Irish, Scottish and Welsh
_________________________________________________________-Class 1
1. Irish Gaelic Alice, Chi-chi, Felicia, Olle, Daniella, Filip, Marie
2. Welsh Martynas, Ellika, Vilgot, Jason, Anita, Oscar 3. Scottish Gaelic Leo, Nils, Simon, Martin, Molly, Christopher, Sebastian
Class 2
1. Irish Gaelic Anna, Joel, Erik, Sarah, Rachel, Dana, Karl 2. Welsh Isabella, Mustafa, Hjalmar, Ellen J, Wilma, Viggo
Now read the text below that was recently published in an English paper
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/welsh-taught-in-british-schools-scottish-independence-referendum-english-wales-scotland
Why Welsh should be taught in British
schools
Regardless of what happens in the Scottish independence referendum, it’s time to end the English domination of Wales and Scotland
o Ellie Mae O'Hagan
The words marked in yellow appear in the vocabulary exercise below.
'Welsh is an official British language, the oldest language in Europe and the most common in Britain after English.' Photograph: David Hunter/Robert Harding /REX
friends in England what I was doing, many responded as though I’d just announced I was travelling to the Acropolis to deliver a sermon in ancient Greek. “People still speak Welsh?” is a common refrain all Cymrys living in England are accustomed to hearing.
Welsh evolved from Brittonic (meaning indigenous Breton, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon), and until the Romans came along, it was spoken in England too. The Welsh language is not a backwards, insignificant thing; it is a fundamental part of Britain’s collective history. I find it absurd that so few English people realise it is still spoken in families and communities across Wales, as part of a Brittonic culture which has survived through the ages. As part of my childhood, I learned traditional Welsh dance (downsio gwerin), recited Welsh poetry and sang Cerdd Dant (a type of vocal and harp music) during Eisteddfodau (the Welsh culture festival). I joined the Urdd (the Welsh League of Youth); read the Mabinogion (a collection of Welsh mythological stories) in school; and I spoke Welsh so fluently I barely noticed when people switched from English to Welsh. I did all these things as part of an indigenous Celtic culture I’ve
inherited by being born in Wales – a culture that isn’t unique to my small and beautiful corner of the country, but at one time reached across Britain and has helped shape it.
With the Scottish independence referendum looming, debates about what Britain is and who the British are have become more significant. Adam Ramsay, as part of Open Democracy’s Scotland’s Future series, has written a series of pieces in favour of independence – many of which have hovered over the questions of British identity. In one piece, he lambasts “no” advocate Danny Alexander for being blinded by “ bombastic British nationalism”.
I’ve loved reading these pieces by Ramsay (though I make no argument either way about independence here), but I take issue with his criticism of British nationalism. To me, what Alexander is defending is not British nationalism, but a type of English nationalism that sees Britain as a “greater” England and
Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland as subordinates whose cultures exist as only anachronistic novelties. I’m sure that’s what Ramsay was driving at in his piece, but that’s not British nationalism, it’s English nationalism, English
entitlement – and Wales is suffering under it too.
not jingoistic ridiculing – of Scottish and Welsh identity. Our unique cultures and languages are habitually erased in favour of an umbrella Englishness. To take a trivial example: the book and Twitter account Very British Problems portrays the British as socially awkward, Earl Grey-sipping Hugh Grant
caricatures. But that’s not an image I recognise from Wales – it’s not even an image I recognise in a lot of England (try looking for a stiff upper-lip on a night bus in Liverpool). It’s a particular stereotype of the English upper-middle classes which has been extrapolated to represent everyone in Britain,
overshadowing Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (and the English working class) in the process.
It’s time to end the English domination of Wales and Scotland, regardless of outcome of the referendum in September. To do this, I propose schoolchildren take part in compulsory lessons in Welsh and Scottish studies, during which they at least learn how to speak basic Welsh. I don’t see why not: Welsh is an official British language, the oldest language in Europe and the most common in Britain after English.
Many will write this off as a ludicrous proposal, but in doing so they reveal, to quote Ramsay again, “something fascinating about the nature of British
nationalism – how it is so ubiquitous as to be unnoticed; so hegemonic, as to go unchallenged.” After all, nobody would find it ludicrous to expect Welsh and Scottish schoolchildren to learn the English language and English history, and to imbibe English culture as a necessary result of its dominance.
If the British government really wants a United Kingdom, as it claims to, then it needs to give the other countries currently in the union an equal place. This is not just an issue of fairness; it’s also the simple fact that English people too have a right to understand their own history and culture, which was formed – in part – by Wales, Scotland and Ireland. If the Scottish people do vote no in September, Westminster should not take that as a validation of English empire. For the good of the many component parts, languages, and cultures that make up Britain, it’s time for something different.
Questions:-1. So, why should Welsh be taught in British schools?
Vocabulary: Match the words on the left with the right
explanation:-1. indigenous argue with someone about something
2. loom stays in one place (in the air)
3. hover what are you really trying to say?
4. lambast belongs to the past
5. advocate a belief that your own country is better than others
6. bombastic proof that something is correct, or that you are ok
7. take issue with have always been in the place where they are
8. anachronistic sounds (too) good or impressive (long words)
9. novelty seeming to be everywhere
10.what are you driving at? support or defend an idea
11. entitlement something new and unusual
12. jingoistic the right to have something
13. extrapolate it is likely to happen very soon
14. referendum criticize strongly
15. ludicrous to use facts about something to make a guess
about the future
16. ubiquitous drink (accept, used metaphorically)
17. hegemonic ridiculous
18. imbibe one state controls others
