Wales relaunches bilingual online traffic info service The Welsh government has relaunched Traffic Wales, its online traffic management and information service, with new features aimed at helping motorists plan their journeys. Among the new features on the revamped bilingual website are a calendar to view planned roadworks or events and a freight section aimed at road hauliers. …
Nothing wrong with the Welsh trying to preserve their traditions and cultural heritage.
Insisting on translating traffic information, tax forms and other mundane items into Welsh seems an incredibly expensive and ineffective way of doing it.
Is that what the people of Wales want, or is it just what someone in Whitehall thinks they ought to want?
I noticed that really important stuff - where there's limited space - is written in English. And having bothered to learn a bit, I notice that most Welsh speakers use it for the same reasons some people drop into a form of Hindi, when a non-Indian is around - to be rude and insulting. I took the time to learn some Hindi from various friends, and it's a sheer joy to join into a conversation asking "which stupid white man ?"
According to this paper:
http://www.lingref.com/isb/4/046ISB4.PDF
the answer is a clear 'no'. Although looking at the last figure, the proportion of people speaking Welsh at all has risen slightly in the 10 years from 1991 to 2001 to a little above 20% from a low of about 19%. This is probably due to the compulsory teaching of Welsh in schools, now enforced up until age 16. In 1901 the proportion was 50%.
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