Croeso! Testing the sub-forum

[Art]

Bore da! Testing..testing...testing...

[Nasedo]

Since this is just a test thread please dont mind if I hijack it with a question.

Do people in Wales still speak Welsh?
I'm coming over there soon and I'm interested in getting a job around the cardiff area as it seems to be cheaper then London but I was stuck with the thought that people may still speak Welsh and I would have to learn it?

I am I just making a mole out of a mountain and its probably just a few people or places that use it?

Thanks if anyone responds.

[Claer]

I lived as a student in North Wales (Bangor and Menai Bridge), then lived there for a bit longer (5 yrs in total) and you can get away with living there and not speaking Welsh, but it can certainly helps (and after all it is a beautiful language). However, in North Wales, if you are going to settle and work there learning Welsh is preferable (and many jobs do request bi-lingual candidates - as it is much more a stronghold of the language). I understand that in the South and around Cardiff it is a bit different and much easier for non-Welsh speakers.
Whilst the area may seem cheaper, there are no way near so many jobs available than in the South East of England. A lot depends on the kind of job you are after. I no longer live in Wales, and am not Welsh - so may be a "local" can give you a better perspective.

[Scylla]

Hi

I´ve been in North Wales a few times, and it´s a wonderful place. I may go back in september, and certainly I would like to learn welsh, not only for my trips, but also to read the old legends in it´s original.

[Kris]

Nasedo,

I live in North Wales, having been brought up and bred in Wales my entire life, Welsh is my first language and is spoken by around 2.5 million people (of whom, shamefully, around 6 are Druids, of the Pagan variety!!!). The mid and northern areas are predominantly more Welsh than the south, and the dialect there is somwehat different. however Cardiff is a very cosmopolitan city where English is the primary language, although all stret signs etc will be bilingual. You shouldnt have a problem.

However, I believe anyone moving to Wales should make the effort to learn the language, at least colloquially. Its not that difficult.

Bendithion
Kris /|\

[Dreamworld]

Since this is just a test thread please dont mind if I hijack it with a question.

Do people in Wales still speak Welsh?
I'm coming over there soon and I'm interested in getting a job around the cardiff area as it seems to be cheaper then London but I was stuck with the thought that people may still speak Welsh and I would have to learn it?

I am I just making a mole out of a mountain and its probably just a few people or places that use it?

Thanks if anyone responds.

Many jobs in Wales are unavailabe to those who do not speak lthe Welsh anguage. Welsh and Breton are the healthiest of the surviving celtic languages with 500,000 + speakers each.
You dont need to learn it - but it would be cool if you did  :wink:

[Gwilym Goch]

Just to clarify ond the wildly differing figures on Welsh speakers. The last demographic study found the figure to be around the 200,000 mark. Bretton is drastically in decline, with much less people than in Wales using it daily, having been under attack from the French state for the last god knows how many centuries. They still refuse to recognise it as an individual language.