Keeping minority languages alive in schools

As technology continues to make the world ever smaller, and certain languages like English, Mandarin and Spanish become more and more popular, it is more important than ever to try and preserve less common languages for future generations.

The Welsh language

As some of you may be aware Early Learning HQ is based in Swansea and so we naturally have a soft spot for the Welsh language (you may have noticed we have some welsh language resources on the site but we are looking to develop a lot more in the near future). Two members of our team speak Welsh fluently and another is from the Faroe Islands…where Faroese is the first language so we have an affinity with small languages.

I am not Welsh myself but I recognise the importance of keeping the language alive as it’s an important reflection of the country’s heritage. I think it adds so much to the culture and provides a real sense of identity. I know a lot of people make fuss about the money spent by the government on offering bilingual services and translating road signs etc but I think these are important measures to keep the language going.

English banned from some Welsh schools

Welsh has come close to dying out in the past (especially in the 19^th century in the days of the Welsh Not) but it has experienced a significant revival over recent years. A considerable number of Welsh primary schools now teach solely through the Welsh language and this trend is increasing, so the children are immersed in the language from a very young age. However, very often these children may come from a home where one or perhaps neither of their parents speaks Welsh and so they speak English when they are not in school.

This isn’t usually seen as a problem, however, recently in the county of Ceredigion in West Wales there have been a number of complaints from parents saying that their children are being bullied by the teachers into speaking Welsh, and punished if they speak English. It was reported in the Independent last week that children as young as 4 years old were being prevented from going to the toilet if they did not ask in the correct language and not allowed to speak English anywhere on the school grounds. A website has been set up for parents to log their concerns and a formal complaint has been made to Keith Towler, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.

I suspect that this is in fact an isolated incident, and by and large the teachers in Welsh schools are not intimidating the children in their care, but rather encouraging them to become bi-lingual. At least, I hope it’s an isolated incident because I think it’s really counter-productive to try and encourage children to learn a language by force…not least because it entrenches in them a very negative view of that language and encourages a sense of rebellion.

By the way before I go I should say that we hope to set aside some time in the near future to develop more Welsh language resources for the site. If you have any particular requests then please get in touch.