While doing research for a possible magazine article, I recently spoke with several people involved in Welsh language: educators, students, publishers, enthusiasts, Welsh, North Americans. One question I asked was what struck them as most significant in the revival of the Welsh language over the past 50 years or so. From their answers and some additional research, I've put together this Top Ten List (in no particular order). Read on to find out what, in the language's recent history, gets Welsh devotees fired up.
1. The Welsh Language Act of 1993. This bit of legislation officially gave Welsh equal status with English in Wales. This enabled many more services to be provided in Welsh, including forms and names of bodies or offices. Welsh could be used in legal proceedings if requested, and the provisions were made for Welsh Language Schemes to promote the Welsh language equally with English in the public realm.
2. The Internet. Because of the internet, Welsh speakers all over Wales and throughout the world are able to connect much more easily, and bring awareness of the language to more and more people. Mailing lists and bulletin boards enable communities to develop among learners and speakers who are often geographically widespread. Not only that, the internet is proving to be a useful tool in language learning itself-from the BBC Catchphrase lessons, to the E-Wlpan course, to the cheat sheets on Clwb Malu Cachu, anyone in the world with internet access can start learning Welsh.
3. Social Protest. Individual activists and organizations such as Cymdeithas yr Iaith (The Welsh Language Society) used political pressure and civil disobedience to fight for the rights of Welsh speakers and promote the use of Welsh throughout the country. Acts such as painting out road signs in English helped secure bilingual road signs. Cymdeithas yr Iaith's efforts also resulted in the establishment of the Welsh television station, S4C, in 1982. Making the language ever more visible and accessible was crucial in the revival of Welsh.
4. Saunders Lewis and "Tynged yr Iaith." According to Mark Stonelake, a Tutor and Organizer for the Department of Adult Continuing Education at the University of Wales, Swansea, Saunders Lewis's speech about the fate of the language was "a turning point. It shocked many Welsh speakers into realizing that if something wasn't done the language could cease to exist by the end of the century." For more information, see this article.
