Mynd, mynd mynd!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17020261

The number of fluent Welsh speakers is falling by around 3,000 people a year, a new report suggests.

The Welsh Language Board (WLB) said deaths and people moving from Wales are having the biggest impact.

The report says that around 6,500 Welsh speakers die annually and 5,200 move away, out-pacing adult learners and children learning or raised in Welsh.

It found the number of people who say they speak Welsh fluently is approximately 300,000.
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WELSH LANGUAGE FACTS

Until the mid-1800s, more than 80% of people in Wales could speak Welsh
Factors causing its decline included the Industrial Revolution, with the fall continuing in the 20th Century
The 1991 Census found 508,000 Welsh speakers in Wales (18.7% of the population)
The 2001 Census showed 582,000 (20.8%) Welsh speakers, up 2.1%
The 2001 Census also showed 457,946 (16.3%) can read, write and speak Welsh
In 2001, 797,717 (28.4%) people had at least one skill in Welsh, either understanding, speaking, reading or writing
Source: Welsh Language Board

The WLB is being wound up by the Welsh government following the appointment of Wales' first Welsh language commissioner.

Its report, which uses the 2001 Census and other public data as well as its own research, is one of its most comprehensive in recent times.

New legislation passed by the assembly last year requires the new commissioner to publish a similar report every five years.

The WLB report assesses changes in the number of people speaking Welsh, as well as geographical and generational differences.

It found four areas - Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire - remain important for the language, accounting for 56% of all fluent Welsh speakers.

It concludes that the number of people able to speak Welsh rose between 1991 and 2001, mainly because more young people were learning the language at school.

Brieg Powell, a first language Welsh speaker who now lives in Plymouth, said he left Wales for personal reasons.

"I did a PhD, I'm a lecturer and it was a matter of getting a job where I could. My wife is also a lecturer and in our line of work it's actually quite common for academic couples to be split between two cities."

He said he was passing on Welsh to his daughter.

"My wife is half Iranian so my daughter is learning Persian from her, Welsh from me, and then she's picking up English through childcare and through the environment here in Plymouth," he added.

"It's a conscious decision to pass on the language."

Dr Charlotte Davies, a recently retired senior lecturer in an anthropology at Swansea University, learned Welsh after moving to Wales from her native United States in the 1970s.

"I was doing research on the Welsh national movement for my PhD," she said.

"As an anthropologist you really are expected to learn the language of the culture that you're studying. There was really no question about it."

She said large numbers of people had been moving into predominantly Welsh speaking areas.

"To be fair, many of them do attempt to learn the language and many of them learn it successfully, but the numbers are not large enough," she said.

Further analysis of Welsh speaking is expected to come from the 2011 Census released later this year.

How many Welsh speakers on here?

It's a shame, but a lot of us just don't have a connection with the language.

I was born and bred in Cardiff and nobody I knew ever spoke Welsh. When I was catching the bus as a kid, I didn't hear a single person speaking Welsh.

My ancestry (well, my great grandparents anyway) goes back to 4 countries: Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England, so that would explain why I don't speak Welsh, I suppose. That's probably the case for a lot of people in the southern half of the country for sure - they don't have a long history in Wales, hence the lack of Welsh speakers.

When i eventually move back home i'm going to learn Welsh. Didnt realise how embarrassing it is while in work in England and people ask can you speak welsh? With the reply No!! They give a silly look. Lets be honest we give all this rubbish about being welsh and we cant even speak our own lanuage.

When i eventually move back home i'm going to learn Welsh. Didnt realise how embarrassing it is while in work in England and people ask can you speak welsh? With the reply No!! They give a silly look. Lets be honest we give all this rubbish about being welsh and we cant even speak our own lanuage.

True. I think it's a gorgeous language and I wish I'd made the effort to speak it. The reason I haven't is because I always got by with English. Dead lazy, me.

When i eventually move back home i'm going to learn Welsh. Didnt realise how embarrassing it is while in work in England and people ask can you speak welsh? With the reply No!! They give a silly look. Lets be honest we give all this rubbish about being welsh and we cant even speak our own lanuage.

True. I think it's a gorgeous language and I wish I'd made the effort to speak it. The reason I haven't is because I always got by with English. Dead lazy, me.

I actually speak more German than Welsh. I suppose it was actually living there amongst so many German speakers I had to.
On the flip side, if I lived in a small town in North Wales where most spoke only Welsh I would have to learn it.
Bit like you Nedd I suppose, learn enough to get by.

When i eventually move back home i'm going to learn Welsh. Didnt realise how embarrassing it is while in work in England and people ask can you speak welsh? With the reply No!! They give a silly look. Lets be honest we give all this rubbish about being welsh and we cant even speak our own lanuage.

True. I think it's a gorgeous language and I wish I'd made the effort to speak it. The reason I haven't is because I always got by with English. Dead lazy, me.

I actually speak more German than Welsh. I suppose it was actually living there amongst so many German speakers I had to.
On the flip side, if I lived in a small town in North Wales where most spoke only Welsh I would have to learn it.
Bit like you Nedd I suppose, learn enough to get by.

I'm the same, ive never needed to speak it so never bothered worrying about it. Now tho i wish i had and will be learning it again in the future.

Personally I don't think we should have welsh as a second language. It should be just a part of welsh heritage/history. But that's just me.

Can we please take down all the welsh road signs and stop announcing everything is welsh first now? Those figures don't surprise me in the least and it just shows what a waste of money all this promotion of the language really is.

Can we please take down all the welsh road signs and stop announcing everything is welsh first now? Those figures don't surprise me in the least and it just shows what a waste of money all this promotion of the language really is.

This. More money should be chucked at the economy.

Dwi'n dysgu Cymraeg.

Dwi'n dysgu Cymraeg.

Da Iawn

Yr wyf wedi ceisio dysgu Cymraeg, ond doedd dim llwyddiannus iawn arno oherwydd diffyg cyfleoedd i ddefnyddio, ymhlith y bobl indiginious y tir hwn gwych.

Yr wyf wedi ceisio dysgu Cymraeg, ond doedd dim llwyddiannus iawn arno oherwydd diffyg cyfleoedd i ddefnyddio, ymhlith y bobl indiginious y tir hwn gwych.

What's that foriegn language?

How many Welsh speakers on here?

Ydw, well used to, went to a welsh school, but after leaving school I lost it, mainly because nobody in splutt or my family siarads cymraeg, I think it helps if people in your family speak it also, other wise you forget.