Eisteddfod

[ardcarp]

I wonder if anyone has been watching episodes made at this year's Eisteddfod? (BTW a double dd is pronounced 'th' as in the English article 'the'.)
I was quite surprised to see pop music included among the more traditional Welsh folk, Druidic an other national content. It seemed everyone was having a good time. A good kids' choir was included last night on BBC4. Wales is proud of its nationhood, so I hope World Music is an appropriate place to post this!

[kernelbogey]

My best friend is a Welsh speaker. Some British people are ignorant of the fact that two languages are spoken in this country.

[french frank]

My best friend is a Welsh speaker. Some British people are ignorant of the fact that two languages are spoken in this country.

Three? (not counting the non-native languages, of course). Possibly four, or five.

[Joseph K]

Three? (not counting the non-native languages, of course). Possibly four, or five.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Three? (not counting the non-native languages, of course). Possibly four, or five.

Arguably 11 if Wiki has got it right,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom

[kernelbogey]

I stand corrected. What I was reacting against, if I may put it like that, is a broadcast from the Festival Hall by BBC Wales, where the presenter began in Welsh. This produced a titter from the audience. I don't have time to look up what the other nine in EH's list are, but there is, I believe, a kind of patronising of the Welsh language as though it's some kind heritage preservation. Actually it's widely spoken.

[Bryn]

I wonder if anyone has been watching episodes made at this year's Eisteddfod? (BTW a double dd is pronounced 'th' as in the English article 'the'.)
I was quite surprised to see pop music included among the more traditional Welsh folk, Druidic an other national content. It seemed everyone was having a good time. A good kids' choir was included last night on BBC4. Wales is proud of its nationhood, so I hope World Music is an appropriate place to post this!

"(BTW a double dd is pronounced 'th' as in the English article 'the'.)" This always makes me wonder how the "dd" of Caerdydd became "ff" in its Anglicised version.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I stand corrected. What I was reacting against, if I may put it like that, is a broadcast from the Festival Hall by BBC Wales, where the presenter began in Welsh. This produced a titter from the audience. I don't have time to look up what the other nine in EH's list are, but there is, I believe, a kind of patronising of the Welsh language as though it's some kind heritage preservation. Actually it's widely spoken.

I remember a Cardiff Singer Of The World competition where Chair of Judges David Pountney started in Welsh (as most to do to say Good evening etc) and then continued. The reaction from the audience was not a titter but one of slight delight and surprise from a largely bi-lingual audience that an English speaker was a) trying and b) doing reasonably well.
Those that tittered at the language at the Festival Hall might want to consider that the language is a rare living connection with a pre Anglo Saxon and indeed pre Roman world . A form of Old Welsh would have been spoken in North Britain in particular Cumbria (the word relates to Cymru) if I followed a recent Welsh TV series on it all accurately.
In a previous incarnation I was involved in Celtic (bit of a portmanteau term tbh ) language TV and Film making and in particular a rather “relaxed” festival celebrating that . You are right that Welsh is widely spoken . Other languages are faring less well.Some like Cornish and Manx are revived languages .The ”Celtic “ family of languages also includes Breton and Manx . Broadly speaker there are two strands to it - The Brittonic or Brythonic (Welsh , Breton and Cornish ) and the Goidelic (Irish and Scots Gaelic ). Sadly despite my recently acquired Irish passport I can’t do much more than order a drink and say cheers in any of them. Mind you that was quite a useful skill at that festival.

[kernelbogey]

A proxy hug, EH, from my Welsh-speaking friend.

[Globaltruth]

I wonder if anyone has been watching episodes made at this year's Eisteddfod? (BTW a double dd is pronounced 'th' as in the English article 'the'.)
I was quite surprised to see pop music included among the more traditional Welsh folk, Druidic an other national content. It seemed everyone was having a good time. A good kids' choir was included last night on BBC4. Wales is proud of its nationhood, so I hope World Music is an appropriate place to post this!

i think this is absolutely the right place to post this. Thanks adcarp.

Some recommendations of what to watch and what to avoid would be useful...