Bilingual clap trap.

Diesel

Diesel

Diesel

Associate
Joined
18 Jan 2006
Posts
2,244
Location
Newport
I need to rant about the utter stupidity of trying to make everybody be bilingual where I work.

It started a few weeks ago when we were informed that we HAD to answer all external phone-calls in Welsh and English. Now our out-of-office email replies HAVE to be in both Welsh and English. To make matters worse, we've also been informed that there will be spot checks! The laughable thing is, I'm in South-East Wales where absolutely nobody speaks Welsh as a first language.

I hate the Welsh language zealots who continuously try and foist their dead language onto me, it makes me wish I wasn't Welsh. At least I can console myself by the fact that their beloved rugby team were humiliated by some tiny Pacific island.
 
Do any normal actually care about the Welsh language? I mean, I have a few Welsh friends that speak it (albeit badly, according to them) and they rarely use it. Who is making the decision about its adoption as an official language?
 
We get a recruitment publication at work and all the government based adverts are in both English and Welsh. What's the point when working in said job they'd need to at least speak English anyway... Meh!
 
As someone who is born English, yet now lives in Wales, I have to say that it is at times a bit annoying!

I literally laugh when I get told to **** off back to England, yet this is told to me in English rather than Welsh!

I get annoyed when (and last week is a prime example), I receive a 'warning' letter that I haven't sent off a form to the council. The original form was all in Welsh, yet the reminder letter was in English!

I was 'gently persuaded' to take evening classes in Welsh by an ex-employer as he quite categorically stated that a lot of the customers would frown upon telephoning a Welsh company yet speaking to an English person. As a result, I "wasn't allowed" to answer the phone for 6 month in case I caused offence.

I don't really agree that it's a lost or dying language. Where I am it's spoken quite often. I can walk down the road and have people say good morning in Welsh, or go into a shop and they often start to serve me in Welsh, so it's definately a lot more common than what people think, but more so the Western part of the country than places like, say, Cardiff, Newport.

So I can 100% relate to what you're saying Diesel. It's not fair. I did have the attitude when I moved down that if I'm moving to a country which adopts it's own language then it's up to me to learn the language and customs. I expect it on 'ethnic minorites' doing it when they move to the UK, so I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't do the same.

But the 'forcefulness' of it is getting a bit much, especially how a 2 minute telephone call to a local authority can take TWICE as long as they say everything in Welsh and THEN English!
 
So are there people living in Wales that DON'T speak any English then?
 
~J~ said:
Don't know about NOT speaking English, but there's a few places that will only speak English if pushed.
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^^Fixed

But the majority of welsh people I have met are ***** but maybe thats just my opinion.

KaHn
 
The trouble with the Welsh language nutts is it's English tax payers money that they are wasting and the amenities for the Wlesh people that are suffering. For example the Welsh NHS spent the cost of a new childrens Hospital on making all the signs in the existing Hospitals bi-lingual which makes for nice big confusing signs and a ditinct lack of a specialist childrens hopsital in Wales.

there are countless other examples such as having all speaches at the welsh assembly simultaneously translated into welsh for a feed which it has been confirmed nobody listens too as they prefer to listen to the origional speaker. Role on independence and let the fools do what they will.

The current drive to revive an almost dead language in both a waste of money and a sure fire way to set the Welsh economy back even further as companies look else where due to the additional costs of producing dual language everything.

Oh and don't get me started on S4C apparently the most expensive TV chanell in the world if measured on a per viewer basis!

(I lived in wales for 20 years my opinions are valid)
 
I like the Welsh language. I know a lot of people, both in Cardiff (where I live), Neath (where I frequent) and other places where Welsh remains the primary language in the household.

From my experiences, I certainly wouldnt call Welsh a dead language.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Role on independence and let the fools do what they will.
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If Wales ever gains full independence I shall be swiftly moving to England.

I have always said that bilingual signs are a complete waste of taxpayers money, especially when they say almost the same thing (an example being when a road near me was being repaired and the English sign said "Concrete Curing", while the Welsh sign next to it said "Concrete Curio").
 
I cant wait for full independance, then they scotts won't be giving free uni places any more and the welsh......well lets see how they fair.

KaHn
 
Let's have devolution today. Cut Wales off, right now. No public money moving between England and Wales at all. Let the Welsh nationalists try to run Wales without money from England. Don't allow Welsh nationals to simply cross the border to get services paid for by English public money. Let the Welsh government insist that everyone in Wales speaks a language hardly anyone uses anywhere. That'll help them do business in other countries.

Give it a few years and there will be calls in Wales for a referendum to rejoin the UK.

Nationalists get on my nerves. Nationalists supported by money from the country they most dislike get on my nerves even more.
 
KaHn said:
I cant wait for full independance, then they scotts won't be giving free uni places any more and the welsh......well lets see how they fair.

KaHn
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I really don't see what any of that has to do with the thread topic? But since you've started it I wouldn't be so sure about the free university places drying up. Oh and it is Scots or Scottish and Welsh, have the decency to capitalise when speaking about a nation please. :)

For the original topic, it doesn't make much sense to me. I would have thought that you could simply start off in Welsh or English (don't care which) and then if necessary swap on request.
 
So you speak English because you want to. Other people speak Welsh because they want to. But they are the nationalists.

Im a bit lost on that one.
 
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