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Cardiff Bay Beach

if it's about Cardiff.. Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business, Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking, Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
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Alvear24

  • Posts: 23
  • Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:46 pm

Re: Cardiff Bay Beach

PostMon Jul 30, 2018 7:22 pm

Cwlcymro wrote:My 9 year old step-daughter speaks nearly no Welsh, but can't wait for the Eisteddfod in the bay this year. Since it's so close and has free entry, she insists that we go for all 5 days (unlike the 1 day we did in Abergavenny and in Anglesey).

Yes, the Eisteddfod is mainly in Welsh. That's because it's a Welsh language festival. Complaining about that is like complaining there's not enough hard rock music in Brecon Jazz, or too many books in the Hay on Wye festival. But the fact that it's a Welsh language festival doesn't make it a festival just for Welsh speakers. It's a great opportunity for those who don't speak Welsh (and especially those like my step-daughter who lives in an area like Cwmbran where she doesn't hear much Welsh) to experience the language and the culture around it in a friendly environment.

There's a small minority in Wales who seem to hate the language for some reason, and even though you can find Welsh speakers and overflowing Welsh language schools in the most deprived villages of the valleys, in the middle of Splott and all over the low-income rural areas in the North and West, they're convinced that only "elites" and "middle class people" speak it. If the Eisteddfod only went to Welsh speaking rural areas, they'd complain the festival was not inclusive and was insular. When the festival comes right to the middle of Cardiff, gets rid of its entrance fee and promotes itself to the whole city, they still complain.

Thankfully 86% of Wales are proud of the language, whether they speak it or not. 67% of Wales think MORE need to be done to support the language. 62% of non-Welsh speakers wish they could speak it, and 85% of those who speak a little, wish they could speak it better. Only 6% of non-Wales speakers disagree with the idea of being proud of the Welsh language, and only 2% believe that strongly. The anti-Welsh language brigade is just a very small, but noisy minority in our country.

As for the topic itself, is it true that there's no pool at the beach this year? My fiancee read that on Facebook and she is annoyed! Says she has no interest in going when it's hot if they've gotten rid of the paddling pool.


The figures you cite are wondrous, (and I'm sure the veracity / validity of your source is spot on), but I thank you for being the first Welsh speaker on here (or supporter) NOT to resort to insults. What this group of people have proved yet again is their militancy. They simply cannot hear a criticism of the language, or more accurately its speakers, without getting nasty. I understand the motivation behind that; essentially what I have described is a truth, and they are scared they if they look too far under the rock, they will discover the decay and bad feeling surrounding the Welsh language. They also surround themselves with like minded people who echo their views, thus rarely challenging themselves with the general population's views.

I clearly will not, and do not suppose, to change your minds, (this will be my last post on the matter) but think on the following:

[*]Welsh language education is not representative of good will towards the language any more than faith schools being oversubscribed means people are reverting to a stricter form of Catholicism.

[*]Children who attend Welsh language medium schools for the most part do not use the language on leaving

[*]In its heartlands, the language is dying. Immigration from within and outside the UK will ensure that. Remove the speakers aged 60+ and it must worry you.

[*]It is not a living language, certainly in Cardiff, but also across the majority of South Wales, excluding parts of Carmarthenshire. Number of times I hear Somali, Arabic, Portuguese or Hindi spoken: daily. Welsh: fewer than ten times annually. You cannot conduct your life in the capital in Welsh, apart from within selective elite circles in politics, education or the arts.

[*]Anyone who believe that there is not strong anti welsh feeling amongst the English speaking welsh population is delusional. Challenge yourselves to ask one. They might cite:

An education system which forces a language choice on people, and which was not democratically debated
A public sector jobs market heavily skewed towards a welsh language bias, encouraging poorer recruitment choices
Zero empathy or understanding of the culture, language anbd history of the large (majority) Anglsized areas of Wales.
A political desire to replace this Anglo culture with Welsh, in spite of it near 1,000 year history
A public sector administration which is bloated due to its need to respond to Welsh language legislation in an unsophisticated manner
The pure militancy of the Welsh language brigade in general, as evidenced through this forum once again.
Scots and Irish just don't have this problem. People, across the UK, feel very differently towards Gaelic. Why?
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jones4891

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Re: Cardiff Bay Beach

PostMon Jul 30, 2018 7:55 pm

Alvear24 wrote:


The figures you cite are wondrous, (and I'm sure the veracity / validity of your source is spot on), but I thank you for being the first Welsh speaker on here (or supporter) NOT to resort to insults. What this group of people have proved yet again is their militancy. They simply cannot hear a criticism of the language, or more accurately its speakers, without getting nasty. I understand the motivation behind that; essentially what I have described is a truth, and they are scared they if they look too far under the rock, they will discover the decay and bad feeling surrounding the Welsh language. They also surround themselves with like minded people who echo their views, thus rarely challenging themselves with the general population's views.
[/quote]

Only takes a quick search of your previous post history to see who has a track record for getting nasty on here mate. High horses etc...

In answer to your other points about Welsh being a 'dead/dying' language in Cardiff, I don't think your anecdotal evidence about only having heard it 10 times in a year is really worth anything. I live in Canton, work in the city centre, regularly hang out in Roath, Splott, Adamsdown, Grangetown, Riverside, Penarth and The Bay and hear Welsh being spoken regularly. I'd say 3-4 times a week on average. Anyway, I don't expect you to take my word for it, as long as you accept that others may not take your word for it. It's a pretty weak basis to use as the thrust of an argument.
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Cardiff

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Re: Cardiff Bay Beach

PostMon Jul 30, 2018 8:20 pm

My view is that i hope the Eisteddfod being in Cardiff embraces every opportunity to be inclusive and brings a positive image of the Welsh language, embracing Welsh culture outside the language too rather than being exclusive.
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Lyndon

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Re: Cardiff Bay Beach

PostMon Jul 30, 2018 8:30 pm

My view is that i hope the Eisteddfod being in Cardiff embraces every opportunity to be inclusive and brings a positive image of the Welsh language, embracing Welsh culture outside the language too rather than being exclusive.


As an English speaker I've been to nearly every eisteddfod held in the south over the past twenty years, and one or two in the Gogledd too. I've never been interrogated about my "Cymreictod", had to pass a language test or had clods of earth thrown at me for daring to intrude on the "exclusive" event. In fact, I have always been made very welcome and treated with the utmost friendliness, so I'm not quite sure how much more they can do to be "inclusive".
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