General Chat

:-D :-D :-D

True fact.....A language dies every 14 days....the elves from QI say so so I believe them...seemed relevant to thread......

Sometimes, while listening to the radio, I worry about the continued existence of the English language. Other times, I worry about nothing very much.

I suppose I could cease listening to the radio - that's one cure.

Muffs I would have to do a bit of digging.

As in all governments there are so many departments screaming for funding, welsh language funding crosses over into many areas, public services and schools being the largest.

I guess the reports are published somewhere as to the source and recipient but how easy to find I am clueless. I am going to assume the loot passes through many departments before it gets to the welsh language groups. Too many people getting their cut for handling the funds and auditing might be difficult.

If anyone was inclined to follow this up, perhaps they could invoke the Freedom of Information Act? Or if living in Wales, by writting to their Assembly representative?

I'm Welsh and proud of it too . I took O Level Welsh over French ( wasn't allowed to do the both) but did get a few grades higher than Roger Lewis friends :-D

I don't wholly agree with the article but I also don't like the idea of the Welsh language being rammed down my throat by extremists .
Brought up by Welsh parents speaking English I chose to take Welsh at School and took Welsh evening classes, paid for by myself and in my own time.

Spoken Welsh can be very different from the written, as is North to South a tad different ! I've tried it.

Back to the original OP, yes it is the extremists that can give the Welsh a bad name ! Shame on them.

Here comes three and a half pages from me.

This article is one of a series of 8 produced by the Daily Mail during 2012. They have all been piffle, including the one that started this thread and which has given us so much fun.

Most in Wales like to hear Welsh, I believe - whether or not they know much of it. And very many in England are very happy and intrigued that so many still speak the language you can fill Old Trafford six times with people who speak it naturally every day and fill it several times more with those like me who can have a reasonable conversation or can say quite a few phrases..

All the political parties in Wales are committed to encouraging the development of Welsh in speech and in writing, and questions in the Senedd are made and answered in both languages quite naturally.

You have a choice of whether to send your children to a Welsh school or not. And, if to a Welsh school, you expect children to be able to ask for things in Welsh. I doubt a child would be left in agony because he or she couldn't say "Ty bach, miss, plis?"

The Daily Mail are deliberately stirring. They know they will only upset a small percentage of their readership by these stupid articles. And none of it will have the slightest effect on the Senedd or local government in Wales, or for that matter the Houses of Parliament - who have always supported anything to do with Welsh language since the 1970's.

I feel the battle for Welsh to survive in some strength for at least another century is being won. The last 45 years of progress have been phenomenal - and I am one who very much remembers the low point 50 years ago when Saunders Lewis said it would be dead as a natural language spoken in the home by now.

Yes, there will be hiccups. Yes, there will be those who feel it is a lot of money and Welsh speakers should pay to keep their own language going. There will be perceived injustices. Yes, I would prefer that Robyn did not fire so many letters off to the Welsh language press.

But the Welsh language is a pure and continuous link back to men like Aneurin and Taliesin - poets who operated in Edinburgh, Cumbria and East Anglia and spoke a recognisable language to present-day Welsh readers. We all have Celtic roots, added to by Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Huguenots, Jews etc etc. Be proud of all your roots - do all you can to encourage Celtic languages to survive and thrive.

End of three and a half page sermon :-D

We chose to have ours attend the Welsh Grammar school because they had the highest funding and amazing resources BUT learning French through Welsh wasn't easy and science was slightly jokey with a lot of seemingly invented Welsh names for technical equipment.

OK ours were fine because they are all bright (not trumpet blowing but those that know and have met a couple know its true). If they had been less able they wouldn't have been able to cope and would have had to attend the English medium school.

Why should there be any shame in that? Every parent wants the best education for their child and neither they nor the child should feel they have let the Welsh 'side' down. Providing all children leave school qualified to enter Uni, college or the workplace it doesn't matter what language they were taught through.

Eldest transferred to an English medium school for A levels because one of her subjects (sociology) was taught much more efficiently via English.

I wish those considered learned would realise criticism doesn't help to lessen the divide.

John

Do you speak Welsh at home or English?

Jax. English. Did know a few phrases in Welsh, but never really got to grips with Welsh till I went to Bangor aged 19 and needed a pint and the toilet in a mainly Welsh speaking pub in Upper Bangor. Soon learnt to ask for things :-D

I have to share this,

My friends dau went to a Welsh Medium school and questioned in her science class why the teacher used the word ' boilior ' said as is spelled... it was intended to be boiling [bit of Wenglish creeping in there ;-) ] as most know from 'Sospan Fach' that berwi is to boil.
Freind's dau had many a laugh out of that...in Welsh of course .

Sandie :-D :-D

Yn boilio ar y llawr ;-)

Someone asked me once what was "to enjoy". Well, mwynhau - but how many say enjoyio in heat of conversation? :-D Off to boilio fy nhgetel,

See how easy it is for a monoglot English speaker to become a total clot ;-)

I was always taught

Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr,

C&P'd cos I can't get the tor over tan otherwise!

Sue -welcome back <3

However ..... :-) ... intrigued by your ref to 'invented names' regarding science. Is this 'really invented', or the necessity in Welsh to 'adapt' words because they don't actually exist in Welsh (e.g. Taxi and ambulance?). Just interested.

For Rose earlier, for I see no-one answered your question, the best I could do with the 'Gizzard worm' ((is it a disease??)) is " Ymydyn lasog" ,but I stand to be corrected :-\

As for the amoebic R Lewis, his little throw away line about taxes, right at the end of his green-eyed, spittle covered puny article, really REALLY got my back up. I would just luuurv to meet this 'thing' and 'discuss' the matter further :-P

And as far as 'boilio' is concerned.......said teacher needs a visit from the Wicker man. No such word, that I know of, in Welsh -quite right, it's 'berwi'.

Oh dear, my collar is getting tight - hope I don't start turning green again """" :-S

Sandie. You are right, of course. No such word as boilio. Sounds like he had never played rugby or been to a pub.

A lot of words in science are German, aren't they? And ambiwlans and Tacsi are similar in very many languages. I think it was Tacsi in India (Malalayam language)

MrD. Are you talking about the end of the letter in OP as reported by the Daily Drivel. It is not necessarily what the dear doctor said anyway. I think attendance will be up at the August Eisteddfod (just with number of posters who want to have a word), but we will keep dear Robyn safe from accusers. I doubt Spar or the Daily Drivel will be represented on Y Maes (The Field).

Robyn is a Welsh treasure - his gold braid is worth over £5k at current bullion prices :-D

No, John, I'm talking about Roger Lewis ((what a thought !!!!)). Unfortunate they have the same initial and Surname, isn't it !...

Sorry MrD. Had just realised what you meant. Was just about to edit (correctly, Sandie) when I saw your post. Getting a bit late for me.:-( :-(

Not sure who Roger Lewis is. There is the famous one who won us the Six Nations single handed - a sort of Lord Coe on speed. And there is a journalist who is quite well known. But journo is from Newport area, whereas this ones claims to be from Caerphilly, I think. :-S :-S

He will have got a big fee from the Daily Drivel for writing that piece. Have you heard:

Ffarwel i blwyf Llangower
A'r Bala dirion deg
Ffarwel fannwyl cariad
Dwi ddim yn enwi neb

Dwi'n mynd i wlad y Saeson
Hefo fy nghalon fel y plwm
I ganu o flaen y delyn
Ac i ddawnsio o flaen y drwm

Farewell to Llangower
And fair and lovely Bala
Farewell to my sweetheart
Who I will not name

I am off to the land of the Saxons
With my heart like lead
To sing in front of the harp
And dance in front of the drum

That is what Roger has done, in my view :-( Many of us do it (me included) if the money is better. What a shame money so governs our lives.

ps I have not c and pd. It is from memory - something I said very often when I worked in London area for Tesco. And translation is mine. So sorry if not very good.

If my SIL says popty ping daughter goes nuts and tells him there is no such name!

Science equipment names did not appear to have a true welsh translation. Also there is no need to bastardise chemical names although there was a short lived attempt.

In the big wide world you'd sound really silly using the invented or wenglish words when playing in the fume cupboard ;-)

John, Roger 'crooked pen' Lewis has hardly gone off to fight, unless it's against his 'own people'. Doesn't that make him a traitor?
Your above is accurate enough, but it's not the whole of the folk song, which is a sad farewell, as the title indicates.

:-)

Edit: Should I say Roger 'Pen gam' instead ? :-D

potasiwm nitrad

clorid bariwm

clorad

calsiwm

sylffwr

hydroclorig

sylffwrig



See what I mean lol