How can non-Welsh speakers call themselves Welsh??

Question

They say they are 'proud to be Welsh' but can't hold a conversation(sometimes not even a sentence) in the language of their country.We true Welsh see them as Englishmen(Saeson) with a welsh accent.
How many Frenchmen do you know that can't speak french,or a Spaniard who can't speak Spanish.
I realise some were not given the chance when they were young but living for years in a country without a basic knowlege of the language shows contempt not pride.What's to stop them learning.When I go to foreign countries I at least make an attempt to learn the local language.

Yes I realise there are more of them but that changes nothing.I'd rather Wales be a smaller country with propper Welsh people.The English-Welsh could go to England..they'd be more at home there.

If my parents were on holiday in China when I was born ..would that make me Chinese??
Jesus was born in a stable...does n't make Him a horse.

Fuss 336 Don't be a prat..the ones that can't speak that 'gibberish' as you call it are the non-Welsh speakers.

mean dean..Mae'n mynd ar y ceffyl...he goes on the horse...get it right!!!

Trykirik..much as you'd like it to be it is NOT dying the number of speakers is increasing every year.na na na na nah.

Philhny..that's my point..you might as well be in England..an Englishman with a quaint
Welsh accent...no different to a Geordie,Brummie or Scouser.
Proud to be Welsh..don't make me laugh..Sais!

Pugsley..I can well believe you've a learning difficulty..you ranting *****.

Answer 1

yes i agree with you. everbody needs to learn their own language so their language dont die and their culture dont disappear

Answer 2

During the late 19th and up to the mid 20th century Welsh almost died out. It was government policy. For instance, you had to have 'O' level English to get into university. This has since changed, but it resulted in many Welsh children not learning their mother tongue.
Cornish isn't spoken any more - except maybe in some local language societies which are totally artificial. Gaelic has survived because of the Western Isles and Erse has been revived in Ireland since the Republic joined the EU.
People born and bred in Wales and with a Welsh ancestry have the right to call themselves Welsh. The fact that people do not speak their mother tongue is not a sign of contempt, it's a sign of past repression.
Now that there is a Welsh parliament maybe this is a problem which should be tackled by the Welsh.

Answer 3

I.m Welsh and proud of it but what is the point of me speaking the language when nobody I know speaks a word of it.

Why don't you ask a question in Welsh.
I bet you don't get many answers.

I've read again the drivel that you are spouting and find it typical that, like most arrogant welsh speakers, you think you are better than anyone else just because you speak a language that is 75% English. Be honest, how can you take an English word, change the spelling and call it Welsh. Try TACSI as an example.
If you are an example of a Welsh Speaking Native of Wales then I am glad I cannot speak the language and will resist all efforts to have it forced on me.

Answer 4

hi, that's super to start this early, and you're doing all the excellent issues. persist with the rhymes and the television too (a million/2 an hour an afternoon isn't undesirable in any respect) alsom, your community library would have infant books in Welsh, which, as you have already got the pronounciation, you may examine to him (the pictures will grant help to with the meaning and infant books incredibly purely use uncomplicated language so which you will desire to be effective. the group is an brilliant theory, as he gets typical enter in an immersion kind way. I say, basically shop doing what you're doing, and shop up the welsh communities while he starts off college, while you're no longer sending him to a welsh purely college. you would be able to desire to deliver him to a welsh purely college, yet you would be able to locate he loses some english initially, because it is going to become the language he makes use of least, for this reason it's going to be achieveable that English would replace into his 2nd language. For now, howeverm i'm specific with what you're doing he will have a number of each and every while he learns to talk- word that he would mixture up the two langauges first of all so his over all langauge discovering could be somewhat slower, even yet it is going to seize up and surpass different toddlers very rapidly. nicely carried out

Answer 5

Dw i'n siarad cymraeg y tipyn bach achos mae'n rhaid i ni dysgu cymraeg yn yr ysgol ond dw i ddim yn siaradwyr berffaith....
Dw i'n cytuno - more of us should make an effort to speak Welsh ond dw i'n meddwl bod there is enough motivation from schools to speak Welsh. In fact, rydyn ni'n gallu siarad Ffrangeg yn anad cymraeg.....
I don't think that someone cannot call themselves a cymro neu cymraes just because they cannot speak Welsh. I don't blame them that they can't speak Welsh - yn arbennig yma, yng nghaerdydd where there's only a handful of Welsh speakers. It's not their fault that the language has become unpopular and I think that as long as they are proud to be Welsh and love this country very much then they can damn well call themselves Welsh.
This is an unbiased answer by the way as I am Arabic not Welsh.....a mae'n chwith gen i fy ateb hanner cymraeg a hanner saesneg - dydw i ddim hylithr yn cymraeg..... =)

Answer 6

The noun Welsh has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: a native or resident of Wales
Synonyms: Welshman, Cambrian


Meaning #2: a Celtic language of Wales

Answer 7

Hi,

one welsh speaker to another - get over it!

Your argument has many holes in it.

Who are the "true Welsh"? Who are the "true English"? Are we defined only by our language ability or by genes or simply by accident of birth?

My family are a mongrel lot - as many English as Welsh. I speak Welsh, but my little brother doesn't. Does that mean that he isn't as proud as me? C'mon!

Why can't welsh people speak welsh? It's historical. And, given our history we should be proud of the current stats - 1/3 of young people in the anglophone south now speak the language and we use it too.

Learning a language in later life is hard work. I have done my best with a number of languages and I understand the argument of "it just isn't worth the effort".

Studies show that growing up bilingual makes learning a third language easier and gives you confidence. It also explains comments like "you welsh always litter your sentences with english anyway". Yes - people in bilingual societies do that. English speaking Montrealers will say "depanneur" or "animateur" without thinking as that is the word on the street. It doesn't diminish the fact that they are english speakers, does it?

So, everyone, calm down. All welsh people are, indeed welsh people.

The language is a wonderful wonderful thing and its survival and flourishing state is a source of pride as it's the gateway to a wonderful culture.

And finally - there are less than 3m of us - we are too few in number to be arguing like this!

Answer 8

A person whose parents, grand-parents, etc. have all been born in a country where Welsh is spoken calls themselves Welsh. It doesn't matter whether or not they speak Welsh or not. That is the place of their ancestors. India is compromised of more than 20 languages. Do you expect all Indians to speak every single language present there for them to consider themselves Indian? Many people don't want to learn their native language for many reasons but that does not mean they are from that country. There is more to being Welsh than just speaking the language.

Answer 9

You narrow minded, obnoxious, racist, in-bred f**k wit. How dare you call into question my ethnicity? I AM Welsh because I was born here, grew up here and have lived here all my life. You arrogant cliquey fool, look at your own genetic history. you're a mixed race German, Danish, Frenchman who just happens to speak a bit of Celtic. A true Welshman would never be so blinkered. In a forum which is read by children I can't print the words I would like to use to describe you. suffice it to say, you're a piece of **** who's beneath contempt. Don't ever print you're racist anti-English propaganda here again. And don't ever claim any benefits from the BRITISH state or vote in the BRITISH elections. If you want to sit in a exclusively welsh speaking country with all non-speakers thrown out, enjoy your standard of living akin to Mozambique!

Answer 10

Thats a shame but these people are still Welsh . They are proud of their heritage which one can be and not know all the language. This happens in this day & age. They have a right to do so.

Answer 11

Have pals from Newport and they don't speak Welsh, they said they were taught in school but the class was soooooooooo boring

Some people take to languages and some don't, its not good being part of the United Kingdom and not speaking English