Language?

[kirschkern]

Grew up speaking English,
fluent Japanese,
pretty good French,
can get by in Mandarin Chinese,
read and write Classical Japanese,
studying German,
hope to add Welsh and Old Irish to the list when I start grad school in the fall.

[CyberBOm}B{er]

3
arabic : مرحبا hello
french : bonjoir goodmorning
english

[AlexK]

Human Languages I fully speak: English, Malayalam (Indian Language)
Human Languages I don't speak well: German, French, Spanish (All learnt in High School).

Computer Languages: C, C++, Java, BASIC, HTML VHDL, Matlab, Haskell, Assembly.

[fingal]

just curious, but whats the score with welsh in wales these days? is it on the increase, or is it a dying language like cornish has become?

I don't speak Welsh, but I met a Welsh Nationalist lady - from North Wales - who told me that if I was to visit her town she would refuse to speak English to me. I tried to convince her that if she didn't communicate to me in my own language then I wouldn't be very likely to learn hers ... Isn't that how languages spread? Like-minded groups of people get together and work out ways to communicate.

I think Welsh speakers tend to be concentrated in either North or West Wales, and I don't think Celtic languages are dying out. We need Dylunio's input in here!

[GabiAPF]

I speak Spanish as my main language, and English as a secondary language. I'd like to learn more languages, but haven't found the time yet.

[GNOME_n00b]

I don't speak Welsh, but I met a Welsh Nationalist lady - from North Wales - who told me that if I was to visit her town she would refuse to speak English to me. I tried to convince her that if she didn't communicate to me in my own language then I wouldn't be very likely to learn hers ... Isn't that how languages spread? Like-minded groups of people get together and work out ways to communicate.

I think Welsh speakers tend to be concentrated in either North or West Wales, and I don't think Celtic languages are dying out. We need Dylunio's input in here!

i always thought north wales was very 'english' because its so touristy (eg rhyl, prestatyn, colwyn bay, llandudno, etc). that area of wales is full of scousers. it seems to me that the welsh speakers are more concentrated in mid wales, and especially towards the valleys in the south.
i'm part welsh, but i know that if an english speaking person went into a shop, for instance, in many parts of wales, the locals there would immediately stop speaking in english and start speaking in welsh just to exclude him/her. i think thats rude.
the welsh language is actually quite a nice sounding language and quite interesting in its structure. notice how so very few vowels there are in welsh?

as for celtic languages dying out, cornish is dead. the last person to speak it regularly died over 100 years ago. scottish gaelic is only spoken in some very remote parts of the scottish islands. irish gaelic is only spoken in the south west of ireland. the welsh language is by far the most active of the lot.

[dylunio]

as for celtic languages dying out, cornish is dead. the last person to speak it regularly died over 100 years ago. scottish gaelic is only spoken in some very remote parts of the scottish islands. irish gaelic is only spoken in the south west of ireland. the welsh language is by far the most active of the lot.

Where are you getting these ideas from?

I know people that speak Cornish daily, people from all around Scotland
(not just the Islands) that speak Scottish Gaelic, and the same is true for other I know in Ireland. Addmitedly a higher demographic speak Scottish Gealic in the Hebridian Islands, and the same is true for the Cork area of Ireland.

I don't know why you think that mid and south Wales speak more Welsh than in the north. North East wales is very english, but once you hit Gwynedd with Penllyn it has the highest demographic of Welsh speakers in Wales. As for the south welsh is becomming more popular due to the fact the welsh schools are better than the english ones (the opposite is true in the north).

but i know that if an english speaking person went into a shop, for instance, in many parts of wales, the locals there would immediately stop speaking in english and start speaking in welsh just to exclude him/her. i think thats rude.

Erm, I think that they'd be speaking in Welsh already - they wouldn't switch due to to an outsider comming in. You speak to people in whichever language you are used to speaking to them in. I've come to understand it's a common insecurity that people who don't know welsh find when people speak Welsh around them, they think that they are saying things about them.

dylunio

[techieMoe]

I've come to understand it's a common insecurity that people who don't know welsh find when people speak Welsh around them, they think that they are saying things about them.

dylunio

I think that's a common insecurity for anyone who is surrounded with people speaking an unfamiliar language.

[GNOME_n00b]

Where are you getting these ideas from?

I know people that speak Cornish daily

really? then something like that needs more publicity seeing that only you knows about this. the last person to (regularly) speak cornish natively was Dolly Pentreath who died in 1777. perhaps i didn't make it clear that i was referring to native speaking throughout. the sanskrit language is well dead, but there are many people who speak it.
http://www.britainexpress.com/counti...le-Photo-5.htm

Memorial to Dolly Pentreath (d. 1777) in the churchyard at Paul, just outside Mousehiole. Dolly was believed to be the last person to speak Cornish as her native language. After her time people still learned Cornish, but as a second language after English.

i think you'll find that everything that i've said is accurate.

Erm, I think that they'd be speaking in Welsh already - they wouldn't switch due to to an outsider comming in. You speak to people in whichever language you are used to speaking to them in. I've come to understand it's a common insecurity that people who don't know welsh find when people speak Welsh around them, they think that they are saying things about them.

it is very true though. its not just my experience. its quite well known if everyone who you ever speak to about this has either had it happen to themseleves and/or has known someone whom its happened to. like i say, its probably not everywhere, but one hears about it happening with uncomfortable frequency.

[dylunio]

really? then something like that needs more publicity seeing that only you knows about this. the last person to (regularly) speak cornish natively was Dolly Pentreath who died in 1777. perhaps i didn't make it clear that i was referring to native speaking throughout. the sanskrit language is well dead, but there are many people who speak it.

Cornish has the problem that it died and has been resurected. The problem with this is that there is one group that says they should speak it the medieval way (where the most written sources come from), and another group saying it should be spoken as it was in the 1700's as it was last spoken.

This causes infighting within the Cornish (as in language) comunity and thus the progress of language spreading is slowed down a lot. The people I know will speak one (I think the 1700's version) at home when they can and as well as in any local shops where they speak the same cornish, but since the majority of people in Cornwall don't speak any kind of cornish and the people who do have learnt it as a sectond language, with all the infighting I feel the project at the moment is a damp squib.

The bible has been the main factor in the survival of Welsh since Queen Elizabeth I needed a Welsh bible to make sure that all the Welsh would attend the anglican chirch as the law decreed.
With Gaelec and Cornish the bible was translated at a much later date which is one reason that they haven't survived well.