsh and got away with it because they seen it as inferior and we would never get away with the thing I earlier suggested (Even if it benefits Wales in the long run).
@@taffyducks544
Just a bunch of brainwashed... SHEEP. I dont consider them our people those who love the enemy and subjugation
@Anglo Commando independence doesent mean kissing someone elses butt instead. And yes I am proud of my people, nation and heritage. Something modern english can learn. A vision is worth more than an idea. As well as the economic capability to support ourselves in tandem with trade. Real world politics isnt only antagonistic as long as you dont deal with freemasonry or play into their cards
Hey I definitely support any efforts to retain the Welsh language , a beautiful language
yes im Irish so I would support that too
Rob Smith kapai boyo
Jean-Jacques Rousseau yea. way too rare. Im one of the 20 percent like. its sad but im proud to be rare
Yes, it is very nice that welsh have a higher status in Wales than in the past. It is a good thing that english not shall have status as the most important language in Wales. English is an invation and occupation language in Wales. English and welsh must have the same status in Wales.
WELSH YES!!! from Patagonia.. CYMRU AM BYTH!!!💖😊
Ah! Dw i'n eisiau ymweliad Patagonia neu Chubut!
👍👍
Kairon Frey patigonians do speak cymraeg
Did they still speak welsh in Patagonia? I think it is very impressive because the welsh people moved there about 1865, and today people in Chubut valley still speak welsh. Very impressive.
My children were Born in the Philippines and as soon as they were born I brought them back to Wales for one thing only . So they could learn Welsh. Now Iolo and Gwen both speak Welsh. Iolo also Plays Piano and Guitar and he is 8 years of age .
+Roy Colley - well, roy, how come you have an english first name and an e nglish surname? and how come you have to c orrespond in the language of the perceived enemy?
welsh, of coure, is very, very im portant. but so is english.
if ou listen to a lower class semi illit, if they speak iin english, you will not even know what the dope is saying.
Roy Colley lovely how theyre born in Asia but still have welsh names. Would die to have a Welsh name, but I'm one of the only welsh people in my family that speak Welsh.
I live in the Philippines and had gained an interest in learning Welsh. Northern Welsh first.
I’m a full Welsh speaker & like the girl in this video I used to speak English to my friends, which used to drive our teachers up the wall. I think this was one reason why we did it. Now though I speak Welsh with over a half of my friends at home.
I'm half Welsh and Half English living in North Wales, 35 mins from Chester. I so wish I had listens to my Nain more when she was alive as her and my Taid where both fluent in Welsh as their first language. My Dad's sister is fluent and talks to me in Welsh, I understand a little but I'm unable to reply. I obviously know the most common words that I learnt in school but would enjoy learning from scratch. I am somehow more proud of my Welsh Heritage than my English/Scouse. CYMRU am BYTH :-)
It's never too late to learn. There are loads of Welsh lessons on the internet and many are free
***** Hi - Even if you Google "How do you say/write such and such in Welsh" Google will give you an answer. I just wrote a scathing reply to someone else who commented on here, all in Welsh and all with the help of Google.
+Jayde Jayde. I get what you are saying here. I too am 1/2 English and 1/2 Welsh (northern), and my Nain and Taid also spoke Welsh at home, but in America, English is what they learned, and we got a few words. I too wish we could find a way to speak and learn Welsh...
+Finer C.A.C. I've downloaded a few apps that have helped me :-) where in North Wales where they from?
+DAILY VLOGER Family Channpe Seriously? I've already answered that question in my original comment. My Dads parents, My Dad and Auntie are fluent and I speak a little Welsh.
"dwi'n syraid Cymraeg" means do you speak Welsh. I don't know what that proves as anyone could google the meaning. Like I've said tho I grew up in North Wales so a simple phrase like that is very common.
A true bilingual nation takes a few generations, keep it up. This generation are up against the tide of internet and social media. Keep encouraging one another, those you know who are fluent, speak it imperfectly, or only a few words. With more younger people having a good knowledge of the language and solid government support it will thrive. That lovely mom from England is in the same situation as many migrants around the world, speaking a different language to one spoken at school
Maximimilianmus speaks Welsh.
I believe that learning one's native language--"popular" or not--isn't something one appreciates until they get older. Most teenagers just want to do "cool," "popular" things and "fit in." Many of them don't care about culture, ancestry/history, etc. I speak this not only as common knowledge, but from personal experience.
We realise our mistakes as we get older, when sometimes it's too late to do anything about it.
What part of Wales is this personal experience from?
Mae croeso i ti i ddysgu'r iaith, mae'n bwysig cadw'r diwylliant yn fyw heddiw mwy na dim :)
I'm starting my second semester of Welsh in UC Berkeley and it's pretty awesome. I love Welsh.
Jasmine Liu cool. What have you learned? I'm a fluent speaker
Jasmine Liu Have you had a look at Cornish? You may be able to understand it - I went to North Wales as a Cornish speaker, spoke Cornish and got by perfectly.
Awesome! What other languages can you learn at Berkeley? Is there some sort of Celtic program there?
@@mawgans.9646 Really ?
@@matthewm2528
They got all sorts of stuff at Berkeley, its one of the best public universities in the US. I know they used to have classes on Nordic history and runes and stuff like that. Just gotta live in the bay, 😄 place can kinda make people loose their minds, I lived there for years.
The Welsh language was saved by Gwynfor Evans' threat of a hunger strike if Maggie Thatcher didn't honour a reneged promise to provide a Welsh Channel 4. S4C then over the years has revived the culture generally and brought it into the 20th and 21st century and made it more fashionable and attractive for young people to feel happy to adopt.
As a bilingual Norwegian/Dane I think this is fascinating, as these two languages (Welsh and English) are so very different. Always been very interested in Wales, and wish I could speak the language. Thank you for posting this.
Jeg snakker norsk og dwi siarad cymraeg hefyd
I suppose they're very different because, unlike Norwegian and Danish, which share their Nordic roots, Welsh and English are not from the same family of languages. English is a mix of Germanic and Norman (French) origins, whereas Welsh belongs to the Celtic group of languages, which also includes Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Cornish (Cornwall), Breton (Brittany, France), and Manx (from the Isle of Man). So it's no surprise that Welsh and English sound so different from each other.
@@gerberjoanne266 Norwegian and Danish are almost the same language, pretty much mutually intelligible.
I lived in Denmark for 4 years and constantly try to explain to welsh people how Danes home language is Danish, but 97% speak fluent English - and this is what Wales should aim for.
Mae Saesneg yn ieungach na'r Gymraeg :) nice to know people care about the history of our culture
Greetings from Albania, your celtic brothers as we arrived in late ancient times. Despite that we are most muslims as we were part of Ottoman Empire and then part of Russia, we are still celtic brothers!! greetings to welsh, cornish and manx.....
Good Point.
Just wish to say that 'Welsh' is a nationality over which one has no choice whereas 'Muslim' reflects membership of an ideology which is a choice. One cannot choose to come from a country, but one can choose which group or religion to join - or leave.
Cheers.
Albanians are not Celts lol
@@SirEdward96 right?
"A handy tool to have in my tool box" Da iawn' ti wasi,,I think that just about sums it up.Two languages give you an advantage in life.and a confidence that never leaves you wherever you.go.It's only when you leave Wales that you miss and appreciate it.You also realise that having CYMRAEG makes you UNIQUE and VERY SPECIAL!
I was born in Flintshire about 8 miles from Chester. My first language was English. If I had been born 6 miles up the road, my first language would have been Welsh ! I went to a Catholic school and did Latin for the first 3 years, but only did Welsh for 2. I went to night school for 3 years between 1995 and 1998. I could speak Welsh every day in work, so picked it up really well. I moved to France in 2000, but nobody there spoke Welsh. I used to speak Welsh to the dog. I came back to the Uk in 2009 and my Welsh was very poor due to lack of speaking it. I have always considered myself Welsh, but according to the Taffia in Gwynedd, I’m not Welsh as I’m not fluent.
Was it Richard Gwyn High School?
From Flintshire also, somewhat the same still 🏴
Please don't consider yourself to not be Welsh, even if you're not fluent if you were born and raised in Wales and speak some Welsh or are trying to speak Welsh then I think you are most definitely considered to be 'Welsh'. I am fluent in Welsh and live in Wales though both my parents speak hardly any and lived in England for most of their lives, I was home-educated and mainly learnt off my great-grandfather in earlier years and then by myself when he died.
Michael Owen, is that you? Should've played for Wales
Many people deny that welsh were suppressed but obviously we were, we were BEATEN FOR SPEAKING our OWN LANGUAGE! WAKE UP PEOPLE, WE WERE TREATED LIKE 💩
It was your own education system that did it. The teachers were Welsh
I have read that France also had its own equivalent(s) of the Welsh Not: a Breton Not, a Catalan Not, an Occitan Not, a Flemish Not, etc.
Alsatian too..I have lived there....
Catalonia is in Spain, though.
North Catalonia (comprising Roussillon, Vallespir, Capcir and part of Cerdenya) was ceded to France in 1659 and forms most of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Catalan is still spoken there - just about - with a strong French accent.
Breton is linked to Welsh- the same Brythonic root
It was far more pronounced in France in terms of Breton. The French government doesn't even want to recognise the Bretons as a distinct group, and they are very severely against Breton being taught in school
Considering we were all colonised by a country whose "great" contribution to their exploits across the globe was thei way or the highway, the fact that Welsh remains is a testament to the resistance of deeply ingrained languages.
A person changes as they grow up. I would of been one of those children with a bit of the "Welsh Not" as a teenager....then I went to college in England, and I realised how lucky I was, suddenly I was very proud of being bilingual and my use of Cymraeg increased.
My ancestors were Welsh. I want to learn everything I can about Wales. To David H-T , thank you for the links! MiF
+MusketeerinFlorida My ancestors came from Bristol, in England, but my best friend online is Welsh and I also want to learn everything I can about Wales also. I'm 3 months into learning the language.
Coming from a country with 1652 languages, 29 of which are official languages (all of them very much 'alive'), my perspective is that Welsh can easily thrive without support, if a sizeable number of people speak only Welsh and not English. That way, say in a group of 4 people having a conversation, where one doesnt speak Welsh, the remaining 3 won't automatically switch to English because there might be another person who cant speak English as fluently as Welsh. Rather this would encourage the English-speaking person to try speaking the language of the majority.
I think that this is very relative and depends on the situation. If you live surrounded by a language as big as English and are used to speaking in English, even if you learn Welsh in school and become fluent you might not use it at all outside school. It is all about inertia. It might feel weird to speak in Welsh with say a colleague that you know knows Welsh but have always spoken with in English. I am a Basque speaker (Basque is an endangered language from the north of Spain) and the same happens with us because we are surrounded by a massive language as Spanish. So in the situation you propose in your example, i wouldn’t be surprised if instead of pushing to speak Welsh, the 3 Welsh speakers would switch to English. Since it is the easiest. Especially if the 3 Welsh speakers are not used to speaking Welsh in the everyday basis but rather learnt it in school and are not attached to the language. This of course depends on the motivation of the English speaker to learn Welsh also. I believe that for both Welsh and Basque we need to encourage the attachment to the language and promote its use to assure that the languages will remain alive for centuries to come and hopefully become healthier over time.
learnt welsh in school (north wales), forgot it all, relearning it now. it's a nice language to know.
Surely the biggest threat to the language is a lack of jobs in certain areas of Wales leading to people moving away from those areas rather than S4C's budget cut. If people can live where they choose without worrying about a job the language is more likely to live on in people's day-to-day lives amongst their friends and colleagues.
The other, if not bigger threat, is the Mass immigration of English people into Western and north Wales. In Ceredigion (until the last 20 years a Welsh speaking county) for example 45% of people were born in England and in Aberystwyth more than half are English born. In Aber, Welsh has given way to BBC English for precisely that reason. I was on a bus from Bangor to Aberystwyth and during the bus journey there were two groups of teenagers. The first, from Bangor to Porthmadog spoke mainly in Welsh but when they did seldom switch to English, their accents were like Grug's in this video. Then further south in Dolgellau, the second group of kids got on and they sounded like Londoners, with incoming kids being so numerous that the indigenous Welsh were assimilated by them.
If I were to move to Wales I'd consider it a matter of honour to learn at least some Welsh, out of respect for the country itself.
I think both threats could be reversed if more jobs were provided or established for the local people within the Welsh speaking heartlands so that people (both younger and older) are less likely to move out of the heartland regions unless they really want to, and by making it a strict requirement for people outside Wales (from England or elsewhere) moving to live in or work in a Welsh speaking heartland to learn and speak Welsh fluently as that alone would help control the mass immigration of people outside Wales (with immigration of non-Welsh speakers more limited and controlled in the future), and also by advertising jobs (with the requirement of speaking fluent Welsh) more to people who live within Wales or a Welsh language heartland and less to people outside Wales. If these steps were established later, the Welsh language decline within the Welsh speaking heartlands could definitely reverse.
@@broman178 The difficulty with that is that there is no hard-boarder between Wales and England, only a soft boarder. Any UK citizen may move through the UK with relative freedom.
I’m Mexican-American and I am deeply interested in learning Welsh and eventually visiting the country. It’s always sad to hear that a language is on the verge of dying out. Language is the ultimate tie to culture and once the language is gone, what’s next to disappear? I’m glad to hear measurements are being taken to save the Welsh language.
Helo o sir fôn gogledd cymru!🏴 hello from Anglesey north wales🏴
One huge change over the past few decades is that people who speak second language Welsh now speak to their young children in Welsh and get them educated in Welsh. So there are kids speaking Welsh now who haven't had the language in their families since their grandparents' or even great grandparents' day and I think that's a great thing.
7:19 if i had children in Wales I would want them to speak Welsh at home as well as at school. I spent my teenage years in Welsh speaking Wales but never learned to speak Welsh anywhere near as fluently as I wanted to (and not for want of trying). I got an A grade at GCSE but that's in Welsh second language and I wanted "mam iaith" competence, still do even though I haven't lived in Wales for years. I want to go back one day and when I do I want to go back speaking Welsh!
The girl from North Wales is my childhood friend ahah. I met Bethany at Grug’s house and we’re facebook friend still to today ahah
Mae hwna yn cŵl iawn, Diolch am wneud y comment hwn, mae yn diddorol. Cariad O De Cymru
Oh my goodness...I remembered watching this...I'm from Cardiff...my father family from Cardiff as far back generation..his farther and grandfather could speak it but he never bothered to speak it and neither taught us...I found out my half sisters are fluent Welsh speaking and also found out my mum's family from north Wales...I'm gutted I could never speak it!...I'm 49yrs old now...Im going to give it a go and start to learn it cos it's my birth right!..
I love the Welsch language. It feels like a mystical Elven language. It's a very expressive and sing-songy language that sounds delightful to hear.
It probably sounds Elven to you because Tolkein's Elvish language was based on Gaelic, a close cousin to Welsh :)
@@Stettafire Tolkien’s elvish language, sindarin, is based on Welsh not Gaelic, high elvish is based on Finnish.
brilliant - multi-lingual upbringing increases intellect by quite a margin. it increases ability to express onesself - and communicate with other cultures and languages.
i think its amazing that wales has 2 native tongues which is something that should definitely not be lost.
look at other countries with multiple native tongues that encourage it as well, you will find some of the most intelligent, creative people who are much more able to connect with eachother and other peoples.
+Mythal Each language is a uniquely distinct perspective of human experience. I think it would be best if people spoke 1 - 2 lingua francas (English, Mandarin) and then a native tongue too (Welsh).
Yes, the cognitiv benefits of bilingualism or multilingualism (whether natural bilingualism/multilingualism or learning a second/foreign language) ar well-documented. Good place to learn a foreign language (Welsh is available): Duolingo.
Oh how it pains me to not know my beautiful mother tongue!
At the age of 4 (22 years ago) I begged my mother to send me to a welsh school, even at that age I knew how precious the language was and seen a future for it. Alas, my mother refused then 4 years later she dragged me off to England so I didn't even get a chance to learn the basics in an English school.
All I remember is wedi bleno (not sure on spelling) and Mochen Sisneag hehe
It's never too late to learn. There are loads of Welsh lessons on the internet and many are free
Yeah, I live in Ingalund these days too, but the opportunity still presents itself, to learn the language of my forbears. The internet is a wonderful tool for it. :)
I'm spanish, galician, and I don't know why, but I really love Cymraeg, among other Celtic Languages; for some reason there's something in it that reminds me to Galician Language, although I know they're totally different languages. Just don't let this treasure from the bards die, and sing out loud ry'n ni yma o hyd!
There were Celts in Galicia so that could be a reason why. Diolch.
Eben Muse was my university tutor I was disabled Welsh Cymraeg he was great mentor at bangor University and my personal tutor ive never had friend like him hes such nice man
When I was 9 my parents moved to Australia thar was 40 years ago in wales at that time we had barely any schooling in the welsh language and I knew no one who spoke welsh but I miss the country of my birth and one day hope to return fot a holiday
Des Lewis says, "I wish I had that opportunity to learn Welsh".
I don't understand that, what makes him think he hasn't got the opportunity? All he needs is to put in the effort, but perhaps 'effort' is asking too much. I was on a residential weekend Welsh course once, and on that course was a cockney of 72 years of age who'd recently retired to Wales. He was brilliant and passionately recited 'Beth yw'r ots genyf fi am Gymru?'
The reality is that the majority of Welsh can't be bothered to make the effort, and that is a reflection of how much they REALLY value it.
I think this is great they’re working to save their native Welsh language. Wish my grandparents wouldn’t had been forced to give up their German language as being US citizens. If they hadn’t been forced to stop speaking German, I and many other Americans in similar environments, could had grown up learning a second language at a very early age.
Time for a follow-up on this.
As a Indian I wish the well language may be preserved against massive presher against English.
LOL Says the guy IN ENGLISH. Why would you want "presher" to be put against English? Do you reallllly think that any other language can compete with it as the one that MOST people can communicate in if they don't share any other common language? Ridiculous.
What was omitted from his potted history of the 'Welsh Not' was that the little girl ending up with tablet around her neck would have been flogged in front of the whole school at the end of the day unless she could pass it on to another whose crime was no more than wishing to talk in her own language. The last child to be punished for committing such an 'offence' was in Scotland in 1934. In 1870 Welsh speakers numbered 90% and by the 1920's this had been forcefully reduced to 20%. Linguistic genocide!!!!!!
They say that children who grow up bilingual have better developed brains. Apart from the rich Welsh heritage, the students in Wales would benefit from that, as well.
I think it's important to keep a language alive. I have cousin born and grew up in Wales. They don't speak a word of Welsh. I unfortunately don't speak a word of it either. So sad a generation of children who were not encouraged to learn there own language.
Leaving this as background noise while studying Welsh gives me motivation XD
When I ever come to visit Wales and I cannot be sure that every person there speaks Whelsh, I will probably not try to speak Welsh with anybody. So I would be very disappointed to have made the effort of learning your language... But I would love to learn it. Because I like it. It is fantastic.
When I stayed in Wales ages ago (in 1985)using the Welsh language had a "reek". How glad am I now, that the "Welsh Not" has become a "Welsh Yes"!
And I loved the expression, that Northern Wales was "sheepified"! Great!
Very nice and lovable people, but I already knew that from my stay ages ago! Bore da, Cymru! (That's almost all I can say, sadly! :D)
I want to learn Welsh
If you go to a welsh school you should learn it quite fast
Ti’n medru dysgu hi am ddim â’r ap say something in welsh os hoffet ti wybod sut i siarad hi
Two good resources:
saysomethinginwelsh
Duolingo
I don't know why, but that Welsh Not sign reminds me of a Jude star in Nazi Germany.
it was genocide what the english did to us. The tried to eradicate us just like the Irish
I'm English and have started learning Welsh as I love the language and country
As an 82-years-old, and born in Morfa Nefyn to English parents, sadly, with the end of WWII, we were obliged to move back east when I was four. I really wish that we had lived there until I was old enough to absorb more Welsh. 😥
I’m surprised not one of them thought or said how cool it is to have a “secret” language if they want to talk privately about something
Just watched this video - nine years too late ! Very interesting, and the Welsh language should be encouraged in schools and outside. Pupils who learn Welsh to a high standard will find it much easier to learn a third and fourth language to a high standard. It will improve their cognitive development and reduce their risk of Alheimer's later in life. Plus, it helps the Welsh regain their linguistic and cultural heritage which the English tried to stamp out. More power to them !
as someone who lives in Wales and goes to an English school (Welsh is a compulsory lesson) many people in my class say how much they hate welsh and how they will never use it in the future. I'm the complete opposite and even though its the summer holidays I'm trying my hardest to learn welsh, not only so it's easier in school but to be the only person in my family who does speak welsh
Lesley Lewis (Bethan's mum) is a smart lady, there are tons of opportunities in Wales for bilingual speakers - especially in government and teaching and of course, Welsh schools do have smaller class sizes in south Wales - you are seeing more and more non-British immigrants (Polish, Somalian, Kurdish etc) sending their kids to Welsh language schools because if you plan to live in Wales - the language is important and the opportunities that come with it are many.
My grandfather was a first language Welsh speaker and my great granddad was a monolingual Welsh language speaker. Glad to see the revival.
Are there really no official such school exchanges between different areas of Wales? The UK does it for all foreign languages, strange to see it is missing with Welsh. Here in Switzerland, exchanges between French- and German-speaking Switzerland are seen as essential for the integrity of the country, although they now have to compete with exchanges abroad especially to the English-speaking world.
I think learning a second language teaches you something important about the nature of human thought. When I was a kid I went to the library to get books to teach me French and Spanish, and I realized that different languages cut the pie of reality in different ways. Translating something of any depth into another language can be quite challenging. Also, I applaud the effort of the Welsh to preserve their language from extinction. Am I being superstitious in assuming that something of the ancient Welsh soul would be lost forever if English were allowed to obliterate their native way of thinking? As an American, I'd be curious to know how the Welsh feel about being part of the now-diminished English empire?
To answer your question. It varies.
I'd say there are three main camps
Those who support "devolution" (currently Wales is a devolved country, which means it has law making powers, it is not a puppet state. Support of devolution is to support to status quo).
Those who support independence (my own personal estimate, I'd say a third of Welsh people support independence)
And, finally, those who are apathetical. Political apathy in the UK is very common.
@@Stettafire Thank you! I think you are the first person to answer a question I have asked on RUclips. The only other replies I get are usually rebuttals of what I have contributed. Thanks again, I appreciate your answer and your comment about political apathy.
South Wales and East Wales needs many more Bethanys. Cymraeg is a wonderful language but it needs popular acceptance of the Welsh people for it to thrive. There are lots of bi-lingual countries around the world but the dominance of English cannot be ignored. It is possible to learn and speak the language openly and it would be wonderful if the whole of Wales adopts Cymraeg as the first language without embarrassment. This doesn’t mean it’s necessary to be hostile to English but I fear the hostility of the English speaking Welsh is a bigger problem. If all children in school in Wales are taught Cymraeg there will be no reason for yr yaith to disappear. I’m learning it from England having never lived in Wales but having a Welsh father has given me a strong sense of identity with my Welsh roots and I sense my father is frustrated that having lived in an English speaking part of SE Wales he had had some of that Welshness made inaccessible.
Would love to see an updated version of this documentary.
Even though,I don't speak the language,I am proud of my Welsh roots since I live in Wales the majority of Welsh ancestors came from North Wales.
Grug, ar you aware of the many lost Celtic languages; e.g. Gaulish, Pictish, Cumbric, Celtiberian, Noric, Galatian, Lepontic? Do you feel sad about them like i do?
I was told by a Welsh friend that I spoke "correct" Welsh.
I'm learning Welsh through SaySomethingInWelsh.com :) I'm from Canada but my boyfriend lives in Wales and can speak Welsh (though English is his first language). Welsh is a beautiful language. This is an interesting and good documentary, thanks for sharing it.
Such a great website
My mother was born in Aberbargoed, South Wales in 1943. When I asked why she didn’t speak Welsh (She sung a few songs in Welsh and used words like cwtch and cariad) she said it was because if they did speak Welsh in school, they would get the absolute crap beaten out of them.😔
I take it you're not from Wales. Aberbargoed brought in tons of English immigrants. I assume the other children were of English descent
hey kids of wales iam a 45 year old man in canadathat background is welsh my family never heard welsh i on the other hand said this is my heritage and i mdecided to go to welsh class . dont speak english in wales only speak english to english people not fellow welsh people dont be like me so please take advantage of your country because i would do anything to speak welsh fluently
I'm sure you can get there 👍
yea, very true. I only speak welsh if there are natural welsh speakers in ponty or if Im in school
As an Englishman with Welsh blood, I hope the Welsh are able to preserve their culture/ language. I just hope it doesnt turn to xenophobia though: many English working class people moved to South Wales to work, and their descendants should be seen as just as Welsh as the Cymru speakers. My ancestors moved to London to escape poverty in Wales, but nobody has ever suggested that I am not "real" English because my great grandmother was a Williams!
That is when the term BRITISH comes in handy....
I want to say that for me, it is rather exotic and very interesting document at the same time. I come from central Europe. although my language and nation (Czech) had to resist massive germanisation in the history, it survived and thrives. Reading about Welsh language in Wikipedia I realize that Welsh is more complicated in grammatical structure than English, even as complicated as my mother tongue.
@ dark0sex: I can say at least 4 reasons immediately:
1. Since every single language on this planet is way less useful than English, then the question really is rhetoric "why not?" You'd know, civilized people are expected to know more than one.
2. It's cŵl. The last thriving of languages that laid base for this European civilization everywhere outside of the Mediterranea.
3. Common identity and experience certainly forge societies together and that helps economical figures. Local language course is in this way a way more humane than for example institutionalized bullying.
4. Every real language represents a complete yet unique philosophical world-view. Therefore mankind's arsenal of intellectual capabilities would suffer an actual loss with the extinction of Welsh that this policy is meant to prevent.
Yes, by helping to preserv Welsh, you ar saying No! to things like the Welsh Not, which not only represents bigotry but also goes against the fundamental right to be free, in this case freedom of language.
My family in USA still speak some words and phrases in Scottish Gaelic everyday, but it would be nice to relearn more. Good for the welsh! It really opens the mind to speak in a language so different from English.
Dear Alex, I have just checked and I am pleased to tell you that on a site called Duolingo they have Scottish Gaelic as an option to learn starting at beginners level. I hope you get a chance to do a little and build up your knowledge of the language. Beannachd leat (that is good luck in Scottish Gaelic) Pob lwc in welsh.
3:52 confederate flag?
Yes that's i go to that school. That's the history room. Still there lol
@@end8316 jesus christ. They played our school from Bridgend i think. Doubt they had any idea what it meant tho
@@pettalkingbrick5287 It doesn't mean anything negative when one refrains from attaching anachronistic sentimentalism to it.
I speak welsh I go to a welsh school and a welsh high school so I am flaunt welsh and I live in South Wales
da iawn i glwad
I'm English, but my mum grew up in rural Wales and Welsh is her first language. I'm so sad that she never taught me and my brothers the language growing up. I've tried learning it but Duolingo just doesn't cut it really and it's hard finding someone who speaks it to practice with
Beth ti eisiau siarad am?
@@WARGASM3 Dw'i hoffi coffi? Popti ping!
That's the extent of my Welsh I'm afraid.
But in all seriousness I'm not sure what to talk about ha ;]
@@keighlancoe5933 there's apps like tandem, hello talk, sites like italki to find people to speak to. I'm sure there's plenty more.
@@ilikethiskindatube It's alright, I'm learning Norwegian now anyway, I'm planning on moving there when the pandemic is over. I've had enough of Britain for a lifetime.
Thank you so much for uploading this! I am American and therefore mixed bloodline. I am German-English, an the English includes some Welsh. Just hearing the beautiful language spoken has given me an interest in learning more about Wales and Welsh history. Thank You, Again.
England and Wales are not the same, you will insult a lot of Welsh there, they are separate countries within the UK/Britain so I think you mean your British line includes English and Welsh
If your a male I would suggest paying nore for the "Big 500 YDNA" from 'Family Tree DNA', we Americans tend to have alot of mixtures, the Family Tree stuff shows you your specific YDNA haplotype. MT DNA is more complicated a more vague for some reason
If Welsh is a dying language it's taking long time to die, as it was spoken here in ancient days long time before English the made up language came along; maybe should bring back the "Welsh Not" as a reminder of a few things. When in Wales Welsh folk often say you should speak Welsh but try finding a Welsh person that can teach it. That said Welsh is apparently still spoken in Patagonia, and most likely other places around the world. In case I get heaps of abuse, from both sides, I was born in Wales but not allowed to be in the Welsh class it was divided them days English one side and Welsh the other but play time everyone would play together, or Welsh verses English in football. So basically I was not able to learn Welsh on account that both parents were not Welsh only dad, Mum was Italian. Only children with both parents Welsh speaking was allowed in the Welsh class. Still I love to hear Welsh language spoken and learn more everyday. English folks often say to the Welsh that they substitute English words because they don't have a Welsh equivalent but at least 12,000 English words are French, in fact most words that end in "ion" such as, addition, and multiplication just different accent; not to mention other languages like German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and so on. Interesting program though.
Welsh hasn't been dying for at least a decade now, it is no longer declining. Lessons are freely available in all universities in Wales and many offer part-time or remote courses.
@@Stettafire Glad to hear Welsh is on the rise again. To be Welsh and not be able to speak it fluently is like having a heart you have lost touch with.
It doesn't matter what languages you learn as a child--only that you learn more than one. They say that those who speak only one language, never really learn it, but those that speak multiple tongues truly appreciate the beauty and intricacies of each. When you speak more than one as a child, too, it makes it much easier to pick up other languages as you grow up--something that has considerable merit in our changing world. I think the reason that the children/teens who are in the Welsh language schools do not continue with Welsh when they are off campus or at home is they do not know the entire language--and that means the story of the Welsh people from prehistoric to present. Teaching the language is one thing but they are teaching English subjects in Welsh. Teach all classes in Welsh for immersion but do not forget to instill the history as well. It isn't as though they are outsiders learning some foreign language--this tongue has come to them through their ancestors' generations, a gift to them now.
Being a fluent welsh speaker and attending welsh schools all my life i love that i learnt it personally. But i regret not using it more after school as i can barely speak it now but can still understand it perfectly. When i was in school we mainly spoke english as it was what we was used to speaking and it was convenient as our friends and family spoke English and English alone in many cases.
Its only now im older that i hate the fact i never kept using welsh. Its seems to he a popular thing with welsh speakers my age in my are from waht i have noticed
9:50, it mentions "Fro Gymraeg". Actually, the base (i.e. without consonant mutation) form is "Bro Gymraeg".
I honestly can't tell if I'm the Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pontardawe shot at the start of the vid or not. I see two of my friends and I really can't tell if the kid behind them is me or not.
Wales is just the better version of my country🏴(🇮🇪)
I am hugely proud of my Welsh ancestry, but how is Ireland better? Ireland is the greatest nation ON EARTH....
It's not just Wales that has a problem with its language Ireland has the same problem. I am from Ireland and English is my first language I can only speak limited Irish, I never speak Irish at home. The way that Irish is taught in school makes it seem like a boring and useless language. I would like to know more irish.
why do you not speak it at home? Nobody else does? If there are other speakers at home, you should use it. It's hard at first but it gets easier, the more you use it.
About 10:28 into video, you hear “Myfanwy”, a famous Welsh love song.
it made me so mad that she said to be welsh you have to be able to speak welsh. its not my fault my first language isnt welsh, its not my parents fault they dont speak it, its not my granparents fault. We all know whose fault it is and its gives me a lot of resentment. But I love my country just as much as she does. I Am Welsh.
I for the life of me cannot fathom why any Welsh person wants to go thru life only able to speak English. I'd sooner BE English!!!
No probs and yes you are the real Bethany. I think this documentary was once uploaded on RUclips, but the uploader removed it because it was in several parts, so I decided to upload it in one piece :) Since the programme has been made, I'm guessing you and the other girl are at university or college.
Just to remind anyone who thinks that the Welsh Not happened only in the 19th century, my nan growing up in 1950s South Wales experienced and witnessed the Welsh Not, of teachers physically abusing children with a cane if they so much as spoke one Welsh word. This outrage is closer to our time than you know and the children and grandchildren still alive from such traumas are now having to pick up the pieces inflicted by these recent perpetrators. Colonisation is not a thing of the past, it's still very much a living memory and a vast amount of South Wales that has been industrialised and corrupted now has thousands of people left forgotten living in deprivation. Their indigenous roots buried. I grew up in 1990s South Wales and witnessed several cases of physical violence from teachers against children.
I live in the Czechlands and I'm interested in Welsh. I'm passionate about it. I don't understand how Welsh people can decline to learn Welsh. Probably it makes a bad motivation if the pupils are obliged to learn it. Perhaps punishing the childern for speaking Welsh paradoxically made it a forbidden fruit that everyone wanted to use to taste during all his life, in opposition to the authorities. Now it's in the sphere of the "official boredom". It has to be some adventure, it has to be "cool" to learn Welsh. I heard a story about a Czech man who went to the Lakota people in the U. S. and helped them to save and revive their language. So perhaps the solution could come from foreigners wanting to learn Welsh. I'm not the only one here in the comments :-)
my great grandad was welsh with Argentinian ancestry (his parents where from a part of Argentina that speaks welsh) he taught welsh to my grandad and his siblings but my grandad refused to teach my mother and uncle as my grandad was heavily bullied for being a welsh speaker while going to school in London in the 50's and 60's, he told me once a group of boys would follow him home and throw stones at him and call him a 'taff' and if they weren't making fun of him for being welsh they where making fun of his dark complexion.
I am Canadian. Both my children were in French Immersion schools from the age of 3 (yes 3 ) and are perfectly bilingual French and English. So what language do they use - English, although when my daughter was in France and my son was in Quebec they did speak French. So it isn't just the Welsh/English effect.
The undercurrent of this programme appears to seek discredit and rubbish the Welsh language in a vey subtle way... instead of focussing on the English invasion and predominance of English social media, it chooses to focus on the redundancy of the Welsh language - when in fact, as stated by the children, they speak English to ‘not be rude to those non welsh speakers’ It’s fair to say, the English in the majority see no point or reason for Cymraeg and would love to see it fail
KILLBILDERBURG This is a very pro Welsh documentary. Stop being such a victim. It's not a good look.
Cayles - exactly
I disagree. This movie is totally pro-Cymraeg. In fact, switching from Welsh (Cymraeg) to English (Saesneg) just because of one person nearby who doesn't know Welsh, seems like linguistic cowardice and likely to harm the viability of Welsh. I sometimes address family members in Finnish even in the presence of people outside the family. (I was born in Finland but hav lived in the U.S. for most of my life.)
" It’s fair to say, the English in the majority see no point or reason for Cymraeg and would love to see it fail". I disagree. English people are probably more likely to be, at worst, apathetic toward Welsh than activly wanting it to die out.
Brilliant book: Spoken here by Mark Ably in support of minority languages. there is a great chapter about Welsh.
Gaelic and Welsh are quite similar, in terms of both being Celtic languages. For a Gaelic speaker, it wouldn't be that hard to learn, although I'm not saying it's a piece of cake. Gaelic is very similar to Manx, which is the indigenous language of the Isle of Man, but very few people speak it though.
Love to hear the Welsh accent.
It is free and easy for any English speaker to learn Welsh at home by themselves but that is not enough for adult learners.. I think the schools should encourage the parents to learn Welsh too. They could publish the parents league tables on Duolingo in the school newsletter for example and put links up on the school website to social events for the parents to practise Welsh together.I am learning on duolingo and SSi but I really need opportunities to sit and natter with people in Welsh. The National Language centre residentials and courses are way beyond my budget .
23:27
Woah, wtf? You'd never see that flying in an American classroom. Hard to believe but the civil war is still a point of contention here in the US
The music at the start - the girl singing, does anyone know what music this is??
The one at the very beginning is a song by Catatonia called "International Velvet" and the one immediately after is "Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" by Cerys Matthews (the lead singer of Catatonia).
And I was told (again by people who were WWll era young adults and children) prly even earlier in the late 1800’s they were being forcibly culturally and linguistically colonized. Children corporeally punished for speaking their own language, the people I knew had “English” school teachers in Wales. All while England gladly took their Coal… and the only place Welsh was generally “allowed” in public (the South is where I’m most familiar with this story from multiple people) was in Church music, or in the mines, or in private, and in music or poetry and so in Church you’d sing EVERY verse that existed in Welsh. It was an act of remembering and resistance and continued connection to identity. And you’d sing the 1 you had in English and then like 6 verses in Welsh!!! Anyone out there familiar with that??? Or grow up knowing/hearing about that? Or living it? That’s why I was told we sing ALL the avail verses in Welsh. But we were living in America so…things might have been different in Wales by the 1980’s-90’s?? We were still pretty old school…I think, and with a different generation (WWll generation they were almost all my grandparents age except for a few N. Wales folks my parents age), and living in the diaspora. So no… it wasn’t officially put into LAW banned, but I have multiple first hand accounts that esp S. Welsh people were only allowed to speak their language in certain context. And children were actively discouraged by state entities and people empowered by the English gov. And just because it wasn’t a law “on the books” doesn’t mean there wasn’t forced, and non-consensual assimilation And widespread discrimination, esp against non-English speaking Welsh. Saying that English was just considered ‘modern’ or more useful and that’s why it *dwindled* is a manipulation of what happened. Maybe English was helpful as the English colonized and dominated every neighboring culture, but that’s not why Welsh speaking shrank. It was targeted. It was seen as useless and anachronistic by the ENGLISH. It was seen as distinctively non-English and problematic. A barrier to further assimilation. And there was no cultural distinction or value given to it by the ENGLISH (quite the opposite it was demonized) and so…it was deemed disposable. And they still report on it as if it’s disposable. Just as the families and men, and women and children were disposable in order to obtain the resources they wanted from the region. The fact that Welsh peoples, language, music, and culture survives today is by sheer force of will and love of homeland, and the extreme value and beauty of that culture and country and the generations who carried it through and held on despite everything hammering on them to let it go and FORCE it to die out. Welsh culture is love, you cherish what you love. And it is resistance. And your Welsh culture is resistance. It’s not a gimmick. But it is very cute and adorable and wonderful!!! And it is the land, everything connects back to the land. Keep those Welsh place names alive!!!!
What do you want then ?
I'm 13 and from Wrexham (north wales) and there's only 1or 2 Welsh schools in my area. My mum is English so she's not going to no Welsh and my dad is Welsh but never learnt Welsh. I learn Welsh in school however only 3-4 hrs a week. I went to Anglesey a few weeks ago and met children my age how could speak Welsh very well and I thought it was weird how I don't no it! So I'm on a mission to learn Welsh fully. However I don't no how to learn it right and the north Welsh (if you know what I mean!) any tips?
Probably get online to bitesize sites etc, visit the channel ideas dragon and maybe reddits learn welsh section. Dwi'n byw fynny yn y googled tua'r gorllewin ac Mae bron pawb yn siarad iaith
google saysomethinginwelsh
And listen to a LOOOOT of welsh. Whenever you can, actually. And - even if it might sound weird - talk to yourself. Actually TALK. It gives you a confidence boost and practice.
It's "know" not "no".
Better have learned it by now
An English person asked me why Welsh isn't taught in schools in Wales. It is, I said. In literally every single school. Next question: so how come hardly anyone speaks it?
I've never felt so ashamed in all my life.
It's damning, but French is taught throughout the whole of the UK in schools but very few come away speaking french fluently, that's because like Welsh in Wales French is only taught for an hour or so a week.
@@chrisclrk9 Actually it's two hours. And kids in Welsh medium schools have 30 hours a week exposure for twelve years and STILL can't speak it.
@@tombartram7384 Sorry, it's been awhile since I was at school, it was probably only 1 hour week back then.
@@chrisclrk9 many people seemed to be shocked when I tell them we had to learn Spanish instead of French because my Spanish teacher (who is also fluent in french and taught it) decided to teach Spanish as its easier!