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/diary0011 Monday 14 January 2002
Welsh, our precious heritage
My Welsh tutorial is now part of my Sunday routine. After lunch every Sunday, my Welsh tutor Sion Woods of Ammanford joins me for a lesson. He teaches languages at Gowerton School, where my wife Elizabeth used to teach History.
Having tried unsuccessfully in two previous phases of my life, to learn Welsh, I am making a third attempt. This time, I have begun to understand the glories of the Welsh language, the elegance of its grammar, the scope of its verb-noun structures, its marvels of musicality and stress. My knowledge of other European languages is good. I retain my fluency in both French and German, with National Service Russian. But nothing prepared me for the rich grammar of Welsh, it myriad subtleties and depths.
Caf wers Gymraeg bob dydd Sul. Er fy mod yn ieithydd profiadol, rwy’n ei chael yn anodd iawn i siarad iaith frodorol fy Ngwlad. Rwyf wedi ceisio tair gwaith i ddysgu Gymaeg: 1962, 1981, ac nawr. | |
Sion Woods o Rydaman yw fy nhiwtor. Mae ef yn amyneddgar iawn. Gyda threigl amser daw’n fwy anodd i ddysgu iaith ychwanegol. Gallaf ddarllen papurau newydd, ond mwy anodd byth yw cynnal sgwrs.
We are privileged in Wales to have custody of this marvellous cultural heritage. For me, its cultivation represents a high priority, a historic duty which I intend to discharge. For the Welsh Labour Party, the challenge is to formulate a distinctive Welsh language policy, capable of countering the destructive separatism of Welsh nationalism.
Separatism in Wales has been fuelled by the passions of language. I can understand those passions, and I share them. The task for Labour, my own Party, is now to turn those priorities to practical political effect.
What do you think? Drop me
a line.
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