I moved to Wales a couple of years back because I met a woman from Cardiff. I moved down here as a journalist and found that I could not get any job because I can't speak Welsh and this was required for most jobs.
Now, I would understand if I was moving to France or something, but the vast majority of Welsh people speak English as their first language.
What is this all about? I am from Scotland originally and we didn't have such a big thing about Gaelic although plenty Scots still spoke that.
Why are the Welsh so intent on excluding people from other countries by forcing the issue of what is essentially a dead language?
I await the rants. That is the most pompous ridiculous thing i have ever heard. If a job requires a tool then if you haven't got that tool either don't apply or try and learn the new skill (tool) and this being the welsh language. AND I AM A WELSH SPEAKER YES AND PROUD.
You are a narrow minded person that's all i can say to suggest a language is dead just because you have visited the capital city is ridiculous. You were in what's classed as English speaking wales and not Welsh speaking wales. And although English speaking wales accounts for more of the population Welsh speaking wales accounts more of a land mass than what English Speaking wales Does.
Welsh is by far from not dead but if people like you carry on it will be. Also If the number of a language speakership is rising how the heck is it in decline and don't argue with me on this matter because i have analyzed the census which shows near a 80 000 increase in speakership. That's more than the figure of actual Scots Gaelic all together,
The message is don't apply for a Job unless you are fully qualified for it simple, And if they ask for a welsh language ability and you don't have it either Learn it or tough and move on . Because that's the way it is and it ain't Going to change I was not aware of that - but not planning on going to Wales or anywhere over seas for that matter. If I went to live in Wales I would learn Welsh. I talk in a welsh accent now when I go to Tesco. Hi, I lived in Cardiff for 30 years, I'm Welsh born and bred but have never spoken a word of the language, I never had problems getting a job. I know that in some parts of Wales they are very keen on people speaking Welsh but I never found that in Cardiff.
Cardiff is such a multi-cultural city, the majority of the population of the city do not speak welsh, the only thing I can think of is that maybe the journalism jobs you went for were for bi-lingual publications?
I no longer live in Cardiff, I live abroad now but I hope you don;t let this put you off living there, it;s a great city and welcomes people from all over,especially fellow Celts!! That is terrible but if most jobs require you speak the local lingo then you should try to learn it. You are in, Wales, you should make the effort to fit in. I read yesterday an interesting article by a doctor,at the site below saying the welsh can be strange in this way.Make your own mind up. Hi,
I'm a Welsh-speaking person from mid Wales, left the area for 5 years to bugger off round the world and to university etc, then came back last year to get my first proper job.
Although I can understand where you're coming from - it's a bit disconcerting when you move somewhere and it's not what you expcted or doesn't tally with your experiences (viz the Scottish/Gaelic thing) - I feel pretty sad whenever I hear someone express this point of view. The language issue is quite important here in Wales in quite a singular way and, as you point out, it's not something seen in the rest of the UK.
I feel it's a little unfair to interpret it as Welsh people being deliberately insular or excluding of others. (Christ almighty, you ever been to East Anglia?! Kidding). Yep sure, there are plenty of Welsh idiots, but proportionally no more than in most places in the world!
I think you just have to accept that Wales maybe expresses its identity in a different way to its Celtic cousins. Scotland has concentrated more on political independence; Wales has not historically had this (legislation is always 'England and Wales') and has expressed itself as more culturally distinct. What is more at the heart of culture than language?
I can appreciate that it seems pointless and stubborn to you, this doubtlessly futile attempt at linguistic CPR, but try to understand that it is an extremely emotive issue to see a language leaching away through the generations and it is not something that the people concerned feel able to just let go. Minority languages over the world are vanishing all the time and I think it impoverishes us as human beings each time one becomes extinct.
In terms of day-to-day Cardiff life, though, it's your misfortune to have become part of one of the fields (media, governance and maybe education) where bilingualism forms part of the criteria for actually getting a job. Instead of seeing this as some kind of protectionist, quasi-nationalist attempt to shoehorn Welsh speakers into jobs and keep our Auld Enemy out, why not take up the challenge and get to grips with at least a bit of the language? I've no doubt that you (and many others) resent this idea of coercion, particularly when real live Welsh speakers seem pretty thin on the ground, but then again that's kind of the point, isn't it? It isn't yet a dead language, but quite well could be at the rate it's going. How one feels about whether they want to prevent this decline depends on what they have to lose, I suppose.
Although I hear your frustration, your question in very negatively put and I wonder if a slight modification in attitude on your part might result in you and the Welsh coming to a bit of an understanding of each other? Incidentally, I imagine that eventually you will find that the whole 'Welsh speaking applicant essential' thing is a bit of a mirage, even in your game. I'm a social worker in Newtown, Powys; one of a handful staff members who is originally from the area, and the only Welsh speaker! Please be careful of just seeing what you choose to see, and missing out on the truer picture! Then again, we're all guilty of that in some way or other.
I don't know if this qualifies as a rant. Again I guess it depends on your perspective! |
