I've felt included and welcomed in Wales – regardless of my language and race

Diolch, for your well written depiction of your Welsh welcome.

The tides Rush over ribbed shores Of our land, Touching ankles lying deep, For those it soothes The softly open mind, To learn, to give, To cherish, to love, For these are qualities Of who you are, And pray will Always will be.

Best article in a long time. Thank you for making the effort, please send out a call for more of your kind to come and live among us and be part of us.

Thank you for this. This reflects my experience as a second generation Welsh man who returned home two and a half years ago having lived my first 50 in Birmingham.

As Osi Rhys Osmond would say you can make Welsh people out of Martians. I read the apology on WOL by the editor responsible for said article,making all the right sounds, and protesting that as a Welsh speaking individual he and many in WOL are pro-Welsh. It's a pity therefore that they are working for an organisation that is so entrenched in the colonised mindset and which contributes on a organisational level to a culture of subservience, internal colonisation, and many other things unhelpful to the aspirations of the Welsh people. The original article unlike this one was poor and contained much muddled logic, supposition and generalisation you have to question the wisdom of its publication, worst and unforgivably was the headline presumably an editorial decision linked Exclusion-Racism-Cymraeg. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to join the dots.

Thank for your excellent article Radha. Roedd yn gysur mawr cael ei ddarllen a deall eich bod, fel cynifer o dramorwyr eraill, wedi cael croeso yng Nghymru ac na wnaeth neb wahaniaethu yn eich erbyn oherwydd eich tras neu eich lliw. Pob dymuniad da i chi yn eich gwlad fabwysiedig a gwlad eich plant.

Diolch yn fawr for these kind responses, and the beautiful poem (speaks straight to my heart). Tolerance and open-mindedness are a blessing, especially if you are a migrant, and I have been so fortunate to have encountered that here in Cymru.

Diolch Radha Nair-Roberts am ddysgu ein hiaith ni - iaith dda hefyd 'nde! just had a quick look at the piece in wales online: Pretty obvious you can't won't learn any language with one session a week: language is not an 'academic subject'. It is not easily acquired by reading books and writing essays. Language is more akin to activities such as running or carpentry: the more you do, the b etter you get. The more frequently you do it the faster you learn or improve your competency. It is my personal belief that language is 'taught' in the uk with the aim of proving that language acquisition is impossible, and therefor there is no point in trying. This runs along with the anglo mentality of social/racial/linguistic superiority (aka colonial attitudes) that let 'jonny foreigner' learn my language since we are above the jabbering of 'sub-human idiots'. Whilst learning language is not impossible it requires regular application: if you brush your teeth regularly twice a day fairly thoroughly, you can learn a language. it also helps to have a good teacher who has already learned another language AS AN ADULT - they can remember the pitfalls and tricks that are helpful. Listen to others speaking your language of choice as much as possible. You must take part in the conversation as often as possible. you will find people are very helpful here. Read children's books to start with. Pob Hwyl efo'r dysgu!

Diolch yn fawr, Radha. ‘Rydych wedi codi fy nghalon.

a gwylio Cyw ;)

Great piece, Radha. As for , Oruj Defoite's, article - Well, that comes from the, Diane Abbot, outlook of finding racism in every molecule of life. Like her I suspect, Oruj never leaves her home without her "race card" in her purse.

Diolch yn fawr i Mrs. Nair-Roberts. In presenting a description of a positive approach (albeit with the encouragement and support of a Welsh-speaking husband), and putting that approach into practice, she has done the language an untold amount of good. We can only hope that others with a non-Welsh background will adopt the same attitude and engage with our culture in the same positive and successful way. I suspect that at present she is in a minority among those born outside Wales, however, although something tells me that that might change with the next generation, through the influence of increasing implementation of Welsh-medium education in the English-speaking areas. Only people like Katz and Ruck will find anything to quibble about with what she has achieved. The real issue is with the article by the woman Defoite, whom she quotes. Miss Defoite's own record of personal failure and bad attitude has been used to promote the anti-Welsh agenda beloved of the English media, usually couched in the form of a spurious and increasingly-irrelevant 'debate' about the value of the Welsh language. We must be on our guard to ensure that the anti-Welsh lobby does not exploit issues of race to place the Welsh language in the dock.

Welsh by choice. Exactly. Lovely piece.

Very good piece. Mind you, it is always difficult to access the "language, culture and communities of [an] adopted land" unless you actually live in that land. Oruj Defoite lives in England, and has done for some time- something that was omitted from the original article.

Dear Radha, Thank you for your article. I'm glad you have felt included in Wales, but that does not disqualify Oruj from her feelings of exclusion.

As a Wrecsam boy myself it is heartening to read your story and the success you have made of it. As a fellow scientist and welsh speaker I appreciated your clear analysis of the welsh language in work. Nice to have a wide variety of topics on Nation.Cymru. Diolch o galon.

Appreciate your article Radha, but also found it deeply patronising, not to mention concerning in how it served to further exclude and castigate what were someone's existing feelings of exclusion. Those feelings of exclusion that Oruj experienced are her entirely legitimate experience. It's always dangerous when we refuse to acknowledge people's experience of racism, which is real, and not for anyone else to judge. That you haven't had that experience Radha, is wonderful, but others have, important to let them be the judge of their own their experience, otherwise we enter very dangerous territory. That no one on this thread seems to get that is interesting - apart from Isabel Adonis of course, who happens to be a woman of colour. I applaud Isabel's plea and her vital reminder that feelings of racism and exclusion are valid, and its not really for any other individual, even other POC, to claim otherwise. Perhaps Radha if you stopped pitying Oruj, you might hear that she has a legitimate experience. That just happens to be different to yours. Finally, it makes things a hell of a lot easier to have a partner who is a fluent Welsh speaker. Learning another language requires a number of things: time, commitment, means to pay for classes, and access to the means to continue practicing that language, which also has a monetary dimension if only in one's time. There are dimensions of social and cultural capital attached to being able to learn a language, not everyone has all the privileges in place to be able to do so. If you've got a partner you're able to practice with, I suspect that might make things significantly easier, it probably really helps. Please remember to be open minded about the diverse nature of different people's experience, their means, their capacity. Finally (finally) there are shocking and disturbing levels of racism in the responses to your article here alone Radha - "please send out a call for more of your kind to come and live among us and be part of us" - I don't know where to start. Dafis, were you not aware that 'other kinds' of people have been living in Wales for generations? And Kim - "Well, that comes from the, Diane Abbot, outlook of finding racism in every molecule of life. Like her I suspect, Oruj never leaves her home without her “race card” in her purse" - this is vile. If you have failed to understand the vitriolic racism, hatred and abuse that Dianne Abbot has suffered and believe that's someone playing the race card, you need to educate yourself. Such comments for me, disgusting as they are, invalidate and undermine your platform on other vital and important issues, including the Welsh language.

Hi Kim. I'd like to point out that my name is actually Rabab not Rahab. You've made a point of rolling out your extensive use of adjectives to invalidate my points...but have failed to actually address a single one of them. Both you and Radha have very conveniently used your identities to invalidate both Diane's and Oruj's experiences of facing racism, and you've done so, in Wales, in order to gain favour and social and economic capital amongst your White peers...the fact that an article like this is being commissioned in the first place is testament to that. With that being said, I wonder who is 'really' playing the race card? Your lack of empathy as well as your ''presumptious disgusting, offensive, vitriolic, hateful, judgemental, invalid, etc.'' display of misogynoir towards Dianne Abbot, does not stop being so simply because you share the same skin colour as her. I refer to my earlier point '...that feelings of racism and exclusion are valid, and its not really for any other individual, even other people of colour to claim otherwise.’ Perhaps if you stopped and thought about this, you might hear that she has legitimate experiences, that just happen to be different to yours. As to not all POC being on the left, you have a point here. It’s rare, but sometimes there are indeed people of colour who happen to be Muslim hating, Trump-supporting, right wing xenophobes, not many it has to be said, but they do exist.

Isabel - sorry :-) It remains the case that yours was the only comment that made sense on this thread.

Sounds like a new twist on "I walked into a pub and they...". Let's see where this new line goes...

Diolch Radha. Erthyg i godi calon. Bu fy mab yn byw yn Singapore an flwyddyn tra yn y Brifysgol. Yr hyn a wnaeth argraff ddofn arno oedd mor oddefgar oedd y gwahanol ddiwylliannau at ei gilydd ('aml ddiwylliant' ar ei orau). Fe es yno ar wyliau hefyd tra roedd yno, ac fe brofais yr un goddefgarwch a'r cyfeillgarwch.

Erthygl dda. Good article

Thoughts on drawing lines: "The World is like great big onion... What we need is a great big melting pot Big enough enough enough to take The world and all its got And keep it stirring for a hundred years or more And turn out coffee coloured people by the score…" Blue Mink 1. Who else remembers this feel-good anthem from way back? A lot of people hold this view, often subconsciously. 2. The problem with the Blue Mink view is that there is another perfectly valid view, completely opposed. Diversity is one of the riches of being human. Sub-divisions of humanity enrich us. 3. The whole thing is a minefield. Because of the opposing standpoints, there will have to be room for negotiation. If this does not happen then, yes, there will be conflict including war. 4. So, does a country, a society, have the right to draw lines? To say that you are in and you are out? There is no agreement on this - see especially the divided US. 5. Personally, I have noticed a gender divide. Women dislike drawing lines. Men usually feel there is in practice a need to do so. 6. Being a man, I therefore incline to drawing lines - civilised ones based on history, law and statesmanship. 7. The US has an attractive theory about drawing its line. You swear allegiance to a Constitution with your rights spelt out, the best that humanity could devise, they say. You know what you are signing up to or should. You swear allegiance you are in, you don't swear you are out. In theory. But the US has a problem in that a lot of its citizens seriously seem oppose drawing lines - they agree with Blue Mink. This is now (almost) an uncrossable Dem v GOP line. 8. The line I draw is the US one. Applied to Wales it means: Wales should devise its own Constitution spelling out the structure of the Welsh State and the rights of the citizens. The Welsh ratify it. Either the Constitution or the laws then passed by the Welsh Parliament will then define who gets to vote. OUCH! You are then drawing a line, citizen +vote = in. Otherwise out! the Welsh people then have one obligation - to obey all the laws of Wales including the citizenship/voting one. If they don't like it they can campaign to change it. Simples, as the Meerkats used to say. 9. What law should Wales devise? Easy - you pick either the Welsh Rugby Union rule or the Football Association of Wales rule. Whatever - you draw the line. Probably based on residence. So there is a line. 10. Tough examples of lines - look at the Baltic States. They had the problem that they'd been invaded by Russians who had opted to stay after the end of the USSR. 40% in some cases. Well the Baltics were quite strict about this. You qualified for residence based on residence. And allegiance. Scary, eh? What if the Welsh did this to the English.....? In practice, if there are such things as countries you cannot dodge this process. Blue Mink sounds good but not quite the real world. Footnote. I have been involved in Welsh nationalist politics since at least 1981. I have hear lots about dealing with the English somehow. That is because Wales is distinctive. And the language has been recognised by experts as one of the things which has historically kept Wales distinct. And a lot of English resent the Welsh identity. Not because they agree with Blue Mink, for heaven's sake, but because they are colonialist even if its only forcing Radio 4, the Archers and Gardeners Question Time on the good folk of Newport Pembs. But aside from the English Question, i have never ever heard. "So and so is not white. Can't be Welsh." Or, so and so is Welsh (by residence or whatever) but does not speak Welsh so is not Welsh." Never heard this. Don't think Royston and Co are Welsh Ukippers in this sense. But they, and I, do think that Wales should not go into Blue Mink's melting pot because we have some thing to offer humanity, even if its only singing "Myfanwy" as it should be sung. And we welcome all who welcome us.

I have wondered how much tuition and education is freely available for people who come to Wales and have no knowledge of the language. I notice that Syrian refugees and asylum seekers are provided with extensive English language lessons and access to interpretors, in order to enable them to participate actively in society, but are we giving equal precedent to Welsh language services? It could be argued that English is enough and is the most important - I don't adhere to that logic, precisely because some people are going to end up feeling excluded in some ways from being able to participate in local communities. Also if people aspire for the small number of jobs in which Welsh is essential or the much larger number of public facing roles where it is clearly very highly desirable, then we clearly need to address that issue through education and tuition. The answer to questions of being prejudicial is to ensure that we have the correct level of provision available for everyone to become fluent in both languages and by demonstrating that we in Wales do not favour English over Welsh, we are demonstrating a nation built on cultural diversity. It is essential that we ensure that we do not give extra tuition in English at the expense of Welsh. We need to assist all people as much as possible along that journey, in order to ease and accelerate the process whereby people can become successful and feel truly content within our society. At the end of the day we want everyone who comes here to be able to experience our languages and our cultural diversity, just as we are undoubtedly enriched by interaction and experience of other cultures. Being able to converse and work in both of Wales' main languages is the best way to ensure that there are no barriers.

Okay, Radha. But here's the thing, what can we learn from Singapore, apart from the lovely "Inspector Singh", to enable Wales to go forward? A monthly column by you, if you could spare the time, using the Singaporean experience, on what direction we could take, would be great! I think we are ready to be humble and disciplined.

The Westminster government idolises Singapore but the reality is that the prosperity of Singapore is built on the back of cheap migrant labour. Try 30% immigration (and rising). No natural resources tThe one of those at Port Talbot). One thing Wales could learn from Singapore is to set up a sovereign fund genuinely for the Welsh people. All Wales' coal wealth squandered over the centuries. If only a small portion of that had been invested for the Welsh nation, we'd be in a much different place now. Singapore would die for the land and water Wales has.