Spot on - fix the Anglicised mis-spelling of Welsh place names first.
Which set of bigots are you referring to? The Welsh-language ones or the English ones?
This causes a lot of resentment in places like the Netherlands and Berlin where in some establishments the staff can't speak the local language and is one of the factors that has led to the rise of anti-immigration parties.
So if there are stations in areas where English isn't commonly spoken (I have no idea if there are any stations in that category in GB) there shouldn't be English language signs?
Pen-y-Bont ... maybe to distinguish it as a placename rather than a statement?
The purpose and benefit is part of a nationalist political project, be that Welsh, Scots, Irish, Cornish, or whatever. The "original" language in use in the place becomes identified with the "native" population, and becomes fused as part of a national-cultural project to boost national feeling, and provide identity. This was true in pre-independence Ireland, where the Irish language was (and still is) a minority tongue, but became used as a symbol of national belonging (including by many nationalist politicians who didn't know it). It is similarly true in Cornwall today, where the Cornish nationalist campaign is very visibly trying to use the effectively defunct Cornish tongue to help craft a distinctively Cornish identity.
Many thanks to everyone in the last several posts for demonstrating how wise* I was in my posting #13 some time back.
You demonstrate the exclusionary power of language politics*. I've absolutely no doubt about those expats, and completely agree with the principle of "when in Rome", but my experience as a visitor to North Wales was, amongst other things, of an exclusionary use of language. Similarly, a school friend of my wife (not from Wales) was interviewed for a place at a university in a Welsh speaking area, and the interviewer spoke in Welsh, very obviously intending to make life hard - as shown by his embarrassment and about turn when she responded, showing perfect understanding of the language.
By way of comparison, this is the approach also followed in the Republic of Ireland with English generally being the first language displayed but in the Gaeltacht the order is reversed.
I would agree with that - but also express the hope that, in reaching a decision, the responsible authority would consult widely to understand the impact
That';s if the Gwili manages to reopen that far.
Do Lisbon and London share an airport?
Sorry. Should be Lisbwm apparently, although Bing and Google Translate both say 'Llundain' (sic). It's a genuine question, though.
But it's not that. I know a lot of people in Portugal (Lisbon, not the classic algarve brits abroad), and they all speak English all the time, but a tiny fraction are native English speakers (Indian/Pakistani/Ukrainian/French are very common expat groups there).
You've got to admit though that it really shows the direction of travel linguistically though that commercial ventures are choosing this. The speed at anglicisation in Europe is actually pretty astounding to me, when I was younger visiting a country it was extremely hard to do outside of very touristy places without the language. Now it's very rare that people in hospitality at least don't speak pretty good english, even in very off the beaten track places. I'm in my 30s!
Local sensibilities may play a part there. I came close to being thrown out of a bar in Brussels a dozen or so years ago, when I went in and ordered in my best French. Although Brussels is officially bilingual, it turned out this was a majority Flemish area and French was definitely not welcomed. (It also turned out that the proprietor was from the Balkans and his wife Scandinavian, so they spoke English at home).