Cymru/Wales: Bipolar Nation

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Thursday 27 October 2016

The standard of my Wenglish



Now I thought that Wenglish was a 'cymysgedd' of Welsh and English not the English Dialect of the South Wales Valleys so dwi'n anghywir eto! My Cymraeg is a mixture of Welsh and English words that satisfies nobody but myself and in this blog post I would like to outline a few observations I have regarding the Welsh and English Languages. Unless you were a meany (teacher) or knew the person well you would not point out that a person had made a grammatical or spelling mistake in the English Language but in Welsh it's like a free for all.
Is correct Welsh more important than any Welsh at all?
'Dadleuol' I'm sure but if Welsh were made easier for learners then perhaps more people would learn it cos we all want an easy life don't we? don't we? Would you like to learn with a ruler hovering over your knuckles? 

Here is my Welsh CV!

First Language
Educated until 7 years of age in it.
Then education was all English. 
A Grade in Welsh GCSE as a Second Language.
Cwrs Gloywi Iaith Ysgrifynedig at Cardiff University.

So whatever 'ropey' is in Welsh, my Cymraeg is rhaffedig or rhwdlyd (rusty). I don't want this fact to stop me from writing in Welsh. I hear you say, how will you improve if you are not corrected! Well I'm not sure if I want to improve. I just want to speak and write Welsh but I wouldn't have this attitude towards the English Language. I wouldn't be so 'ysgeulus' towards the Saesneg. So why am I writing this now? Well I have started tutoring a friend. He is a full blown Brummie and it is wonderful to hear him speaking Welsh with a Black Country accent. He is a beginner but his enthusiasm is contagious and I find myself enthused by helping him. I taught Welsh as a Volunteer to adults in the 1990s for the Welsh Language Society in Cardiff and got a kick out of it but then the learners started asking about treigladau/mutations and other grammar questions and I was flummoxed so my confidence took a knock and instead of avowing to fill the gaps in my knowledge base I did nothing so perhaps my attitude to my own first language has been tainted by the lazy, instant Saesneg at our fingertips. If I do not afford as much respect to Cymraeg as I do to English then why should I expect others to have an interest or wish to learn the language. Psychology must play a part here for all learners. Why does a Brummie want to learn it? I've never asked him but to witness his keenness for something that many ignore, dismiss, insult, diminish or wish didn't exist is very touching. STOP PRESS
He told me today that he is learning it to help in his battle against depression. So perhaps that is a first because it appears to make many 'Wenglish' depressed, the thought of having to learn the indigenous brogue bro of their native country. The language cast asunder by the Capitalists of the Industrial Revolution and trampled as dust because we all know that jobs are more important than anything in the whole wide world because without jobs we would not eat and get pissed in the pub of a Saturday where it do not matter what 'iaith' you do be slurring. Language is therefore political and it cannot be anything else. By learning it you are making a political statement that you hold alternative values and wish to communicate and converse in something more original, historical, lyrical and earthy. You are learning the language of the Druids so that you can prop up the bar in Clwb Ifor Bach. Society has become so soulless and one dimensional and perhaps it is the individuals who yearn for a more 3 dimensional view of the world who put their tick in the blwch for Welsh. I shall continue to write in Wenglish and continue to tutor my friend. I just hope that he is not corrected by some well meaning personage or if he is that he is given some warning beforehand.

2 comments:

  1. Great ethygl Dafydd Having learnt the language fy hunan, I don't always mind being corrected. It's all down to agwedd. You can tell when someone is enthused and helpful and when they are a paid up member of the Heddlu Iaith. Keep up the good work. The perfectionists don't own the language

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diolch i ti Andy! Agwedd great gyda ti a diolch am dy sylwad.
    Cytuno'n llwyr gyda ti!

    ReplyDelete

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