The Welsh Government want your opinion

[henddraig]

Why not teach the English more about welsh history.

I think that's an excellent idea, but I cannot imagine it ever happening! I have a bee in my bonnet about history teaching everywhere. If we don't learn about past mistakes we'll never learn from them and I don't see much sign of kids learning history nowadays, their own, much less anyone else's!

why not teach the Welsh more about Welsh history?

Almost certainly also needed and more practicable, as I think the curriculum is a matter for the Senedd!

[hewrop]

The Welsh people are so polite and very kind

As a Welshman, I appreciate your positive view of my compatriots and your own ancestors - diolch yn fawr. However, as a Welshman. I wish your generalisation were true. Having spent roughly equal periods of my life in Scotland, England and Wales, I have found that it is no more true for us than it is for our neighbours. Happily it is still possible to find polite and kind people throughout the UK/Europe/World.

I'm not sure I recognise your view of Welsh History. My own favourite source (written I believe without any particular agenda) is "History of Wales" by John Davies.

I share your pride in our Welsh heritage.

[RichardBuck]

On one occasion a third person there even spoke up and said to the other person in Welsh - She can speak Welsh you know - and the first person looked at me in total surprise. It seemed that because I was not a person known to him he didn't even register that I was speaking Welsh, but assumed that I was speaking English.

It's not just Welsh this happens in -- maybe it's a general thing with minority languages.

Me, in the tourist office in La Seu d'Urgell [in Catalan]: Excuse me, do you have a local map?
Tourist office employee [in Castilian/Spanish]: I'm sorry, sir, what was it you wanted?
Me [in Catalan]: I'm sorry, I don't speak Castilian. (I genuinely didn't, at the time.)
TOE [now in Catalan]: Oh, I'm sorry, what language do you speak?
Me [still in Catalan but a bit boggled]: Uh, Catalan...

[Sam84]

I've just finished reading "History of Wales" myself. A good factual and interesting book

[dee]

Actually I've decided to use this as a ploy in reverse now. When someone speaks English to me I just act as if I haven't noticed and I carry on in Welsh. I did it today in a supermarket. It was obvious the other person understood what I was saying but they answered in English. We exchanged 4 or 5 sentences, me in Welsh and her in English, then I said "Ta ra" and off I went.

[leiafee]

I do that a lot! Especially with strangers.

[hewrop]

I'm currently in Swansea waiting for M's car to be serviced. I haven't visited much since the post war dereliction in the 50s with my Llangadog tadcu. I rememrber his speaking nothing but Welsh in the wholesaler (J T Morgan ??) and the market and all the shops we went to. Sadly, I've tried Welsh first today but with very little success.

We've got work to do, cyfeillion!

[henddraig]

I had been trying to describe the loss. When I was on Gower, Welsh had pretty much gone from Swansea while still alive and well in Llanelli and Sir Gar generally, but, I gather, in the 17+ years since I moved up here, it is much less spoken even there!

[hewrop]

A Glimmer of hope

At the end of a dispiriting day in Abertawe, I struck up a conversation in English with the young service receptionist in the garage i was visiting about the current use of Welsh in Swansea. She told me that she had attended a Welsh school in Ystalyfera but that she had "lost" her Welsh completely. So in a friendly way (I hope) I said to her in Welsh "What if I spoke to you in Welsh now?" She replied without hesitation in what sounded to me to be perfect Welsh "I can speak Welsh and understand it". We then had a very decent 5 minute Welsh conversation. It rounded off my day perfectly and softened the blow of the enormous bill.

It planted an idea which I'm going to copy to one of the "Million Speaker" ideas threads. Perhaps we should have an "Unlock your inner Welsh" badge or motto or T shirt or campaign.

[leiafee]

I likethe "unlock your inner welsh" as a theme for gamifications / intrigue ideas which currently seem to be bubbling up on the Tricider