March 19th 2013

Was the 2011 census showing a decline in the Welsh Language a blip or was it a return to the long term decline that we saw throughout most of the twentieth century?

Between 1901 and 1981 the number of Welsh speakers reduced by 31%. If this trend had continued, the 2041 census would have recorded zero Welsh speakers.

The Census has no rules on how you define the ability to speak Welsh, so there are bound to be inconsistencies between Censuses as people use different definitions. For example, the percentages of children able to speak Welsh reported by the Census reflect the percentages of children learning Welsh as a second language within Welsh medium education rather than the percentages of those with substantial ability. “My three year old is attending a Welsh medium school therefore they must speak Welsh, so when I complete the Census form I tick the Welsh-speaking box”, is the reaction of many parents. And which box should I fill in? I speak Welsh everyday, including a short contribution in a National Assembly plenary session, but I have a very limited vocabulary, problems with some pronunciation and struggle with the past tense.

The question can be asked the other way around. Why, when so many regional languages e.g. Manx, Scottish Gaelic and Kernow, have all but died out, did Welsh survive in a relatively good position? William Morgan’s bible and nonconformity, the Welsh chapel, acted as a bulwark against the steady forward march of the English language up until the 1980s. Also one should give credit to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Cymraeg, S4C and RHAG for promoting and defending the Welsh language.

There is no magic bullet.

For any language to survive it needs to be a language of communication. Latin was taught to a considerable number of children during the twentieth century. When was the last time Latin was spoken? What we cannot afford is to lose the transmission of the language in the home with one generation of Welsh speakers raising the next generation through the medium of Welsh. We need Welsh-speaking parents to use the language to communicate with their children and for their children to communicate with them even if, as in my household, only one parent is fluent in Welsh.

More Welsh medium schools will help but if the language never leaves the classroom then its benefit will be short term. But education is the only way to ‘produce’ Welsh speakers out of children who have not learnt Welsh in the home. The challenge is for children and young people to use Welsh socially, and whilst 50 years ago this would have been done in the local chapel, today organisations like Twrw Tawe (a Welsh cultural group in my constituency) offer that opportunity to young people.

Some questions

Why is it that within my community of Morriston I am more likely to hear over 80s having a conversation in Welsh than the under 18s?

Why, as a Welsh learner, are so few fluent Welsh speakers willing to talk to me in Welsh?

Why is it that when children leave their Welsh medium school in the afternoon they, in large numbers, speak English?.

The following I believe are reasons to feel positive.

Within Swansea the 11th Welsh medium school had its official opening on March 1st which is a huge growth, considering that when my wife attended Lon Las it was the only Welsh medium primary school available to children in Swansea. It would have been the 12th school, but one Welsh medium school was closed by the administration that previously controlled Swansea Council.

The support for the Welsh language within the National Assembly for Wales and the large number of Assembly members currently learning Welsh is a very positive development. The commitment of the Welsh language minister, himself a learner, to supporting the Welsh Language is shown by the financial support from the Welsh Government for the Urdd, National Eisteddfod, Papurau Bro and Menter Iaith plus the creation of a Welsh language commissioner.

The teaching of Welsh as a second language in primary schools often leads to children being able to speak more Welsh than their parent and is increasing the number of people able to speak some Welsh. Where this teaching of Welsh as a second language is done well it is phenomenal, but unfortunately it is not done well in every school.

The challenge is to get more people using Welsh – to use a sporting analogy, use it or lose it.

So to the fluent Welsh speakers out there, try talking in simple Welsh to learners and you might help to add at least one to the number of Welsh speakers at the next Census. More Welsh medium schools and more Welsh medium cultural activities are needed. With the continued goodwill of politicians of all parties and the people of Wales the language can have a successful future.

Mike Hedges AM, Assembly Member for Swansea East.