Hopefully this is ok to post on this topic -
Giving credit where it’s due.
I had to speak to a customer today and noticed that he had a fairly strong accent, so I asked him (in Welsh) if he spoke Welsh, which he did. I then asked if he was generally permitted to speak Welsh in a work setting. His reply was “They can please themselves”, meaning that he would use Welsh regardless of his employer’s views for or against.
He then told me a story, of which I probably understood about 10%, but I just kept throwing in the odd ie, iawn etc. He eventually rumbled me and explained the story in English, about a “foreign” vet (animal doctor variety), that had gone out of his way to learn Welsh out of respect to his customers. The conversation quickly changed back again to Welsh.
So, full marks to my customer for being so encouraging.
Agree with your entire posting above @Christina, except that I would fine-tune it by pointing out that not yet speaking your own language isn’t even a fault at all! Great posting by the way.
Hm… Whereas the linguistic aspect of this anecdote is correct, the story seems rather, well, to stretch the imagination. The protagonist was no fool, to say the least. The story would only seem to be credible (to me) if Menahem Begin had had access to Google Translate; he died long before it was available. Funny nevertheless!
Well, speaking no Hebrew I can’t really judge, but the incident also apparently features (in a slightly more repeatable form) in Amos Oz’s memoirs, as mentioned here, so at least it’s not hearsay – we’ve got a source. Depends whether or not you believe Amos Oz’s recollection of it, I guess.
I was thinking the same thing. Your mother tongue is what You are brought up speaking not the language of the country that you live in or even of your nationality. Seeing as more than half the population of Wales don’t speak Welsh fluently or at all I hardly see any need to berate yourself. The fact you want to learn Welsh is brilliant because it’s a really fantastic language and is one of the languages of your country, albeit The original one. But in some ways it’s a bit like me berating myself that I don’t speak middle English. Ok not quite the same As that’s no longer a living language of course but I hope you understand my point. Don’t let some idiots put you off. There are snobs in every nation who will tell you off for not speaking the language properly.
Hi Helwn. Thanks for your kind words. I think the trouble is for me is that I consider Welsh to be my mother tongue, not English. I feel frustrated that the language was historically targeted and therefore my first language is English. In my heart, English will never be my mother tongue though.
This forum really helped me after the incident on Facebook and I am now half way through the 6 month course. I am actually proud to say that I left a full phone answer machine message in Welsh ordering some tickets for a concert last week. The recipient was very supportive and.kindly said I was pretty good (although he was probably being a gentleman!)
Thanks again for your support
(language alert for earthy humour)
Oy…what a mensch He should have known a bissel better than to slip a schmeckle or a Yutz into a yada conversation…@baruch
I have particularly enjoyed picking up some colloquial and idiomatic terms-but I hope to never make such a blunder as that (and so puvlicly).
Even though @aran Advises to embrace mistakes…that is one I would rather not, thanks!
