These shocking stats show why we have to save Welsh now - before it's too late

You've described the problem and stated what needs to happen to save the Welsh language. What specific proposals do you have make it happen that Welsh is heard in school playgrounds and in skate parks, that children speak Welsh at home, and that children are surrounded by other children who speak Welsh at home?

Brawychus, ond yn wir. Dan ni sy'n byw yn y 'fro' yn gweld hyn yn digwydd. Mae mewnfudwyr yn rhannol cyfrifol: 'mesul tŷ nid mesul ton....' . Beth allen ni wneud am hyn a gwleidyddion y gwrthod gweithredu, yn wit yn hybu'r llif mewnfudwyr trwy ganiatau miloedd o dai di- angen! Nid yw addysg yn ateb chwaith, mae' r argyfwng llawer rhy gymhleth. Er enghraifft, Beth sy'n achosi i rieni Cymraeg ddefnyddio, ie dewis defnyddio saesneg gyda'uplant? Hunan-laddiad yw hyn oll Deffrwch, Gymry! Neu fel Seithennyn, cysga'n dawel a gweld ein hiaith, ein unig brawf ddilys o hunaniaeth,yn diflannu gyda'r llanw nesa.

All part of the British plan. Thatcher did away with so many secondaries forcing so many into one big comp that we do not have the larger pool of rugby players to call on as we did. Just happened to co-incide with the last upserge in Welsh rugby. Anyway, another distraction for the few while the many grow stronger!

I have too say that I hear more Welsh spoken in my home town of Neath than I did on the streets and in the pubs of Cardigan on a visit there 3 years ago. Many more English accents there I found. Am currently learning the language through the SSIW Course on the computer. Hopefully those lucky enough to be first language Welsh speakers will use the language and make sure their children use it too.

Erthygl call, onest a chywir! Mae angen i blant a ieuenctid clywed a profi'r iaith Gymraeg fel iaith 'normal' a chyffredin pan maent yng nghwmni eu cyfoedion yn y 'Scouts' clwb tenis, clwb nofio, gwersi offerynnol, ymarferion band, ymarferion hoci ayyb. Ar hyn o bryd, mae'r plant sydd yn derbyn addysg Gymraeg (tua 20% or poblogaeth) yn derbyn ychydig o brofiadau Cymraeg trwy law yr Urdd, Menter Iaith a'r Ffermwyr Ifanc yn y broedd Cymraeg yn unig. Nid yw'r oedolion hynny sy'n medru siarad Cymraeg yn defnyddio'r Gymraeg gyda phlant a pobl ifanc sy'n medru'r Gymraeg. Er bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn gwneud cynnigion addawol a digon didwyll i geisio achub yr iaith ac er bod arweinwyr y sawl strategaeth cymunedol llawn egni ac yn chwysu gwaed i geisio sicrhau dyfodol cadarn i'r Gymraeg, nid wyf yn rhagweld y bydd yr iaith yn goroesi o gwbl ar ddiwedd y ganrif hon

Do you want Welsh to live or do you want it to die? If you want it to live, we must establish a 'Bro' where Welsh is the only official language. English is too strong for anything else to work. We must get highly and very efficiently organised within the northern half of the traditional Bro Gymraeg and accept we are going to have to stop being nice for a change.

"Stop being nice for a while" biau hi !!

Cytunaf yn Llwyr a'r erthygl, ond mae'r sylwad yn y Llif drafod am rhieni sy'n medru'r iaith yn dangos diffyg ymdrech gyda' plant yn sarhau y nifer ohonom sy'n gweithio'n galed i siarad cymraeg mewn cartrefi lle mae un rhiant yn ddi-Gymraeg. Mae fy mhlant i yn rhugl yn y ddwy iaith ac yn gallu symud rhwng y ddau heb unrhyw drafferth. Mae safon ei iaith hefyd yn cael ei ganmol gan yr athrawon yn yr Ysgol. Wi hefyd yn gweithio o fewn addysg Gymraeg. Felly dydyn ni rhieni ddim i gyd yn cydymffurfio ar ystrydeb y mae Cymro Cymraeg yn peintio.

It is not too difficult to put Scottish Gaelic or indeed Welsh into a home which is English speaking at present but you do need a very different approach plus a new sector has to be created. Indeed it is also the easiest way for adults to learn Gaelic quickly. Adults can learn to speak Gaelic far quicker ( I would say at least 10 times faster) than children under 10 years of age as they have more of the necessary skills to do so. We should not look at the lack of Gaelic or Welsh being in the home other than a new sector to develop but quickly.

Good points made by finlaymlc. We need a concerted campaign to reintroduce Welsh as a language in the home, which basically means targeting adults who are parents. .Education is not the be all and end all touted by so many. It can help of course. But we need to restore pride in Welsh as a community language, and as a family language.

I disagree that the census of population's results are misleading. They may be misinterpreted but the census actually reflects the situation reasonably,as long as one looks in some depth at its results, and, as has been done in this article, some further statistics such as those of the Schools' Census (the source of Estyn's figures) are brought into consideration. For example, the recent report on 'Welsh language transmission and use in families' published by the Welsh Government (http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/welsh-language-transmission-use-in-families/?skip=1&lang=en), included at Table 21 a breakdown of the family language background of 3 year olds, by local authority. It shows in Anglesey, for example, that of the 357 children in households who could speak Welsh, that 217 were in households where both adults could speak Welsh while another 36 were in single-parent households where the adult could speak Welsh. So, one can easily calculate that whereas the headline figure is that 49% of 3-year-olds could speak Welsh, actually the percentage speaking it as a main language at home (only possible where all the adults can speak Welsh) was 34%. Nor, should the School Census result be news unfortunately. Even more detailed results, breaking down the school-level figures by age, from the 2013 Schools' Census were charted here: http://statiaith.com/cymraeg/ysgolion/Ionawr2013/rhuglder_disgyblion_yn_ol_ysgol_2013.html.

While wales remains England's colony that can only mean the destruction of the Welsh language. Compare wales to Cornwall and you will see the future of the Welsh language.

i once thought I heard there was to be an area where people could live without oppressive regulations, could have renewable power and build ecohomes with their neighbours support on only one condition, they lived in Welsh. This seemed too good to be true, and so it was. The burden of changing ones language would be as light as mist if the rewards were the right to live at peace with nature.

Only adults can save the language not children. Welsh medium schools are great and we need more of them. But even if every school in Wales was Welsh medium that will never save the language as a community language. Children appear to learn languages fast but they require a lot of exposure to the language to achieve this. Research has shown that hour for hour study and exposure to a language brings results far faster in adults then children. It is imperative that more adults both learn the language and make it the language of their homes to ensure their children get the exposure. There must be a community for the children to be a part of beyond the school to at that requires adults again both using the language in order for them to be exposed to it and for a process of normalisation. In a child's formative years if s/he see's adults speaking English all the time but rarely if at all speaking Welsh then they won't see the language as a normal part of everyday life and won't use it spontaneously themselves even if they have Welsh medium education. 'Cymro Cymraeg' mentioned the role of clubs as well. These are essential parts of the child's community and there is fantastic work going on within them by adult workers and volunteers who shape and mould our children. Be it in Clwbiau Ffermwyr Ifanc or the Urdd or within Scouting or swimming lessons etc. It is clear that their is a lot of passion and dedication here on the part of adults to moulding youth whether they speak Welsh or not. But more of these areas need to become Welsh medium domains. That means more Welsh speaking adults volunteering in great organisations like the Scouts and Guides and more current volunteers learning and USING the language with the children. Welsh speaking communities begin with adults using the language and learning it if they don't already. Only then will children both learn and use it and the language will be passed on and they will become the next generation of of speakers and users who will pass it on to their children. If adults now don't take the language seriously then we can't expect children too and we will have failed them to the point that they won't be in a position to pass it on when they are adults.

The reason the language is suffering is due to State capitalism based in England dominating everything.....................communities must have land ownership........we must have the power and education plus land owenership to CREATE WEALTH........as Bill Clinton says; its the ECONOMY stupid! (mixed with imperialism!)

The Last Sigh of the Moor seems appropriate.

The elephant in the room: incomers are always noted as a problem, but what about first-language Welsh speakers who *leave* their home areas to work in careers where there are simply no openings where they grew up? This is the other side of the coin of language dilution. Can anything be done about this? Dwi'm yn gwybod... Any schemes to enhance Welsh have to more than cover this exodus in order to make headway.

In terms of adults/parents and the language of the home and the community then in my mind there has to be some form of additional incentivisation - something that gives an unquestionable practical answer to anyone who might be asking themselves - why am I doing this. People send their children to Welsh medium schools for all sorts of reasons and there must be many parents who aren't as passionate about the language as you might imagine or who don't actually ever intend to learn the language themselves, but like the idea that their kids might be able to. A Welsh membership club for adults with financial and economic benefits through enhanced promotions and networking is something that comes to mind. Something that could co-ordinate and negotiate discounts on all sorts of things - hotels, B&Bs, holiday attractions, food and drink, travel costs, festival entries, music, hobbies (fishing? etc etc), fashion and beauty products - something where you could somehow earn financial credits for language achievements, whatever they may be and for using the language socially. A club where businesses could get benefits and get a higher profile if they actively use and promote the language themselves. We may be too small collectively to make it fly, but maybe it could be internationalised, with Bretons, Irish, Gaelic, Catalans, Basques, Sardinians and others, to help widen the offering and appeal in terms of destinations, products and services?.

Some eclectic thoughts; 1. More emphasis on interventions at the point of language use. For example, why might fewer people use Welsh language services or opportunities – at an ATM, enquiries at a council office, a library, in a shop- than might be expected from the number of Welsh speakers in the area? Understand the problem, implement solutions, evaluate their effectiveness, discard unsentimentally anything that isn’t working and share good practice. 2. Smart Technology will be the principle means of intervention. Consider the interaction involving at least 1 person with minimal Welsh language skills. The technology mediates between the speakers with predictive prompts displayed on screens or mobile devices. The technology provides feedback afterwards which allows the learner to practice and improve and gain confidence. The technology might be used to reward (financially) the use of Welsh 3. There are international standards for things like environmental (ISO 14001) and energy (ISO 50001) management systems. They allow organizations to gain accreditation and display their commitment to the world. These and other international standards promote virtuous cycles of plan-do-check- improve. What about an international standard for the promotion of minority languages? 4. Are non-Welsh speaker being handed a moral high ground when they move to an area where Welsh has been traditionally spoken? Explain that one is too busy to give the language serious study - but explain that one is sending one’s “spog” to a Welsh medium school- and one is now a language hero for some and done enough to avoid any unpleasant niggling of one’s own conscience. If I was asked to guess what would happen, it would be that the “sprog” becomes the catalyst for the use of English in the playground and establishes English as the language of post school networks. Has anyone studied this? In many countries the children would attend an “international school” where the principle medium of instruction is English.

I have learned and forgotten at least four languages (including Amharic!) as a child and a young adult. None of these languages were officially taught (at me as in a school) they seem to have been 'acquired' or absorbed purely from a necessity to communicate in the countries I happen to have found myself living at the time. On revisiting these countries I seem to be able to fairly quickly regain most of that which I had forgotten even after decades of absence. The trick seems to be able to 'think' in the language rather than laboriously having to mentally 'translate' all the time. If I'm in France I find I can actually think in French and it has meaning. I don't teach languages, and I can only speak from personal experience - does this make sense? As a businessman most of my communications are 'transactional', greetings, curses or pleasanteries with next to zero 'academic' content or rigour. As someone with an advanced scientific education the 'language' for this is Saesneg and maths - can't be helped. Unlike many English incomers I don't and have never 'resented' having to learn the local language but that's not say that some are alot more difficult than others. People might think Cymraeg is on the difficult end of the spectrum but just try to learn mandarin Chinese as a European. Now that is hard!

On Sunday I was talking to someone I had only just met, we were talking in Welsh. He then turned to talk to his very young daughter and talked in English! ?

Surely the question must be ,after massive amounts of money being spent on trying to to propagate Welsh,why is it still declining. Dare I suggest it is just like Manx,Cornish or indeed the local Norfolk dialect where I live.An outdated method of communication in a global world where English is the international language. That is why this discussion is in English!

Mike - the reason the discussion is in English (mostly - as several contributions are in fact *in* Welsh despite your inability to see that...) is that the blog is in English, the article is in English and the site is predominantly in english. There's plenty of Welsh blogs, and I daresay you don't know about them. You're making the classic British nationalist anglo-supremacist mistake of thinking that what you don't see or know about doesn't exist. It's in English partly so people like you (and me) can contribute. You can't win with the anti-Welsh: if you speak Welsh you 'exclude' them, if you speak English you're proving your language doesn't exist.

I think it's worth pointing out that the statistics from the 2011 census may not be anything like accurate, since the question asked had changed since the previous census. I think the questions about the four skills (writing,reading, speaking, understanding) may well have put a lot of people off, feeling their Welsh wasn't up to scratch in reading and writing, even though they were native speakers of the language. So the whole basis for all this soul-searching may be a red herring. Doesn't mean we don't have to keep on the alert for ways forward, of course.

I’m afraid that depending upon government intervention is a sign of desperation. There is only one thing - a practical thing - that will halt the decline and that is for educated welsh-speaking families who have left Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion etc to return from Swansea and Cardiff. Without their on-the-ground leadership nothing will happen. Of course, I understand why they would not wish to do this - they have well paid jobs and live in exciting cities with lots of shopping and museums etc, but you cannot expect a drain of the brightest in such numbers not to have its effect. It is largely a one-way draining of talent. And again, I don’t blame individuals for leaving, but it is the density and quality of welsh-speaking that is important not overall numbers.