English .....second language?

[Lady Whistledown]

I wonder if Scottish and Northern Irish schools want to teach their pupils Gaelic ?

To be honest, if (1) enough people spoke Scottish Gaelic to teach it, and (2) they weren't so lazy, the Scots would teach their kids the language like a shot, just because they think it'd put that extra little bit of distance between them and the English
<bothered>

Anyway, back on topic, I'm sure there are more Welsh speakers about than Scots Gaelic, and I can't see how it would impact on the tax payer to teach Welsh kids their language. If their kids weren't learning Welsh in that one hour a week, a teacher would still be getting paid to teach them something far less worthy, like PSVE, or Media Studies.

Leave them alone, it's great that people make the effort to preserve these old languages.

 

[captainmorganrum]

Leave them alone, it's great that people make the effort to preserve these old languages.

I like you!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I like you!

Cheers, now if you'll excuse me I'm off to watch Pobol y Cwm

 

[severnside gull]

my grandkids go to a welsh school and at 5yrs and 8yrs are perfectly bilingual both speaking and in writing. In addition they have a cultural heritage of which they can be proud.

Small price to pay IMHO

I have grandchildren in Holland who speak English and Dutch fluently (often in the same sentence). Probably not the most useful combination of languages but no harm and doubtless when they start learning French/Spanish/German or whatever it will present less of a problem as they are mentally attuned to be more flexible than someone who is monolingual.

 

[fatbadger]

I'm sure there are more Welsh speakers about than Scots Gaelic

There are (about 10 times as many). For the record, there are quite a few Scottish schools, particularly in the north west, which teach Gaelic, and in most of those it's the main language of instruction (because it is the local community's first language).

As for Glasfryn's original post, you are talking a load of nonsense. At none of these schools is English not taught, so all of those UK citizens attending them are learning English so you have nothing to worry about. Secondly, I'm not sure what you mean by 'national language', but if you mean 'official language', then we have two - English and Welsh. There's a strong movement up here to make Scots Gaelic an official language, although it's not likely to get anywhere given the small number of speakers.

 

[severnside gull]

As for Glasfryn's original post, you are talking a load of nonsense. At none of these schools is English not taught, so all of those UK citizens attending them are learning English so you have nothing to worry about.

welsh schools teach welsh exclusively for the first two years at least (most kids naturally speak english at home because their parents dont speak or dont use welsh!)

 

[glasfryn]

Can't see the problem myself, granted I can't speak a word of it, but I think it would be very sad if minority languages like Welsh were allowed to die out.

You say it's not useful- I accept that may be the case in terms of international business etc, but plenty of people in North and mid Wales speak it in everyday life- I've got three mates who speak only Welsh when they go home to see their families.

I'd love to be able to speak other languages fluently, whether French, Spanish, Arabic or Welsh. Non English speakers usually love it when people make an effort to speak to them in their language, and even if it was of little practical use on a daily basis, I'd be more than happy to pick up a few words of Welsh if I was going there. Just to be sociable, nothing wrong with that.

Besides- can you imagine how stroppy they'd get if the Government told them they couldn't make it compulsory in their schools? Uptake of Welsh classes would rocket, just to prove a point

it would prove a point and they might also have to pay for said classes

I had the opposite experience to that a good few years ago. I walked into a shop with my brother in Mid Wales. The people there were talking in English yet once they heard our accents they started speaking Welsh !

As far as I'm concerned Welsh schools can teach whatever they want just as long as don't expect English tax payers to subsidize it. I wonder if Scottish and Northern Irish schools want to teach their pupils Gaelic ?

living in the welsh speaking heartland I have found that the older people will change to English when we join the conversation,...but our next door neighbours will speak English until they see us then change to Welsh,their children speak English all the time until their parents are around then back to Welsh,which really says it all.

It will be interesting if this bill goes through who is going to pay for it ...me thinks the central Government will ask the assembly to pay for it....and that might just put the blockers on it!

To be honest, if (1) enough people spoke Scottish Gaelic to teach it, and (2) they weren't so lazy, the Scots would teach their kids the language like a shot, just because they think it'd put that extra little bit of distance between them and the English
<bothered>

Anyway, back on topic, I'm sure there are more Welsh speakers about than Scots Gaelic, and I can't see how it would impact on the tax payer to teach Welsh kids their language. If their kids weren't learning Welsh in that one hour a week, a teacher would still be getting paid to teach them something far less worthy, like PSVE, or Media Studies.

Leave them alone, it's great that people make the effort to preserve these old languages.

One hour a week.........the kids next door spend whole weeks and sometimes months learning and translating and in the summer go to welsh speaking colleges.

personally I could'nt give a fig what they learn at school,the point I was trying make was that English is the national language of the UK and therefor should be prominent and when you see on the TV (coal house) a 7 year old not being able to speak the numbers to ten because he has only been taught in Welsh there is undoubtedly something wrong and there are people in the assembly wondering why the welsh are falling behind other nations in education.
Surely in this day and age studying is to bring you an occupation that will bring you the money and fulfillment you need as an adult,learning your about your culture and any different language would and should come in spare time at home or school and nothing wrong with that but not at the expense learning something that would be useful anywhere in this ever decreasing world.

 

[fatbadger]

welsh schools teach welsh exclusively for the first two years at least

Which doesn't disprove my point. And there's no 'at least' - English is a compulsory subject for all schools between the ages of 7 and 16.

 

[glasfryn]

Which doesn't disprove my point. And there's no 'at least' - English is a compulsory subject for all schools between the ages of 7 and 16.

not in Wales its not

the point I was trying to make