Corrections · 2
Could anyone correct my transcripution? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-31051434
It is time for a new strategy for Welsh. Only 11% of people here in Swansea say they speak the language, yet the workers here at the ty tawe Welsh center say they haven't got enough money to run all the classes they want.
Elgan Davies Jones, ty tawe said, "At the moment, we are full to capacity and we have a small team of 6 staff who want to develop farther, to work with more schools, moreyouth works and more families."
New technology has been cited as a way to help Welsh develop, yet studies found that welsh speakers ignore the language and rely on English. Just over 12% said they mainly or always use Welsh when they're sending text messages, and 10% are Email. And on facebook 9% use mainly Welsh and on Twitter it's about 6%.
But I'm off to speak to people using this technology regularly, at a place I know well.
The reporter said, "I've come back to my old school in ???(the place name? I also have no idea what he said lol) which is at the top end of the Swansea valley in an area where the use of the Welsh language has been traditionally strong. But is it as strong as its ever been?
These current pupils say they are proud of speaking Welsh, but when using social media, it can be difficult.
One of the students said, "I post in English because my friends can speak English. But I basically prefer Welsh."
Another student said, "I speak Welsh with my mother more because my father can't speak Welsh, but he tries, but I can speak much more, it's quite funny."
Matthew Evans, head at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera says despite the good work that has been done in education, making the Welsh the language at the shops, post offices and pubs is still proving to be a difficult nut to crack (a saying that means something is difficult e.g. this homework is a tough nut to crack).
He said, "It's a case of developing the skill or any gaining the skill in school. Whether they utilize the developing the skill in their later life, it's beyond my control. But what I hope to address is they have a passion to keep learning the language."
Other researcher suggest if you compare Welsh to other languages like Basque, which has a similar number of speakers and differs from a number of dominant languages like Spainish or French, that is much more vast on Twitter.
Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Aberystwyth University said, "More Basque institutions in media or other kind of institutions are using the Basque language to create a dialog with the Basque speaking population. So you can get more links such as on twitter, to and from different insitutions and more varied institutions. And then the people go back and forth."
The minister said they are encouraged by figures which show and increase in the proportion of young people who speak Welsh. And then they also admitted that finding the right formula is growing difficult and people are getting to love to use it everyday is still a challenge.
Nicely done :)
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