In the 2023 State of the Nation survey, the Welsh Government wants to find out from the public whether they are doing enough to support the Welsh language.
The number of Welsh speakers has fallen in the past decade, with fewer children and teenagers speaking the language.
Jessica Dunrod, is a Welsh children’s author. She says she has always wanted her work to be translated into various languages and seen by more children, and in particular wanted Welsh language versions of her books.
“Cwtch” is a Welsh word that means, broadly speaking, to express love.
Jessica writes in her book:
When I want a hug- Mum gave me a cwtch and I felt much better.
When I’m tired – Sundays I like to laze around cwtched up in bed.
When it’s cold outside- Fetch a blanket and come cwich up next to the fire.
But Jessica says, her editor wanted to remove this word from her book, and that makes she very depressed.
Menna Roberts from Cardiff grew up in Wales, her dad is a native Welsh speaker, her mum speaks French and she and her brother grew up with a multilingual education.
For her, speaking Welsh and learning more about Welsh culture was something that enhanced her abilities, but she still found that there were issues in her life that prevented her from using Welsh.
Menna says:”The technology has sort of hindered it. Because for example on Welsh on social media apps we do not speak Welsh. We speak English in the hopes of getting a wider audience and I think this has affected the growth of the Welsh language.
“For instance, when I’m texting my friends, rarely will I be texting them and Welsh due to the fact that there is like no auto correct and whilst which can make it difficult, and it’s just a barrier that is unnecessary but it does sometimes stop me from using the Welsh language.
“Personally as a teenager, I find it difficult to find watch programmes that I enjoy watching on the TV. Because there is not as broad of options for us. In English there are hundreds of thousands of options whereas in Welsh there’s a small mount. Also in terms of books and media. I do find it more enjoyable to read English books, because I can look on websites like TikTok recommendations and then there’s a greater community in terms of those books.”
As a father of two, Tegid Roberts has always focused on the education of his children, and thanks to his efforts, both his son and daughter are fluent in Welsh. But all these years have not been easy. He says he hopes that the Welsh Government will make some changes to the education of children.
Tegid says: “One way to combat that, I think is to have more Welsh language schooling in Wales. Currently, less than a quarter of all children are taught in the medium of Welsh. In order to increase that we need to make sure that there’s enough for Welsh language teachers available and we need to make sure that most primary schools in Wales are dual stream Welsh and English streams.’
The Welsh Government will reveal the results of the public consultation on the development of the Welsh language in early March.