Back home it seems that the issue of how much support the Welsh language gets in tax payers money has become quite controversial after an article in the Western Mail revealed that 400K is spent on translations in the Senedd (Welsh National Assembly), waste of money to be spent when most (all?) Welsh speakers can speak and understand English. Why should this obsolescent language be fobbed on us. I live in Kansas which has English as its official language (The US has no “official language and other States it has been struck down as unconstitutional). Yet here in Dodge City we have a large Spanish speaking minority, my wife is a special ed teacher in a school where the majority is Hispanic and where the many of the kids do not know English. Do they wear “Spanish not” for speaking Spanish. No there are translators in the schools. Even in the grocery store that I work at the self checkout machines are bilingual. Is this right.
The Irony of much of this there are within the Welsh American community those who are strongly opposed to this type of bilingualism, they are vehement in their believe that “English only” should be the way. the paradox is that many of these bigots are strong supporters of the Welsh language, Plaid Cymru, and yet in the US. I cannot reconcile how these people can be strong supporters of a Marxist Leanne Wood, and at the same time in the US card carrying conservative Republicans, its almost a Schizoid type attitude.
I have always been a supporter of the Welsh language and a believer in S4C and Welsh medium education. Yet when I was living in Llandaff, I would walk past the WM High school, and kids in the playground would be using English, and a cousin of mine sent his kids to this school, and yet they do not use Welsh at all, yes it would be hard in a predominately English speaking area like Cardiff.
What is the answer.
I believe that the language should survive, and should so because in the words of one of my customers “Because it is just.
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