But regardless whether you set the figure at 720,000 or 300,000 - the conclusion is the same, not many people speak Welsh, even in Wales (population 3 million). I hope you enjoy this vlog piece - I am already working on the next one!
Sunday, 13 October 2013
LIFT Vlog episode 13: Why I enjoy studying Welsh
My latest vlog episode is ready! Let's revisit a theme that I have talked about a lot in the past: studying foreign languages. Although ironically, since I am British, Welsh is in fact an indigenous minority language rather than a foreign language - there are far more people speaking languages like Polish, French, Spanish and German in the UK than Welsh, but Welsh has official status in Wales whilst none of these other foreign languages have any status in the UK.
I just want to clarify the figure I quoted of 720,000 people with some knowledge of Welsh - that is an estimate by Welsh language proponents and a rather generous one. It really depends on what you define as "have some knowledge of Welsh" - anyone who lives in Wales will probably know a few words of Welsh, but clearly knowing a few words is hardly the same as being able to speak a language competently. I have come across another estimate of 562,000 people who can speak Welsh - but clearly, the definition of being a "Welsh speaker" was different in the two studies and the higher you raise the bar, the smaller the number. If you really want to include only fluent Welsh speakers who use the language confidently on a regular basis, then that number is definitely going to be a lot smaller.
But regardless whether you set the figure at 720,000 or 300,000 - the conclusion is the same, not many people speak Welsh, even in Wales (population 3 million). I hope you enjoy this vlog piece - I am already working on the next one!
But regardless whether you set the figure at 720,000 or 300,000 - the conclusion is the same, not many people speak Welsh, even in Wales (population 3 million). I hope you enjoy this vlog piece - I am already working on the next one!
Teach us how to roll your Rs. I recently took an interest in Spanish and it has lots of rolled Rs too but I can't figure out how to do it without spitting all over the place.
ReplyDeleteThe rolled Rs (alveolar trill) is actually very common http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_trill it is just not found in Chinese or English. The spitting occurs because your tongue is in the wrong position - it is too close to your lips. The tongue needs to be placed slightly further back, on the roof of your mouth - air is then blown out (forced out rather) in the tight space between the tongue and the roof of your mouth, to force the tongue to vibrate.
DeleteSome people like myself have such control over the muscles in our tongue that we can initiate that rolling R sound without blowing air through that gap at all - it's a gift that some people have but even if you don't have that gift, you can still make that same sound by using the method i described above.
Here you go! http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lift-vlog-episode-14-can-you-roll-your.html
DeleteIt looks like you were pulling your hair out in frustration over how difficult the Welsh language is...lol
ReplyDeleteHahahaha, what hair? I am bald enough as it is :)
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