When in Wales......do what the Welsh do.

[andy2007]

the language is dead and kept alive only to pander to fancy,

Not so. Welsh might be dead (or at least, very poorly) in South Wales, but it's alive and kicking in North Wales.

They even 'welshify' english words. such as Rwgbi for Rugby, Criced for Cricket, bws for bus,
tacsi for taxi and even fecbwc for Facebook.

Exactly. I didn't know about them "Welshifying" words (I thought they were actual Welsh words), but I do know that it is widely used. Obviously, they also speak English, particularly when they're dealing with people who don't speak Welsh. I rarely go to South Wales, so I didn't know that it was less well known there. But that's no reason to deprive the people of North Wales, of their Language, is it?

[NWpostie]

I have lived in Wales for a few years and attended Welsh school even though I am English, I was there cos my Dad works in Wales, my observation is this, while Welsh is a beautiful language and is the Original Language of the Britons before Anglo Saxons came along, outside of Wales it is of no use, not all Welsh speak it beyond a few words, it is only in everyday use in West wales outside of it, is very sporadic and peters out toward England, Wrexham feels like an English town.

[Lounge Lizard]

If the Welsh language was all it's made out to be then everyone in Wales would be speaking it and there would be no need for calls for any new language legislation.

[andy2007]

The calls for new ligislation, is for the benefit of those who DO speak Welsh.

[Lounge Lizard]

The calls for new ligislation, is for the benefit of those who DO speak Welsh.

Maybe, but if it was such a good language it would have spread across the border and we would all be speaking it now in preference to English. Welsh had its place in the principality for much of the last millenium but it nearly died out last century and trying to preserve it by legislation is as daft as passing a law saying we must all regularly go morris dancing.

[dvbuk55]

The calls for new ligislation, is for the benefit of those who DO speak Welsh.

Maybe, but if it was such a good language it would have spread across the border and we would all be speaking it now in preference to English. Welsh had its place in the principality for much of the last millenium but it nearly died out last century and trying to preserve it by legislation is as daft as passing a law saying we must all regularly go morris dancing.

Has anyone seen my clogs?

[POSTMAN]

A Language Database

Further to Letter to Branches 454/06 dated 11th July 2006 and 270/07 dated 21st March 2007 we have been contacted by a number of members who have volunteered their services to assist in recruitment activities etc where members do not have English as their first language.

To reiterate the point made in both LTB 454/06 and 270/07 there has been a trend of members who do not have English as their first language approaching our local representatives and even on some occasions, CWU Head Office, for assistance. It is thought that there would be some benefit in ensuring that we have the linguistic capability to provide support and representation to members in their native language.

At CWU HQ we have been entering these details on a database so that if, for example, we needed a Spanish speaker in Peterborough, we could pull up all Spanish speakers located in the Eastern region.

This of course will depend on whether we have members who are bi-lingual and willing to assist with this and of course where they are located. As such I would appreciate it if you would let me know if there are any members in your branch who speak another language and are willing to assist with this

[NWpostie]

English should be a working Language, not just for reasons of cost for interpereters, printings, etc , but for safety reasons, the first Language you are going to shout is English, you can't waste time second guessing what language to shout in.

[andy2007]

But if you follow that argument to it's logical conclusion. Then it would be dangerous for anyone from Britain or America, to get a job on the European Mainland.

[DGP1]

But if you follow that argument to it's logical conclusion. Then it would be dangerous for anyone from Britain or America, to get a job on the European Mainland.

Anybody getting a job in a foreign country should be able to speak that language without exception (if I was to get a job in Spain for example, I would first learn Spanish).

There was once an Irish TV show where the man travelled around Ireland speaking only Irish for a year and at one point he shouted a warning to someone (about to be hit by a car) in Irish but they didn't understand and as a consequence they were knocked down (but not badly injured).

[k979aaa]

But if you follow that argument to it's logical conclusion. Then it would be dangerous for anyone from Britain or America, to get a job on the European Mainland.

Anybody getting a job in a foreign country should be able to speak that language without exception (if I was to get a job in Spain for example, I would first learn Spanish).

There was once an Irish TV show where the man travelled around Ireland speaking only Irish for a year and at one point he shouted a warning to someone (about to be hit by a car) in Irish but they didn't understand and as a consequence they were knocked down (but not badly injured).

So if the person who he was communicating with understood him they would not have been run over?. May be when in ireland do as the irish do. I have nearly been run over by a few spanish/ portuguese HGV drivers and they only give hand signals which you don't find in the highway code!.