If you are born in Wales and never moved away, it might look like this:
English
English
English
Welsh
If you are born in Wales and never moved away, it might look like this:
English
English
Welsh
Welsh
Welsh is an official language of the UK and most things in Wales are in Welsh first and English second.
Away from the south and the more touristy areas, you’re likely to find people speaking Welsh in everyday life (education, shopping, workplace), rather than just at home.
Oh, and Wales, England and Scotland are countries. The UK is a state made up of 3 countries and a region, whereas the USA is a country made up of 50 states and some territories and districts etc.
I lived in Wales for a year and I managed to learn some very basic Welsh myself. It’s been about 15 years now, but at least back then it was mainly old and very young people who spoke Welsh. Most people aged 20-60 didn’t speak Welsh at all, with the younger ones learning it at school.
But I guess with that generation being up to maybe 35 now, speaking Welsh is likely much more common than it was back then. So yeah, my chart above is likely outdated.
My central point is just that Welsh is one of the languages of Wales and so can be third on your bullet points.
I think it’s at the very least rather undiplomatic to argue that it shouldn’t be called a national language of Wales.
I’ve had people swear blind to me that they visited Wales on holiday and Welsh people are rude because they speak English in the shop until an English person turns up and then they switch to Welsh to exclude the English. I think they were mistaken that English was being spoken before they went in (how would they know?) and just assumed they were speaking English until they started paying attention, when they realised it was Welsh. I’m willing to bet £10 that any such people cannot accurately tell me the content of the English that was being spoken until they “switched to Welsh”.
Culturally, ignoring Welsh or downplaying its relevance to real people’s lives is similar in offence to telling British people that they don’t speak American properly, that they spell words like colour incorrectly, and that they should stop putting on their absurd British accent and just speak normally.
I’m not argueing that it isn’t the national language. I just said that you could grow up in Wales never learning Welsh, because English is just as much (if not more) the language used in every-day dealings.
That said, the farthest north I have been was Merthyr Tydfil.
At least in the areas I have been in and the time that I lived there, Welsh was a language you had to actively seek out and not a language that was necessary to know if you lived there.
And that’s the point of the 3rd category: That’s the language you need to know to get around well in that country. If you go to the doctor’s, if you want to talk to your coworkers, if you want to make friends with the locals, which language do you need?
I’m from Vienna and it’s a similar thing with the Viennese dialect. While there is a limited revival happening, it’s mostly a cultural relic more than a necessity in every-day life. 70 years ago, if you didn’t speak Viennese you’d be an outcast. Now it’s rare that someone speaks it.
While I was in Wales I got myself Welsh language resources and actively sought out Welsh speakers to try to learn the language, but of all the people I met there, I only met two adults who could fluently speak Welsh. The kids learned it in school as a second language, but by and large the adults didn’t speak it.
Away from the south and the more touristy areas, you’re likely to find people speaking Welsh in everyday life (education, shopping, workplace), rather than just at home.
If the furthest north you went was Methryr Tydfil, you were never more than 15-20 miles from the M4 corridor, which is where the most strongly English speaking areas are, (apart from South Pembrokeshire and some more touristy bits).
I’m not surprised that you found mostly English speaking in the mostly English speaking parts of Wales. If you had stayed in East Anglia you might have concluded that England possessed no hills at all, but it might be worth admitting that there’s more to know than that.
So,
I just said that you could grow up in Wales never learning Welsh,
(apart from it being compulsory in Welsh schools)
because English is just as much (if not more) the language used in every-day dealings
in the South and more touristy areas, whereas Welsh is the main spoken language in much of the country further North.
There’s more to a country than is in front of your nose, and for the third time, learning Welsh is compulsory in schools. You’re acting incredibly ignorant and you sound like you’re trying to be offensive deliberately.
If you are born in Wales and never moved away, it might look like this:
Welsh is an official language of the UK and most things in Wales are in Welsh first and English second.
Away from the south and the more touristy areas, you’re likely to find people speaking Welsh in everyday life (education, shopping, workplace), rather than just at home.
Oh, and Wales, England and Scotland are countries. The UK is a state made up of 3 countries and a region, whereas the USA is a country made up of 50 states and some territories and districts etc.
I lived in Wales for a year and I managed to learn some very basic Welsh myself. It’s been about 15 years now, but at least back then it was mainly old and very young people who spoke Welsh. Most people aged 20-60 didn’t speak Welsh at all, with the younger ones learning it at school.
But I guess with that generation being up to maybe 35 now, speaking Welsh is likely much more common than it was back then. So yeah, my chart above is likely outdated.
My central point is just that Welsh is one of the languages of Wales and so can be third on your bullet points.
I think it’s at the very least rather undiplomatic to argue that it shouldn’t be called a national language of Wales.
I’ve had people swear blind to me that they visited Wales on holiday and Welsh people are rude because they speak English in the shop until an English person turns up and then they switch to Welsh to exclude the English. I think they were mistaken that English was being spoken before they went in (how would they know?) and just assumed they were speaking English until they started paying attention, when they realised it was Welsh. I’m willing to bet £10 that any such people cannot accurately tell me the content of the English that was being spoken until they “switched to Welsh”.
Culturally, ignoring Welsh or downplaying its relevance to real people’s lives is similar in offence to telling British people that they don’t speak American properly, that they spell words like colour incorrectly, and that they should stop putting on their absurd British accent and just speak normally.
I’m not argueing that it isn’t the national language. I just said that you could grow up in Wales never learning Welsh, because English is just as much (if not more) the language used in every-day dealings.
That said, the farthest north I have been was Merthyr Tydfil.
At least in the areas I have been in and the time that I lived there, Welsh was a language you had to actively seek out and not a language that was necessary to know if you lived there.
And that’s the point of the 3rd category: That’s the language you need to know to get around well in that country. If you go to the doctor’s, if you want to talk to your coworkers, if you want to make friends with the locals, which language do you need?
I’m from Vienna and it’s a similar thing with the Viennese dialect. While there is a limited revival happening, it’s mostly a cultural relic more than a necessity in every-day life. 70 years ago, if you didn’t speak Viennese you’d be an outcast. Now it’s rare that someone speaks it.
While I was in Wales I got myself Welsh language resources and actively sought out Welsh speakers to try to learn the language, but of all the people I met there, I only met two adults who could fluently speak Welsh. The kids learned it in school as a second language, but by and large the adults didn’t speak it.
Like I said,
If the furthest north you went was Methryr Tydfil, you were never more than 15-20 miles from the M4 corridor, which is where the most strongly English speaking areas are, (apart from South Pembrokeshire and some more touristy bits).
I’m not surprised that you found mostly English speaking in the mostly English speaking parts of Wales. If you had stayed in East Anglia you might have concluded that England possessed no hills at all, but it might be worth admitting that there’s more to know than that.
So,
(apart from it being compulsory in Welsh schools)
in the South and more touristy areas, whereas Welsh is the main spoken language in much of the country further North.
Which makes my assertion correct.
Can you grow up in Wales never learning Welsh? Yes.
Can you grow up in Wales never learning English?
There’s more to a country than is in front of your nose, and for the third time, learning Welsh is compulsory in schools. You’re acting incredibly ignorant and you sound like you’re trying to be offensive deliberately.
You are acting like you deliberately want to be offended. Congratulations, you got what you came for.