Carmarthen business denies 'anti-Welsh language' comments after bad reviews

Will this ever end? And no, I don't think it's Welsh speakers being thin skinned. I hear so much Welsh spoken when I go shopping in Carmarthen - do they really think they're going to attract customers by saying something like this?

I met a gentleman in Nantwich where I now live who said that he loved hearing myself and my husband speaking Welsh as we shopped. Went on to say as its one of our native languages it should be taught in all schools in the UK. Dyn neis Iawn.

Although I don't agree with the anti-Welsh language sentiments expressed by Joan Willson, she has the right to hold them and express them - and suffer the consequences - which would appear to be a decline in customers. This is how things work in a free society. Here in Bridgend, Siop yr Hen Bont, a focal point for Welsh language speakers in these parts closed after many decades. Presumably it was no longer financially viable to remain open. In time, this may be the fate Joan Wilson's business in Carmarthen. Spending money is like voting. It is a very powerful tool that shapes our society. For better or for worse. The choice is yours.

Mae angen sefydlu’r Fro Gymraeg er mynnu parch i’r iaith. Ynys Môn, Gwynedd, Ceredigion, Sir Gâr, rhannau o ogledd Penfro, Powys a de Conwy. Arwyddion uniaith Gymraeg i ddechrau.

If you look at her comment and swap Wales and Welsh Language for Ireland and Irish Language you see how bigoted it is. Behind her comment is a view that culture and language is irrelevant unless it's hers. A bigoted view in private or public is still the same, so personally I'd say there's a responsibility to tackle dickhead views head on. Her neighbours are responding.

While I agree with all the comments and money and custom etc, the larger point here is that Wales is the only country in Europe which actively welcomes, and fears to criticise, people who hold it (its history, culture, people and language) in contempt. A labour party that stuck up for Wales or a Plaid Cymru that wasn't self-destructing in West Wales would, as the dominant political parties in that area, give a basic signal that respect for the place you move to is a moral obligation and an ethical win-win situation for all concerned. Instead, the anti-Welsh lobby feel entitled to do and say things which, in a self-respecting country, they'd be afraid to say and do. Time to get off our knees.

Wales really does have a bad case of Stockholm syndrome. Sad to say, but many of the most virulent anti-Welsh language people I have met have been Welsh. So depressing to negate our own language, identity and culture. Which other country expresses self loathing in such a comprehensive way? Why did the individual who caused this controversy move to the Fro Cymraeg in the first place? Perhaps she thought that Welsh was just for road signs, as someone from England once said to me in all seriousness. Meanwhile the UK government's tawdry deal with the DUP give currency to this sort of mentality as they are seeking to deny Irish language rights in the North. I find such comments beyond belief. I learned Welsh as an adult and it has opened many doors for me and given me an insight into how valuable and precious the Welsh culture is (in both languages). Having researched my family tree, I discovered that my forebears from Sir Fynwy and Gwynedd were all Welsh speakers. It saddens me that I only had access to Welsh as an adult. Yes, it's a free country and this unfortunate individual can say (mostly) whatever they like, but we have to become more outspoken in calling out such incidents and refuting the many myths and falsehoods about the Welsh language that persist- often amongst we Welsh.

This is a most graphic example of colonialism, and she got what was coming to her, with, I suspect, worse to come when her business fails. What concerns me as much, though, is, the question: How was she allowed to set up shop here in the first place? There are now so many shops and businesses owned by settlers that the impact is not just on the Welsh language but on Welsh society and possibly on the Welsh economy. Wales is little more than a resource, and we have no control over who uses it, whether it's a boutique, a zip wire, a hotel, a caravan park, a factory, or a reservoir formed from a dammed-up river.

The Busy Ladies of Carmarthen display a very old fashioned linguistic attitude, harking back to colonial times when deference towards the English, and their language was expected from their servile inferiors. In the modern world we live in, a multilingual, multicultural mileau is the norm, for example, Bolivia alone has 37 official languages. However it is unfair and incorrect to lay all the problems of the Welsh language at the door of our monoglot English speaking friends. How many Welsh speakers lustily sing “.. O bydded i’r hen iaith parhau” before rugby internationals, but do not bother to pass it on to their children, or ensure that they have a bi-lingual education. How many such people use Welsh when shopping or carrying out business transactions, in Carmarthen. It is up to us to “Use it or lose it!”, as Nigel says.

100:1 odds that it is a monoglot educating bilinguals and polyglots on the merits of other languages that aren't Welsh in Wales. Its beyond irony as they don't actually 'get-it or even do it! Welsh has been nothing but an asset to me in my career that saw me working in over 8 countries - an asset if it only made me more open, aware, worldly wise and to know how not to be a total arrogant twit about others' cultural assets and heritage. Less is never more which is why many of us manage English to a far better standard than this twit and why many Welsh school kids are trilingual. We are doing great thanks - but do tell me again where we went horribly wrong...

I suppose the message from the Colonial Office would be: oversensitive natives; keep itchy fingers off the I/O device - careless talk… and all that. Keep calm and carry on! “Hush now, don’t you worry, don’t you cry, They’ll be assimilated by and by”

Joan commented that most Afrikaners spoke English and had presumably never heard of the Dutch not which took the Welsh not to South Africa to beat Boer children for speaking Dutch.

Dim mwy! Been there shopped there! No more! End of story.

I have recently moved to wales to be with my husband to be and I am learning the language and I totally respect the Welsh people who have welcomed me to there community and helping me learn there language

I'm a bit confused by the news story above. The tweets were appalingly racist but the Busy Ladies Boutique seem to be disassociating themselves - is it a case of mistaken identity or owners with a similar name? i wouldnt want a small business to be inadvertently affected by the controversey. can anyone clarify?

Tyrd yn eich blaen chi genod/hogiau - gad lonydd i'r ddynes anwyl 'na. Mae ganddi broblem a problem mawr ydy hi hefyd cofiwch. Fel aelod o'r uchaf dras, mae detholiad naturiol wedi chwynu i ffwrdd y genynau sydd eu hangen i ddysgu ieithoedd. Nid oes angen ar saeson, rwsiaid, sbaenwyr yn ne americia, na saeson y 'diaspora' i ddysgu unrhyw iaith. gan fel aelodau'r uwch dras mae'r fraint o ddysgu iaith brig y trasoedd yn disgyn ar ysgwyddau'r 'brodorion'. Mae'r uwch drasau a enwir uchod i gyd wedi dysgu bod ddefnydd o bidog yn 'arf' - esgusodwch y pyn - o gymorth i helpu'r difreintiedig rhai wrth ddysgu ieithoedd eu meistri naturiol. Druan y ddynes: nid yw'n ddwl. Mi ydwyf yn sicr ei bod hi'n hen feistres ar is-rad-dio {IFAN - trwsiwch y cywirydd sillafu, ogydd, di o'm yn dderbyn 'dd'} brodorion o bob fath. Mae hithau a'i bath yn alluog mewn dinistrio ieithoedd ddiwerth. Fel ei chwiorydd a brodyr cynt maent yn benigampstars ar lledaenu eu credoau bod yn well i'r anffodusion derbyn efengyl saesnig, rwsig, ac ati er mwyn iddynt dderbyn y cyflwr graslon lle mae dros 99% o'r ymenydd yn ddiangen.

Your comment about Welsh language no use in England let me tell you my brother was born in England but we moved back to Wales when he was 1 so is flient like the rest of us in Welsh he did his BLl degree in England then did his Masters in Law followed by going to Chester to do his Solicitors qualification where not many people can get in . Anyway he's worked with Notts police Leicester and is currently moving from Manchester to London . As there are very few Welsh speaking Circuit Judges he has been doing that for a few years therefore his 1st language has now helped him get a permanent post as a Judge in London so if he couldn't speak Welsh he wouldn't have the experience hes had to get this fantastic job.