Sometimes it is best to just ignore critisism, but I’m not sure we can on this one.
Some people question the existence of Welsh. This is especially true in British Wales (North East Wales and Coastal resorts), in which a not insignifcant amount of the population live.
For many in this area, the idea that the Welsh government might want to increase the number of Welsh speakers is a mystery. Why do they want to do that? Why have Welsh at all? Why would a GOVERNMENT want to increase numbers? Shouldn’t they focus on schools/hospitals etc?
Perhaps the Million Speakers project could look at answering this question. Possible answers;
- Increased quality of life (two world viewpoints)
- Preserve tradition
- Preserve and devlop a culture
- Developed sense of self for citizens
- Internal market for Welsh goods and services
- Allowing people to have academic and family reasons for using/learning the language.
The project could also look to displace these reasons for not increasing numbers;
- Duplication
- Misunderstanding (road signs etc)
- Doesn’t help promote a united UK
- Potentially lower globalisation
P.S. This has been discussed to some extent here: Welsh language on BBC R4's Today programme million speakers