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I recall an incident reported a couple of years ago.
Two women of let's say foreign appearance, were chatting on a bus.
A man of far right views couldn't understand their language and took exception
and berated them saying something like
"you're in England now - you should be speaking English!"
One of them replied, in English,
Actually, we're in Wales and we are speaking Welsh - what's your problem?"
There wasn't a hole deep enough for him to crawl into.
In defence of Sludge...
And bearing in mind I haven't read everything here.
But it is possible to be critical of some pro-welsh language policies and that not mean you don't support the language. Same way you can be a christian and criticise some church policies. For example, the language needs to 'win around' people if it is to have popular support. Spending money on bilingual signage may not be the best way to do that. Sludge's comments are very common in Cardiff.
Sometimes less is more and 'shoving things down peoples throats' (not my words) isn't always the best thing to do.
Personally I have no issue at all with bilingual general information as it's cheaper than an opt out system and tends to lead to more concise communication (ie, you keep it to one side of paper, so the Welsh/English is reversible).
One thing I would change is the requirement for kids to study Welsh until 16. I think after 14 it should be optional, by which time you have gained an awareness of the cultural and linguistic elements of the language but you are unlikely to become fluent in it compared to kids at Welsh language schools and it does impact upon other subjects given there are only so many hours in the day. I'm a big believer in learning foreign languages (ich kann Deutsche sprechen...) and I don't want us to fall further behind on that.
Anecdotally I think that policy does build some resentment towards the language, including amongst young people 'made' to learn it.
duplicate post
The reason why in a city like cardiff that multi language information is provided because in many immigrant communities the population , especially amongst the elderly , speaks very little English.
In Cardiff is there a elderly population of Welsh speakers that cannot understand English and need these bilingual forms ?
I very much doubt it .
Do you think Cardiff County Council providing a call line in English and Welsh is a significant step in preserving the Welsh language ?
I don't
Spend the money on a Welsh language festival in Cardiff every summer for example
Who wants English , or Indeed Welsh to be the only language ?
That's clearly not what the critics of bilingual Council forms is about
Welsh is in a good state these days , better than I can remember . Do people think the council spending money on language classes for the many is a better use of resources ?
Or is anyone who suggests that a goose stepping anti Welsh nazi ?
I bet you most of them fill it in in English
My ex missus was a raving Welsh nationalist , on the day of the vote for a Welsh parliament she pissed off into town shopping with her mother who was always slagging off the English and neither of them bothered to vote .
It's box ticking
According to the last census 11.1% are fluent in Welsh.
I'd be interested to know the percentages of those that speak Somali, Arabic etc. so Sludge can support his case that providing a Welsh language platform is a waste of time and money when comparing the absolute need for the provision of other languages to support some communities within Cardiff.
I wonder if Dafydd Iwan regards any of the Welsh team as being a Dic Siôn Dafydd?