Welsh
Dw i'n dysgu 'n Cymraeg, ac dw i'n hoffi.
I'm learning Welsh, and I like it.
Why? Why not? Does one ask an Italian-American why she or he learns Italian?
It's my native language. My grandparents spoke some Welsh, what I now recognise as the rather half-ass bastard tongue which good Welsh Socialists promoted at the start of the 20th century, but Welsh of a sort. My father, in the traditional mould, stopped learning it when they came here, part of the old assimilation thing. I've spent 50-odd years busily doing the opposite of what my Dad wanted, so I suppose this is one more act of rebellion.
Welsh (which is having a rather successful revival, for many reasons) is also fun because it is decidedly, and defiantly, not English. We're encouraged to speak English as the lingua franca of the global economy. Well, I'm more or less retired at 57 thanks to the global economy, which hasn't made me feel very friendly toward that idea. I don't mind a lingua franca as long as its advocates don't insist I use it exclusively.
I've also spent much of my working life working with words under American English usage. In my retirement, I'm devolving back to the British English of my childhood. Even if the Labour Government has kissed the arse of American Imperial pretensions, the average bloke in the UK has not, so enough of American, thank you.
Welsh is not a cake-walk but it's a hell of lot simpler than German and, when you get down to it, simpler than English. One has only to memorise most of those scary looking combinations and the mystery fades. One is left with a remarkably lean and colourful language. OK, "LL" is an exception (yn lladdwr am Saeson, a Saxon-killer) which requires some lingual calisthenics to acquire.
The idea annoys the hell out of the same people who can't pronounce my name, and that's appealing. It's in-yo-face to the American "intelligence" agents who shadowed a Welsh insurance broker because they thought his name sounded Arabic. Finally, the attempt is reportedly good for free cab fares and rounds of beer from Welsh who are delighted when Americans have a go at Welsh. That would lend interest to any trip back home to use the ancestral to^ bach.
Gee...wow. Imagine what might happen if more Americans tried learning more foreighn languages. We might really have a global economy.
I'm learning Welsh, and I like it.
Why? Why not? Does one ask an Italian-American why she or he learns Italian?
It's my native language. My grandparents spoke some Welsh, what I now recognise as the rather half-ass bastard tongue which good Welsh Socialists promoted at the start of the 20th century, but Welsh of a sort. My father, in the traditional mould, stopped learning it when they came here, part of the old assimilation thing. I've spent 50-odd years busily doing the opposite of what my Dad wanted, so I suppose this is one more act of rebellion.
Welsh (which is having a rather successful revival, for many reasons) is also fun because it is decidedly, and defiantly, not English. We're encouraged to speak English as the lingua franca of the global economy. Well, I'm more or less retired at 57 thanks to the global economy, which hasn't made me feel very friendly toward that idea. I don't mind a lingua franca as long as its advocates don't insist I use it exclusively.
I've also spent much of my working life working with words under American English usage. In my retirement, I'm devolving back to the British English of my childhood. Even if the Labour Government has kissed the arse of American Imperial pretensions, the average bloke in the UK has not, so enough of American, thank you.
Welsh is not a cake-walk but it's a hell of lot simpler than German and, when you get down to it, simpler than English. One has only to memorise most of those scary looking combinations and the mystery fades. One is left with a remarkably lean and colourful language. OK, "LL" is an exception (yn lladdwr am Saeson, a Saxon-killer) which requires some lingual calisthenics to acquire.
The idea annoys the hell out of the same people who can't pronounce my name, and that's appealing. It's in-yo-face to the American "intelligence" agents who shadowed a Welsh insurance broker because they thought his name sounded Arabic. Finally, the attempt is reportedly good for free cab fares and rounds of beer from Welsh who are delighted when Americans have a go at Welsh. That would lend interest to any trip back home to use the ancestral to^ bach.
Gee...wow. Imagine what might happen if more Americans tried learning more foreighn languages. We might really have a global economy.
posted by Uncle | 02:04
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