National Anthems at The Millenium Stadium

[bhamex1901]

god save the queen is an uninspiring dirge, land of hope and glory is by far the most rousing english anthem, closely followed by jerusalem.

this.

 

[glasfryn]

GSTQ is the UK national anthem and I did notice a lot of the crowd with welsh scarves on singing it with gusto I would prefer "swing low" as the English national anthem and that way the welsh would not be obliged to sing it



interesting thing I learned the other day from QI that the official language of Wales is actually English and that England has NO designated official language.
maybe someone would like to make a suggestion?

 

[The Spanish]

Especially if you don't believe in God or the monarchy.

indeed i have only 'seen' her on telly - could be anyone just dressed in a crown piss easy to arrange.

 

[Grendel]

interesting thing I learned the other day from QI that the official language of Wales is actually English

English AND Welsh are the official languages of Wales, as of this year - BBC News - assembly vote for new Welsh language law

 

[glasfryn]

English AND Welsh are the official languages of Wales, as of this year - BBC News - assembly vote for new Welsh language law

absolute waste of money
I have always thought this is what holds back the welsh kids at school and I get sick of shouting at the TV when they look bemused as to why the welsh kids are so far behind others in Europe its not an easy language to learn at the best of times and when are they ever going to use it applying for jobs when there are none in Wales, maybe they would use welsh to apply for a job in England for what use that might be,there are only so many interpreters jobs anywhere.
having spoken to many who speak welsh they have the impression that its quaint to have your own language and thats as maybe but not to the disadvantage to their children learning welsh should not be compulsory it should be optional

 

[Jonno]

There is no research at all to suggest that kids learning Welsh in any way hinders their acquisition of English. Young children are remarkable beings when it comes to language learning, they can easily deal with and gain complete command of two or three languages if exposed to them at a young age, normally below about 10 or 11. There is research, however, to suggest that bilingual children perform better academically and have better cognitive processing skills, amongst others.

 

[chops]

Fantastic sound, but what the f*** was it.........what happened to Bread of Heaven, that used to really raise the roof

Bread of Heaven isn't our national anthem, Mae hen wlad fy nhadau (Land of my fathers) is.

GSTQ is shite.

 

[chops]

There is no research at all to suggest that kids learning Welsh in any way hinders their acquisition of English. Young children are remarkable beings when it comes to language learning, they can easily deal with and gain complete command of two or three languages if exposed to them at a young age, normally below about 10 or 11. There is research, however, to suggest that bilingual children perform better academically and have better cognitive processing skills, amongst others.

Some anecdotal evidence: my seven year old nephew barely speaks a word of English and my aunt, who teaches Welsh, sends christmas cards written in English and littered with grammatical and spelling errors. What does this mean?

 

[*Gullsworth*]

She is Scottish!

 

[Fungus]

She reads too much NSC?

 

[Mackenzie]

f*** me! Just watched the football equivalent on S4C (Wales V Ireland) and the contrast couldn't have been greater. Most of those feckless twats didn't sing a note, and the few that did looked like they were in child labour so pained were the expressions. No wonder the Welsh are so shit at football....WHERE IS THE PASSION!

 

[glasfryn]

There is no research at all to suggest that kids learning Welsh in any way hinders their acquisition of English. Young children are remarkable beings when it comes to language learning, they can easily deal with and gain complete command of two or three languages if exposed to them at a young age, normally below about 10 or 11. There is research, however, to suggest that bilingual children perform better academically and have better cognitive processing skills, amongst others.

so this is why the Assembly are in a blind panic because the Welsh kids are very nearly at the bottom on the European league ,welsh kids do everything in Welsh up until they are 7 then English comes into play

 

[glasfryn]

There is no research at all to suggest that kids learning Welsh in any way hinders their acquisition of English. Young children are remarkable beings when it comes to language learning, they can easily deal with and gain complete command of two or three languages if exposed to them at a young age, normally below about 10 or 11. There is research, however, to suggest that bilingual children perform better academically and have better cognitive processing skills, amongst others.

so this is why the Assembly are in a blind panic because the Welsh kids are very nearly at the bottom on the European league ,welsh kids do everything in Welsh up until they are 7 then English comes into play

 

[glasfryn]

Some anecdotal evidence: my seven year old nephew barely speaks a word of English and my aunt, who teaches Welsh, sends christmas cards written in English and littered with grammatical and spelling errors. What does this mean?

the woman who is our neighbour teaches Welsh and apart from the fact that she and her partner are the vilest pair I have been unfortunate to meet they speak Welsh while we are about and English at any other time, he is basically thick and she has no understanding of many English words.
there is something wrong in Gods only land and the people in charge really cannot see it and they embarrassing themselves by continuing to throw money down the drain.
It is all very quaint but please not to the detriment of their children

 

[Jonno]

Some anecdotal evidence: my seven year old nephew barely speaks a word of English and my aunt, who teaches Welsh, sends christmas cards written in English and littered with grammatical and spelling errors. What does this mean?

Possibly that her level of written English is the same as many native English speakers, i.e. not very good. It's more about the quality of education (and of course the students) than the medium of instruction at a young age.

 

[Jonno]

so this is why the Assembly are in a blind panic because the Welsh kids are very nearly at the bottom on the European league ,welsh kids do everything in Welsh up until they are 7 then English comes into play

This is more or less the case with minority-language children throughout Europe (Frisians, Catalans, Sami etc.) and I'm sure not all them are near the bottom of the league table, so it's most likely other non-linguistic factors at play.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I can't really see it as an issue. My best friend's husband is a passionate Welshman, they live in Sussex and have an eighteen month old son who Dad speaks to in Welsh a lot of the time (his family are from North Wales and speak Welsh as their first language).

The boy's first words (that I've heard) are all in English, but I'm sure he'll pick up Welsh too, they learn pretty easily as small children. Granted, it's a somewhat pointless language in terms of careers etc, but it would be sad if all these ancient languages were allowed to die out simply for that reason, and I certainly can't see the harm in my godson learning it while he's going about his daily life.

 

[Bwian]

just a shame we never get to sing an anthem that can stir us like that

It really doesn't. It's absolutely shit.

God save the queen, has got to be be the most dull, insipid, uninspring national anthem.

God save the queen is an uninspiring dirge

Why do English people insist on singing it at football matches? Get rid of the dirge, please. It is boring and embarrassing compared to the stirring anthems of many other countries.

 

[Gwylan]

so this is why the Assembly are in a blind panic because the Welsh kids are very nearly at the bottom on the European league ,welsh kids do everything in Welsh up until they are 7 then English comes into play

While it's true that Welsh schools are near the bottom of the European language it's hard to pin the blame on Welsh-language schools: Welsh-language schools out-perform English-language schools at both GCSEs and A Levels. That's not necessarily to say that Welsh language per se is a better medium, Welsh language schools are, by and large, in less deprived areas but that just emphasises that there are more factors than language.
A friend of mine in Newport, who doesn't speak a word of Welsh and who lives in a very English-speaking area, sent both his kids to Welsh language school because he thought it would be better for them. Why would someone do that if, as you claim, it's an inferior education?

 

[glasfryn]

While it's true that Welsh schools are near the bottom of the European language it's hard to pin the blame on Welsh-language schools: Welsh-language schools out-perform English-language schools at both GCSEs and A Levels. That's not necessarily to say that Welsh language per se is a better medium, Welsh language schools are, by and large, in less deprived areas but that just emphasises that there are more factors than language.
A friend of mine in Newport, who doesn't speak a word of Welsh and who lives in a very English-speaking area, sent both his kids to Welsh language school because he thought it would be better for them. Why would someone do that if, as you claim, it's an inferior education?

Hymning the praises of Welsh | Straight Statistics
I have just come across this which is interesting inc the blogs