little Englander

But most of us don't know where annie lives so would not know about that specific area
(well, Wales, we do realise that!)

Walesonline:
The state of the Welsh language: Number of people speaking Welsh fluently falls by 7,000 over the last decade
10:06, 29 JAN 2015 UPDATED 11:17, 29 JAN 2015

which means that if the proportion of fluent Welsh speakers is much higher (and growing) where Annie lives the proportion must be dropping elsewhere in Wales.
Is that a cause for concern?

The overt Welsh nationalism and the hostility aimed at the English and constant barbed references to "Little englanders" always with a small "e", on this thread, makes me feel that I never want to go to Wales ever again

Why on earth shouldn't a country use its own language in public signs and documents? It's not as if there are only Welsh signs. The reason the language isn't used that much is because of historical reasons - the Welsh were prevented from using it and it is very difficult to re-establish a language even when it is the original language of the country.

You will be missed .terribull

Eleothan, seems it shouldn't be on signs documents is simply because some English don't want it to be. It makes their driving more troublesome . Perfect example of the problems between English and Welsh, it's the arrogance

In Switzerland there are 4 official languages, depending on the area you live in. All official documents, ingredients list on packages, etc, have to be in all 4.

And in border areas/towns which are bilingual, all signs have to be in both languages.

Some anglo-saxon expats are now pushing for English to be made an official Swiss language - the cheek of it! NO.

Wonder what proportion of English speak English fluently

It was certainly wrong for the Welsh language to be actively suppressed in the past.

In my DH's large extended family, there is only one Welsh speaker. None of them learned Welsh at school - it was apparently not an option. I was chatting to a friend of my sister in law about the language thing and she said that there are very few Welsh speakers in the area (Gwent) though there is a generation coming up that will hopefully be fluent in both languages. My best friend was brought up in a village near Swansea and none of her family or friends, nor those in their wider community, spoke Welsh either. Neither she nor her sisters ever learned it. Up in Brecon, where DH's grandmother lived, Welsh seemed to be widely spoken. We lived in Pembrokeshire (known as 'The Little England Beyond Wales') for a while and always heard more English spoken than Welsh in the larger conurbations, but when you were out in the sticks, it was very different. The further North you went, the more you would find Welsh spoken. Just my five penn'orth!

Actually I agree that DH getting slightly het up about the double-language road signs might be a bit unreasonable!

jalima stop being so flippin' cliquey. Let Ana stand up for herself.

alima stop being so flippin' cliquey. Let Ana stand up for herself.
cliquey me?

Perhaps I just read posts differently.

ps is that just for me or did you mean to address other posters too eg Let anniebach stand up for herself ?

Actually I agree that DH getting slightly het up about the double-language road signs might be a bit unreasonable!
I don't think that is unreasonable because if a driver is dithering trying to read the signs and find the one he/she understands they could perhaps cause an accident.

Jalima not alima
(apologies to Alima who is not on this thread but if she reads it just to say it is me not you )

The overt Welsh nationalism and the hostility aimed at the English and constant barbed references to "Little englanders" always with a small "e", on this thread, makes me feel that I never want to go to Wales ever again

Not everyone is like that, Terribull

So when driving in France all road signs should be in English so English drivers don't dither

France isn't part of the British Isles. Had you forgotten? And they definitely speak mostly French over there.

non-sequitur
Although in Brittany they are in two languages.

I apologise if englanders has a small e in my posts, not deliberate, I rely on the iPad to place capitals ,it was not intentional , just sorry one poster is so picky they got huffy

Well, I think it is all a great pity that apparently:

Scottish Nationalism is fine and a source of pride
Welsh Nationalism is something to be proud of
English Nationalism is something to be derided and to be ashamed of

Considering we have had several UK Prime Ministers who were Scottish, none were Welsh - yet - (even Lloyd George was born in Manchester) then perhaps we ought to be more united, not less.

Although a former Australian Prime Minister is Welsh .....

Jingles, just a friendly reminder - you are not speaking to me because you dislike me

I know France is not part of the U.K., what you seem unaware of is Wales is a country with it's own National language , we do have the sign posts in your language to, but we are a considerate people and don't expect the world to revolved around us

Oh believe me, I haven't forgotten. And you keep reminding me why.

jingle, just a friendly reminder......

touché

I'm well aware of what Wales is. Thank the Lord there are some really nice people living there.

You must have forgotten, you have posted to me three times since your grand announcement that you were not going to do so

I'm not sure you should use "we" when talking about the whole of the Welsh people.

Yes there are some very nice people living in Wales, there are some very nice people living in England, I even thought you were one , big mistake on my part Jingle