Why jibes about the Welsh language aren't funny

So the worth of a language is reduced to the cash nexus?

'She then went on to dig an even bigger hole for herself in what I can only assume was meant to be a defence, when she described the language as “low reward”'. I just don't see this. I'm English by birth and upbringing, but I grew up scarcely thirty miles from the Welsh border and have lived my entire life either in Wales or in England within no more than forty miles of the border. The only non-English TV channel that I've been able to receive, both when living in Wales and when living in England, is S4C. Whereas I live several hundred miles from places which use any other language, and in the nature of things I'm only likely to have the opportunity to use such a language occasionally. So the 'reward' for learning Welsh is, in day by day practical terms, greater simply because I'm more likely to have the opportunity of hearing and using Welsh regularly than would be the case if I focused on learning some other language.

If I were an alien listening in on planet Earth I would wonder why there seemed to be so many different ways to communicate. Surely one language would unite the entire human race and make them stronger. Of course, we all know speaking the same language doesn't always make us the same nationality, race, colour etc.. Though it seems to be working for Germany now. Still hard to believe that 99 years after the Prussians helped us beat Napoleon, at Waterloo, we ended up fighting the united German speakers to save the French whom we'd been fighting for centuries, even when our Kings were French speaking! Would an Englishman of Croatian descent who learnt Welsh be more Welsh than a native of Aberystwyth whose family lost their Cymraeg generations ago? Of course not. But he could be if he wanted to. We're all descended from European immigrants in the end. Cymraeg doesn't make people Welsh but it does prove the Cymry exist/ed. Some argue 'I don't need the existence of the language to know that I am Welsh'. A perfectly valid point in 2020 but I doubt they would believe that if the last native Cymro Cymraeg had died in 1600. We would be the west of England, where they speak with those funny accents and still the butt of London jokes like 'They'd all be Irish if their grandparents hadn't been too thick to know how boats work'. So Cymraeg does have a point, even if it does not always have an use. It means there will still be at least a few Cymry on this planet in 2222. Avoiding genocide by neglect. (Assuming global disaster hasn't wiped out all the English, Chinese and Spanish speakers and left a few 'primitive' native tribes in Indonesia and South America to repopulate the post extinction Earth. Again!)

English by birth I have lived in Wales for nigh on 40 years. My earliest memories are of Welsh holidays , I love the place....my home. I sold my car to follow Wales in Japan last year, I cry at the Millennium Stadium, win or lose. But over all these years I've repeatedly failed at learning to speak Welsh . Like it or not we are now a Multicultural country , Wales and the UK , and we will only get along if we embrace one another differences. How is this critique of a well meaning learner helpful in encouraging others struggling with what most of us feel is a very difficult language? After all the article was written for a UK wide readership. Be positive, help and encourage Welsh learners . These aren't the bad old Victorian days ; we 'English/Welsh' choose to live here because we love it and love the people. Our children will grow up as proud Welsh speakers in an Independent Wales.

Deleting comments! That's the way! Censoring other people's views! You live in your bubble of everyone loves the Welsh language and see what happens x

Fair play to Chiles, learning Cymraeg, so I shouldn't really ask the question to what level ? Is it just a few phrases with his mate in a pub or has he taken on a "Say Something In Welsh" coarse. Either way it obviously qualifies his opinion !!! Mind you this Guardian journalist just happened to be sitting next to a Cymraeg Cymro all the way in Australia who thought it was all ok to have a little joke at the expense of OUR language. You couldn't make it up could you ! But what really p!$$es me off is that once again we have an English journalist telling us it's really all ok for one of them to mock our language. After all Chiles is learning Welsh isn't he ?

....Just heard on the news the other day that some types of penguins apparently communicate in a way similar to humans.... That is presumably money well-spent internationally; to play Dr. Doolittle as a "serious" scientist and learn to translate penguin; but preserving the historical namesakes and language of the Welsh, apparently not ranked on the same International to-do list agenda.... I guess it helps to be at least partially non-white.... like penguins....?... And sorry to play the penguin card, just seems fitting...?

If you want to stop being mocked then stop being so nice. Nothing would be healthier for Cymraeg than Cymry who are absolute Dominic Raab level c*nts. Wales' biggest problem as a country is that you cant be as bad as Raab in Welsh. And if you cant be bad, or a bit evil, it's just not fun.

If Cymraeg is pointless surely being Welsh is also pointless? If fact, Wales must be pointless, too. Isn't that the logical conclusion of that line of thought?

Of course such 'jokes' are not funny. The very existence of the Welsh language is a big psychological threat for large numbers over the border whose rulers have for centuries been encouraging them to consider Wales as (initially) part of England and (since 1974) as part of the 'British nation'. It's now deeply rooted. Dismissive humour is a useful weapon to emasculate the power of the language to individuate the Welsh as a separate nation. Treat the language as being of little consequence and a source of sniggering and you treat the people as being hardly worthy of serious consideration. Fortunately, there are some more enlightened people in England now, and Adrian Chiles might be considered one of these. Nevertheless, the hint of support that he offers to Zoe Williams's point of view later in his article suggests that he is not yet totally free of that conditioning. By objecting to such 'humour', the Welsh are therefore not being petty, or over-sensitive, or (Heaven forefend!) politically correct, but are merely validating themselves in the eyes of both themselves and others.

There are mountains of evidence to show that bilingual people are better at resolving and solving problems. This is because each language gives one a different perspectives on everything, it is therefore important for people to appreciate other languages. With dyslexia I have difficulty even with English and see things and problems differently. Would have loved to have learned a second language, but was considered not to be educationally capable to do so, did not learn to read until 7yesrs old, now with two degrees plus other qualification, I am trying to learn Welsh for a number of reasons 1. To see if I can, 2. Because I now live in Wales and think I should make the effort out of respect for my neighbours whose first language is Welsh 3. I want to read original documents as I trace my Welsh history and also the local history. To denigrate someone's language is to denigrate their culture, denigrate their history, is to wipe out their existence from their land. To make them no more a people, to wipe them from the face of the earth. To lie to their children about who they are and say learning your language is worthless, it is what starts the road to genicide. It is not about nationalism or patriotic fervour, it is about the right to exist.

Why is that some English seem at every chance to have a go at the Welsh either their language or the people themselves,remember this language is the oldest in Europe and should be respected,I moved to England when I was quite young and can't speak Welsh as I came from a non speaking area,but I have on very many occasions had to defend my heritage,some physically,that how cruel some people can be,and why is it the Welsh are rubbished by the English but they can't wait to move there when they retire,not realising they are diluting the language and bringing their arrogance with them,my forefathers were traced back to the 9th century in West Wales,that's why I feel bitter when my homeland is insulted.

It comes down to laziness in our day and age, if we picked up a book and really studied the language we could all be speaking it instead of investing our time on whether it's useful or not. It's pretty simple, it's not useful if you don't understand it. It's more useful in Wales and Patagonia than let's say Camden. It's the oldest native language to Britain, that's about as much as you need to know. Just pick up a book and learn the language.