Welsh Language Act on Cambrian crossings

[DarloRich]

Welsh is the National language of Wales.
22% is certainly not a small number (more than 1 in 5 people).
And the problem is that for many people, especially in the rural areas, English is not a language they can totally understand (as you them back up with fact - almost 100% is not actually 100%).

If the person at the crossing and the controller are both happy to talk in Welsh, then there is no reason for them not to.

No English is!

Only 57% of that 22% speak "Welsh" fluently. I speak French, Latin and German but i wouldnt say i am fluent!

 

[tirphil]

No English is!

Only 57% of that 22% speak "Welsh" fluently. I speak French, Latin and German but i wouldnt say i am fluent!

I suspect your figures come from Wikipedia. I wouldn't trust those figures....citations or not!

2001 census figures as per Welsh Language Board website.

Number able to speak and understand Welsh 582,400 (20.8% of population)
Number who can understand spoken Welsh and/or read and/or write Welsh BUT NOT speak Welsh 215,317 (7.6% of population)

Total number who possess at least one skill (from speak, understand, read, write) in Welsh 797,717 (28.4% of population)

BTW deep respect for being able to speak Latin!

 

[DarloRich]

I suspect your figures come from Wikipedia. I wouldn't trust those figures....citations or not!

2001 census figures as per Welsh Language Board website.

Number able to speak and understand Welsh 582,400 (20.8% of population)
Number who can understand spoken Welsh and/or read and/or write Welsh BUT NOT speak Welsh 215,317 (7.6% of population)

Total number who possess at least one skill (from speak, understand, read, write) in Welsh 797,717 (28.4% of population)

BTW deep respect for being able to speak Latin!

yeah - cant beat wiki! I did look at census data and it seemed to back it up but i guess the Welsh Language Board will know!

As for Latin - it is the benefit of a classical education ( and of little practical value!)

 

[WelshBluebird]

No English is!

I can't agree.
The majority language is a different thing to the national language.
The national language of Wales, is by definition, Welsh.

 

[Nonsense]

I do not think that minority languages should be preserved in a country where it isn't the national language. Preserve it in your own country sure, but not where it will be seen to be divisive.

I'm not sure that you can successfully artificially preserve a living language. The need for humans and communities to communicate with each other will always trump a sense of tradition or identity. The only way to encourage the use of something that has limited practical value is discriminate against the natural favorite, or just offer some reward. Nectar points, for example, encourage you to pay a higher price at Sainsbury's for the same product available for less at ASDA. In the case of protecting Welsh, this has to be done with tax-payer's money as there is no investment value for the private sector, this makes it unsustainable in the long term. As the recession deepens and you're looking for cuts...

Preserving a language is doubly impractical because by preserving it, you define its boundaries. You can't preserve it, and let it evolve in the way living languages do. What's welsh for i-phone, or digibox, or tweet? English language acquires new words and drops old ones continuously, in a thousand years you might not recognise it as the same language.

Thats not to say it should be left to vanish.

 

[PR1Berske]

Incidentally, the Welsh for i-Phone is just that (being a brand-name, and all)

"Internet" is calqued - "rhyngrwyd", literally just the words for inter and net.

 

[NJTom]

It is exactly this kind of issue which is why the Welsh economy is in the toilet. I am so glad to be out of that mess. The Welsh "country" is a joke, and is utterly unsustainable without it's pocket money from England because of all of this BS.

 

[jones_bangor]

It is exactly this kind of issue which is why the Welsh economy is in the toilet. I am so glad to be out of that mess. The Welsh "country" is a joke, and is utterly unsustainable without it's pocket money from England because of all of this BS.

Oh here we go...the old chestnut, the English pay for everyone else.........blah blah blah blah :roll:

 

[NJTom]

Well it's true. Why should English taxpayers have to give more and more to a region that scares away businesses that could make it somewhere closer to self sustaining.

 

[jones_bangor]

Well it's true. Why should English taxpayers have to give more and more to a region that scares away businesses that could make it somewhere closer to self sustaining.

Well if the Westminster control freaks would let Wales set its own Corporation Tax rate.............

 

[SWTCommuter]

Presumably it would be too expensive to install warning lights with signs in Welsh and English at the crossing?

 

[WelshBluebird]

I do not claim to know if Wales is subsidised by England or not and if so by how much. However:

1 - There are certain parts of England that are certainly poorer than Wales and I wouldn't be surprised if they are subsidised more than what Wales apparently is. No one seems to complain about the poorer parts of England being subsidised.

2 - There is a reason why many Welsh areas are poor. Once the manufacturing / mining jobs were gone, there was nothing there to replace them. It all could have been handled a lot better (leaving the profitable mines open would have been a start).

And even going into historic issues:

3 - If you are going to take over a country (like England did with Wales), then you should expect to pay for it too.

4 - The way the Welsh people, Welsh language and Welsh culture was treated by the English, even into fairly modern times, is disgraceful. And one could quite happily argue that any subsidisation (especially when it comes to the language) is what is owed to us anyway.

 

[175001]

It is exactly this kind of issue which is why the Welsh economy is in the toilet. I am so glad to be out of that mess. The Welsh "country" is a joke, and is utterly unsustainable without it's pocket money from England because of all of this BS.

Delighted you got out. It's a better country without you

 

[Nonsense]

It is exactly this kind of issue which is why the Welsh economy is in the toilet. I am so glad to be out of that mess. The Welsh "country" is a joke, and is utterly unsustainable without it's pocket money from England because of all of this BS.

Can't help but be reminded of this from the 80s

Link

 

[tirphil]

Presumably it would be too expensive to install warning lights with signs in Welsh and English at the crossing?

Warning signs already appear in both Welsh and English at all crossings in Wales. I don't believe there is much difference in cost (apart from the translation) as the font is smaller on the bi-lingual signs from those in England.

 

[SWTCommuter]

Warning signs already appear in both Welsh and English at all crossings in Wales. I don't believe there is much difference in cost (apart from the translation) as the font is smaller on the bi-lingual signs from those in England.

Sorry, I didn't make it very clear that I was referring to the cost of installing lights rather than signs. If the crossing had red and green lights to indicate when it was safe to cross, there would be little need to phone the signaller.

 

[tirphil]

Sorry, I didn't make it very clear that I was referring to the cost of installing lights rather than signs. If the crossing had red and green lights to indicate when it was safe to cross, there would be little need to phone the signaller.

Installing R/G crossings would be costly. Crossing lights, treadles etc. They do exist on the Cambrian but only at Rhydwhimen, Hen Gapel, Cemmaes Road and Llandre Vicarige.