Welsh speakers

[mightyWBA]

This is a genuine enquiry,and not a dig at the Welsh.I have just returned from Wales ,for the first time in many years,I couldn't help but notice every sign,and even road markings are in Welsh as well as English.Place names also have two spellings,some only one letter different! When I parked in a car park the instructions were also bilingual etc. My question is how many people in Wales only speak Welsh,and is English gradually being phased out as a first language? Alternatively has everybody in Wales got shares in sign writing companies!

[bernardo]

I think that the 1991 census found that there were c.15,000 people who speak Welsh but not English. I can't remember the exact statistic. The statistics about language are collected for people ove rthe age of 3, so many of those would have been small children whose first language is Welsh and who are not yet fluent in English. Also, it is now compulsory for all road signs to be bilingual.

[Lonnie]

I noticed this when I went to a wedding in Cardiff about three years ago, can't blame them though, its their country, and their language.

[dotjhawkes]

There was an item in The Mirror yesterday about a road sign in (I think) Cardiff that said Turn Left in English but Turn Right in Welsh (lol or vise versa!)

[kempie]

Further to IAP, Channel 4 Wales (S4C - Sianel Pedwar Cymru) has approximately 6 hours of peak-time Welsh programming per weekday (more on Sundays, less on Saturdays) with the rest being 'standard' Channel 4 programmes in English (or American!).

The channels devoted to Welsh programming are S4C~Digidol (digital) for 12 hours and S4C2 for 3 hours of politics.

The top 5 Welsh programmes have viewing figures in the range 71,000 to 98,000 (this from a total population of 3million).

http://www.s4c.co.uk/e_index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S4C

[Loosehead]

Try Ireland, all the signs are in English and Gaelic, I have been there about 15 times and I have yet to encounter anyone who speaks Gaelic let alone only Gaelic.

[delboy3]

Last time I went to Portmeirion (The Prisoner village), practically all the staff chose to speak to each other in Welsh as soon as they saw you. I bet they reverted back to English when the tourists had left!

'Croeso y Cymru' my arse.

[delboy3]

Loosehead (me old mate), I once wandered into a pub in Connemara, west of Galway, and was surprised to hear conversations in fluent Gaelic.

Again, I bet they went back to English as soon as I left...

[lizzierose]

its part of their heritage and culture in wales and in Ireland. The English went in and tried to stamp it out completely and mostly succeeded but now both languages are on the up again. It doesn't matter if they speak solely welsh or gaelic, but they should be able to use that language if they wish. It also helps keep the literature alive in its original language. calling things by their original name is very important for local identity. has no-one read Brian Friel's "Translations"

I also heard gaelic being spoken in a pub in mull, and before you say anything it was before they were aware of my presence. it sounded really nice, I'd hate to hear it die out through practicalities

[Loosehead]

So they do speak it then Delboy!

[bernardo]

Loosehead wrote:

Try Ireland, all the signs are in English and Gaelic, I have been there about 15 times and I have yet to encounter anyone who speaks Gaelic let alone only Gaelic.

In Ireland, Gaelic is spoken by about 20% of the population.

[bernardo]

delboy3 wrote:

'Croeso y Cymru' my arse.

Don't you mean "Croeso i Gymru"? Mustn't forget the mutations.

[kempie]

Calling the Welsh "mutations"; that's racism that is ;-)

[lankeela]

Two English tourists were visiting Wales. They were arguing about the pronunciation the of the place they were having lunch, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

One of them turned to the blonde behind the counter and said, excuse me, exactly how do you pronounce where we are? She replied 'Burrrrrrr Gerrrrr Kinggggg'

[lankeela]

Yes, I know it should be an 'h' on the end, but it had disappeared off the edge of the page and I didn't see the typo!