Lions for all

by No 7&1/2 Fri 05 May 2017, 10:09 am

Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

by Luckless Pedestrian Fri 05 May 2017, 10:40 am

No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!

by No 7&1/2 Fri 05 May 2017, 10:47 am

The option certainly is but the majority who have access don't speak it. Hence a slight downer.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 05 May 2017, 11:13 am

Apparently there will be English subtitles

by Luckless Pedestrian Fri 05 May 2017, 11:18 am

by BamBam Fri 05 May 2017, 12:51 pm

Subtitles don't work great for live events but they would for highlights

by GunsGermsV2 Fri 05 May 2017, 3:38 pm

Thats cool. Hopefully there are more "Highlights" than in 05.

by marty2086 Fri 05 May 2017, 3:50 pm

No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Sure the Lions will be doing the team talks in Welsh too Whistle

by majesticimperialman Fri 05 May 2017, 4:50 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!

Welsh biased hey? It should be in a language all four nations fans can understand. After all it is a BRITISH AND IRIS LIONS SQUAD. AND NOT A WELSH SQUAD.

by Luckless Pedestrian Fri 05 May 2017, 5:01 pm

majesticimperialman wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!

Welsh biased hey? It should be in a language all four nations fans can understand. After all it is a BRITISH AND IRIS LIONS SQUAD. AND NOT A WELSH SQUAD.

But S4C is a Welsh channel. This can't be news to you.

Incidentally, one of my dinnerladies at school was called Iris Lyons.

by **RiscaGame** Fri 05 May 2017, 5:32 pm

majesticimperialman wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!

Welsh biased hey? It should be in a language all four nations fans can understand. After all it is a BRITISH AND IRIS LIONS SQUAD. AND NOT A WELSH SQUAD.

Why do you find quoting so hard? Why are you so ignorant? Heaven forbid a Welsh language channel shows a programme in the Welsh language.

Personally, I don't see why anybody needs commentary on a highlights programme anyway, but there we go. You'd think people might be thankful for the service S Pedwar C are providing.

by Luckless Pedestrian Fri 05 May 2017, 5:48 pm

Exactly. If you don't have Sky, it's S4C or nothing.

by Luckless Pedestrian Fri 05 May 2017, 5:52 pm

Plus it's an opportunity to learn some of the language:

Cais arall i'r Crysau Duon = another try for the All Blacks
Dim digon o Albanwyr yn y garfan = not enough Scots in the squad
Stan Laurel = Rob Howley

And so on.

by Rory_Gallagher Fri 05 May 2017, 6:09 pm

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Plus it's an opportunity to learn some of the language:

Cais arall i'r Crysau Duon = another try for the All Blacks
Dim digon o Albanwyr yn y garfan = not enough Scots in the squad
Stan Laurel = Rob Howley

And so on.

Hehe. Laurel and Hardy. I never thought of Howler and Gats like that before.

by Taylorman Fri 05 May 2017, 7:13 pm

GunsGermsV2 wrote:Thats cool. Hopefully there are more "Highlights" than in 05.

Second test had many highlights thumbsup

by Gwlad Sat 06 May 2017, 1:06 am

wow an actual racist thread which states that the transmission of a rugby match in a particular language is a 'small downer'

Bet that's what his wife calls him.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 06 May 2017, 8:07 am

Nothing racist about not speaking the language. But your insults are not needed.

by The Great Aukster Sat 06 May 2017, 10:28 am

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Incidentally, one of my dinnerladies at school was called Iris Lyons.

Did she have a husband called Brett?

by mikey_dragon Sat 06 May 2017, 11:27 am

Rory_Gallagher wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Plus it's an opportunity to learn some of the language:

Cais arall i'r Crysau Duon = another try for the All Blacks
Dim digon o Albanwyr yn y garfan = not enough Scots in the squad
Stan Laurel = Rob Howley

And so on.

Hehe. Laurel and Hardy. I never thought of Howler and Gats like that before.

No need to think of Gats like that just because he keeps getting one over on Ireland Wink

. The other part is a bit of an insult to Stan Laurel though.

by Gwlad Sat 06 May 2017, 4:33 pm

No 7&1/2 wrote:Nothing racist about not speaking the language. But your insults are not needed.

well i find your thread highly insulting and you should make changes.

You entitle it Lions for All but then denigrate the language of the national broadcaster with you pathetic remark about it being a small downer that, unsurprisingly, the Welsh language channel is broadcast IN WELSH. I didn't realize people could be this ignorant or would wish to perpetuate it when called out, but then there are always people who don't even understand when their behavior is complete culturally ignorant. Indefensible.

by No 7&1/2 Sat 06 May 2017, 4:41 pm

Nope.

by Taylorman Sat 06 May 2017, 6:24 pm

No 7&1/2 wrote:Nope.

Agree. Tough. Talk about mr Pot meet mrs kettle. Spends his time primarily insulting others, individually, culturally and by nation and then cries when his poor little language is mentioned.

Insults the haka and NZers endlessly then talks of being culturally insensitive. A very funny chap. laughing

by Blueschief Sun 07 May 2017, 10:53 am

While the commentry is in Welsh you usually find English commentry on the red button, on the live games. I don't know if the will do this on a highlights reel tho.

by rainbow-warrior Sun 07 May 2017, 7:42 pm

Taylorman wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Nope.

Agree. Tough. Talk about mr Pot meet mrs kettle. Spends his time primarily insulting others, individually, culturally and by nation and then cries when his poor little language is mentioned.

Insults the haka and NZers endlessly then talks of being culturally insensitive. A very funny chap.

Hardly a 'Little" or "poor"language, Welsh is approx 1,500 years old and was the language throughout Briton before the invasions started. One of the world's oldest languages. Is the senior language of the UK and is spoken as a first language in many areas of North Wales.

by Rory_Gallagher Sun 07 May 2017, 7:48 pm

Just don't insult the haka.

by Breadvan Sun 07 May 2017, 8:31 pm

I'm learning welsh by watching all the series of Hinterland. Line of duty? Pah!

by lostinwales Sun 07 May 2017, 9:38 pm

I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

by Guest Sun 07 May 2017, 9:50 pm

lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

I get the humour at the last two as they're said the same as English essentially, but whats funny about ysgol?

by Gwlad Mon 08 May 2017, 12:46 am

Griff wrote:
lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

I get the humour at the last two as they're said the same as English essentially, but whats funny about ysgol?

best Welsh word is 'tay-lorcoch' meaning sheep fancier.

by Gwlad Mon 08 May 2017, 1:02 am

rainbow-warrior wrote:
Taylorman wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Nope.

Agree. Tough. Talk about mr Pot meet mrs kettle. Spends his time primarily insulting others, individually, culturally and by nation and then cries when his poor little language is mentioned.

Insults the haka and NZers endlessly then talks of being culturally insensitive. A very funny chap.

Hardly a 'Little" or "poor"language, Welsh is approx 1,500 years old and was the language throughout Briton before the invasions started. One of the world's oldest languages. Is the senior language of the UK and is spoken as a first language in many areas of North Wales.

and it hasn't been culturally appropriated by another nation to make them look like something they aren't.

by 123456789 Mon 08 May 2017, 1:41 am

Gwlad wrote:
rainbow-warrior wrote:
Taylorman wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Nope.

Agree. Tough. Talk about mr Pot meet mrs kettle. Spends his time primarily insulting others, individually, culturally and by nation and then cries when his poor little language is mentioned.

Insults the haka and NZers endlessly then talks of being culturally insensitive. A very funny chap.

Hardly a 'Little" or "poor"language, Welsh is approx 1,500 years old and was the language throughout Briton before the invasions started. One of the world's oldest languages. Is the senior language of the UK and is spoken as a first language in many areas of North Wales.

and it hasn't been culturally appropriated by another nation to make them look like something they aren't.

Sorry to be pedantic but there was not one single Celtic language across Britain but rather a series of Celtic languages, hence why Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh still exist today. They are all small languages that represent a minority of people in their individual countries however the heritage of the language has far deeper roots within these countries than the language we speak today.

In much the same way the same language is the predominant one in New Zealand yet the haka, and Maori culture and language at large have far older roots than English in New Zealand. Perhaps rather than pointing the finger at one another it would be better to understand the similarities between the situations.

by Taylorman Mon 08 May 2017, 1:42 am

rainbow-warrior wrote:
Taylorman wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Nope.

Agree. Tough. Talk about mr Pot meet mrs kettle. Spends his time primarily insulting others, individually, culturally and by nation and then cries when his poor little language is mentioned.

Insults the haka and NZers endlessly then talks of being culturally insensitive. A very funny chap.

Hardly a 'Little" or "poor"language, Welsh is approx 1,500 years old and was the language throughout Briton before the invasions started. One of the world's oldest languages. Is the senior language of the UK and is spoken as a first language in many areas of North Wales.

Yes I get that and wasnt having a go at the language itself, but rather the posters hypocracy. That sounds interesting, the written word certainly looks old so there must be a great amount of history behind it I agree.

I think its a good thing commentary will be in Welsh. Might not suit everyone but if theyre the ones promoting it, thats gotta be a good thing, it keeps the language within the mainstream. We've had League and I believe rugby commentated in Maori when Maori TV have secured partial rights certain events. The less the non mainstream languages are locked away the better.

by Gwlad Mon 08 May 2017, 3:40 am

the haka is Maori too, that being a culture which came from Polynesia.

by rainbow-warrior Mon 08 May 2017, 7:57 am

lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

The usual dumb english comment about a language so ancient, busses and taxis were not errrr around??? I think you will find there are far more Welsh words in the bastardised english language. Oh not to mention
Abalone
Avocado
Caribou
Cashew
Cassava
Chili
Chipmunk
Chocolate
Condor
Cougar
Coyote
Hickory
Hominy
Iguana
Maize
Moose
Muskrat
Ocelot
Opossum
Pecan
Persimmon
Petunia
Potato
Puma
Raccoon
Skunk
Squash
Succotash
Tobacco
Tomato
Woodchuck

To name just a few hahahahaha English what a joke.

by No 7&1/2 Mon 08 May 2017, 8:00 am

Dear god.

by Taylorman Mon 08 May 2017, 8:33 am

rainbow-warrior wrote:
lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

The usual dumb english comment about a language so ancient, busses and taxis were not errrr around??? I think you will find there are far more Welsh words in the bastardised english language. Oh not to mention
Abalone
Avocado
Caribou
Cashew
Cassava
Chili
Chipmunk
Chocolate
Condor
Cougar
Coyote
Hickory
Hominy
Iguana
Maize
Moose
Muskrat
Ocelot
Opossum
Pecan
Persimmon
Petunia
Potato
Puma
Raccoon
Skunk
Squash
Succotash
Tobacco
Tomato
Woodchuck

To name just a few hahahahaha English what a joke.

Oh yes we used to hear things like, if it weren't for the English coming to NZ Maoris wouldn't have things like microwaves, TVs etc.

An obvious faux pas but I can just see James Cook wandering up the beach with his Walkman on... Whistle

by lostinwales Mon 08 May 2017, 8:45 am

Griff wrote:
lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

I get the humour at the last two as they're said the same as English essentially, but whats funny about ysgol?

Same thing. It means school. Like ysbytyl for hospital.

Yes it is a silly old joke. It's almost funny seeing how a couple of our long term residents get so excited about such silly jokes

by Guest Mon 08 May 2017, 9:09 am

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!

Yeah I reckon it is to clap

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

by Guest Mon 08 May 2017, 9:12 am

lostinwales wrote:
Griff wrote:
lostinwales wrote:I used to love all those welsh words like ysgol, bws, tacsi......

I get the humour at the last two as they're said the same as English essentially, but whats funny about ysgol?

Same thing. It means school. Like ysbytyl for hospital.

Yes it is a silly old joke. It's almost funny seeing how a couple of our long term residents get so excited about such silly jokes

But it doesn't sound anything like school! Ysgol is pronounced 'uzz-gol', so not that similar to school! So not the same as tacsi and bws which do sound like taxi and bus. Same with hospital, it's actually ysbyty and prounced 'uzz-butty', so again very different from the English.

You'll be picking on the French next for chat sounding like cat Sad

by Taylorman Mon 08 May 2017, 9:14 am

ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

I think I recall two of the longest place names in the world are in Maori and Welsh.

Long time ago I read that and might dig them out but I know the Maori one was ridiculously long.

by Guest Mon 08 May 2017, 9:26 am

ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

There was fear of that, but I'd say it's spoken now more than ever. You can walk around Cardiff and hear it, go to pubs and hear young people speaking it, go to events in Wales and hear lots of families speaking Welsh (I was at Folly Farm in west wales recently and heard lots of it). It's compulsory in all schools now. Has been for years actually. There are loads of fully welsh language schools (and a greater proportion the further East and North you go), but increasingly there are more welsh language schools in more eastern places like Cardiff and Newport now too. My daughter is in an English medium primary school but Welsh is big on the agenda, she's in some Welsh speaking club (Criw Cymraeg!), do events with Welsh speaking schools too. Actually, the results and standards of the Welsh medium schools often tend to be better than the English medium schools so a lot of parents I think are sending kids for that reason, which keeps it alive even more.

I think the issue comes after school though as there is no use for the language, sadly. Attempts are made to keep it going with adults - for example all documents sent out have to be in both Welsh and English, which obviously doubles the cost for organisations (I'm thinking things like car tax forms, letters from the council, election poling cards, etc.), but puts the language out there. They also all offer the option of Welsh on automated phone services (e.g. tax office, local government, etc). Instructions can be in Welsh if you choose on cash points. So everything has to be bilingual and public organisations employ people fulltime to translate. But for things like business it is perhaps not needed, especially on a European and Global scale. Not a reason to get rid of it though, just that it means people sometimes stop using it completely. I'm not a welsh speaker. I think they brought in the welsh in school policy a year or two after I started so we didn't learn 1 word of welsh all the way through school. I've just picked up bit and pieces, mainly from watching rugby on S4C. Loads of rugby players speak it and conduct their interviews in Welsh. It's definitely not dying out, which is great IMO.

by LordDowlais Mon 08 May 2017, 9:35 am

Welsh language is alive and well here in Wales, and in Argentina, and parts of Canada thanks. The Welsh language is one of the oldest languages in the world and it is constantly evolving. The origins of the Welsh language goes back further than 1500 years, it goes back as far as the iron age, a time when the Romans first invaded our isles. Also, for people's information, there is was never really a race called "the Celts".

The "Celts" was the word used by the Romans to describe the people of mainland Europe, and the "Celts" in Britain were a mix of Welsh, Cornish and Bretons. People of Ireland and Scotland were never "Celts" they were "Geals" along with the Manx.

The word Celtic originally meant a collection of languages and a few hundred years ago somebody decided to group all the Welsh, Gealic, Manx, Cornish and Breton speaking people as Celts.

Anyway, back to the Lions. Very Happy

by TightHEAD Mon 08 May 2017, 9:38 am

This is so biased, should be on TV so that everyone can see it, how does anyone expect the game to grown if its hidden away?

by LordDowlais Mon 08 May 2017, 9:42 am

Griff wrote:
ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

There was fear of that, but I'd say it's spoken now more than ever. You can walk around Cardiff and hear it, go to pubs and hear young people speaking it, go to events in Wales and hear lots of families speaking Welsh (I was at Folly Farm in west wales recently and heard lots of it). It's compulsory in all schools now. Has been for years actually. There are loads of fully welsh language schools (and a greater proportion the further East and North you go), but increasingly there are more welsh language schools in more eastern places like Cardiff and Newport now too. My daughter is in an English medium primary school but Welsh is big on the agenda, she's in some Welsh speaking club (Criw Cymraeg!), do events with Welsh speaking schools too. Actually, the results and standards of the Welsh medium schools often tend to be better than the English medium schools so a lot of parents I think are sending kids for that reason, which keeps it alive even more.

I think the issue comes after school though as there is no use for the language, sadly. Attempts are made to keep it going with adults - for example all documents sent out have to be in both Welsh and English, which obviously doubles the cost for organisations (I'm thinking things like car tax forms, letters from the council, election poling cards, etc.), but puts the language out there. They also all offer the option of Welsh on automated phone services (e.g. tax office, local government, etc). Instructions can be in Welsh if you choose on cash points. So everything has to be bilingual and public organisations employ people fulltime to translate. But for things like business it is perhaps not needed, especially on a European and Global scale. Not a reason to get rid of it though, just that it means people sometimes stop using it completely. I'm not a welsh speaker. I think they brought in the welsh in school policy a year or two after I started so we didn't learn 1 word of welsh all the way through school. I've just picked up bit and pieces, mainly from watching rugby on S4C. Loads of rugby players speak it and conduct their interviews in Welsh. It's definitely not dying out, which is great IMO.

Hi Griff.

Are you a fellow fluent Welsh speaker ?

In today's society, in Wales, it is very advantageous to be a Welsh speaker, companies looking to employ you in Wales prefer it, and when you are speaking to a company on the phone or face to face especially something government orientated like your local counsel, or your bank then you get a choice to speak in Welsh or English, then you get sorted out quicker as the que to speak in Welsh is a fraction of the English speaking que. I have seen mates of mine waiting on the end of the phone for ages on hold, but if you chose the Welsh speaking option, then you vary rarely get put on hold. Yahoo

by Pete C (Kiwireddevil) Mon 08 May 2017, 9:45 am

Griff wrote:
ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

There was fear of that, but I'd say it's spoken now more than ever. You can walk around Cardiff and hear it, go to pubs and hear young people speaking it, go to events in Wales and hear lots of families speaking Welsh (I was at Folly Farm in west wales recently and heard lots of it). It's compulsory in all schools now. Has been for years actually. There are loads of fully welsh language schools (and a greater proportion the further East and North you go), but increasingly there are more welsh language schools in more eastern places like Cardiff and Newport now too. My daughter is in an English medium primary school but Welsh is big on the agenda, she's in some Welsh speaking club (Criw Cymraeg!), do events with Welsh speaking schools too. Actually, the results and standards of the Welsh medium schools often tend to be better than the English medium schools so a lot of parents I think are sending kids for that reason, which keeps it alive even more.

I think the issue comes after school though as there is no use for the language, sadly. Attempts are made to keep it going with adults - for example all documents sent out have to be in both Welsh and English, which obviously doubles the cost for organisations (I'm thinking things like car tax forms, letters from the council, election poling cards, etc.), but puts the language out there. They also all offer the option of Welsh on automated phone services (e.g. tax office, local government, etc). Instructions can be in Welsh if you choose on cash points. So everything has to be bilingual and public organisations employ people fulltime to translate. But for things like business it is perhaps not needed, especially on a European and Global scale. Not a reason to get rid of it though, just that it means people sometimes stop using it completely. I'm not a welsh speaker. I think they brought in the welsh in school policy a year or two after I started so we didn't learn 1 word of welsh all the way through school. I've just picked up bit and pieces, mainly from watching rugby on S4C. Loads of rugby players speak it and conduct their interviews in Welsh. It's definitely not dying out, which is great IMO.

Good to hear.

I'm from the South Island, where you'd hear very little Maori spoken - Maori settlement was much sparser than up in the North Island, plus Te Rauparaha (the man who later-in-life wrote the Ka Mate Haka later adopted by the AllBlacks) rather depleted local tribe numbers when his Ngati Toa tribe conquered the top half of the SI in the 1830s. On the flip side, one of my cousins married into a notable Tainui family, at the wedding the groom's father gave an impressive sounding speech mainly in Maori, and actually struggled a bit with expressing his sentiments in English

by LordDowlais Mon 08 May 2017, 9:46 am

TightHEAD wrote:This is so biased, should be on TV so that everyone can see it, how does anyone expect the game to grown if its hidden away?

Tell this to your regional TV provider. Not us. they all get given a budget, what they spend it on is their business, not the Welsh. Rugby is the national sport in Wales, perhaps that's why our regional TV provider has chosen to spend money on the B&I Lions.

Nothing biased about this, but why let that get in the way of your rhetoric ?

by BamBam Mon 08 May 2017, 9:49 am

LordDowlais wrote:
Griff wrote:
ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

There was fear of that, but I'd say it's spoken now more than ever. You can walk around Cardiff and hear it, go to pubs and hear young people speaking it, go to events in Wales and hear lots of families speaking Welsh (I was at Folly Farm in west wales recently and heard lots of it). It's compulsory in all schools now. Has been for years actually. There are loads of fully welsh language schools (and a greater proportion the further East and North you go), but increasingly there are more welsh language schools in more eastern places like Cardiff and Newport now too. My daughter is in an English medium primary school but Welsh is big on the agenda, she's in some Welsh speaking club (Criw Cymraeg!), do events with Welsh speaking schools too. Actually, the results and standards of the Welsh medium schools often tend to be better than the English medium schools so a lot of parents I think are sending kids for that reason, which keeps it alive even more.

I think the issue comes after school though as there is no use for the language, sadly. Attempts are made to keep it going with adults - for example all documents sent out have to be in both Welsh and English, which obviously doubles the cost for organisations (I'm thinking things like car tax forms, letters from the council, election poling cards, etc.), but puts the language out there. They also all offer the option of Welsh on automated phone services (e.g. tax office, local government, etc). Instructions can be in Welsh if you choose on cash points. So everything has to be bilingual and public organisations employ people fulltime to translate. But for things like business it is perhaps not needed, especially on a European and Global scale. Not a reason to get rid of it though, just that it means people sometimes stop using it completely. I'm not a welsh speaker. I think they brought in the welsh in school policy a year or two after I started so we didn't learn 1 word of welsh all the way through school. I've just picked up bit and pieces, mainly from watching rugby on S4C. Loads of rugby players speak it and conduct their interviews in Welsh. It's definitely not dying out, which is great IMO.

Hi Griff.

Are you a fellow fluent Welsh speaker ?

In today's society, in Wales, it is very advantageous to be a Welsh speaker, companies looking to employ you in Wales prefer it, and when you are speaking to a company on the phone or face to face especially something government orientated like your local counsel, or your bank then you get a choice to speak in Welsh or English, then you get sorted out quicker as the que to speak in Welsh is a fraction of the English speaking que. I have seen mates of mine waiting on the end of the phone for ages on hold, but if you chose the Welsh speaking option, then you vary rarely get put on hold.

Wow

. That is a quite stupendous reason to be a Welsh speaker, I'll definitely learn now

by LordDowlais Mon 08 May 2017, 9:51 am

BamBam wrote:Wow Shocked . That is a quite stupendous reason to be a Welsh speaker, I'll definitely learn now

Why ?

Do you live in Wales ?

by robbo277 Mon 08 May 2017, 10:07 am

Taylorman wrote:
ebop wrote:
Luckless Pedestrian wrote:
No 7&1/2 wrote:Bit of good news for those without subscriptions etc. Highlights of all lions matches will be free to air. Small downer that the commentary is in Welsh but you can't have everything!

Apologies for the daily mail link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4475916/Lions-TV-free-commentary-WELSH.html

Having the commentary in Welsh is a good thing!
Yeah I reckon it is to

I might have my wires crossed here but I recall reading that there was a real risk the Welsh language was dying out. Things like this shouldn't happen. Same thing was said of the Maori language and how it was almost lost. Maori were told not to speak Maori. Not any more, there's been a major resurgence in it being spoken and taught to new generations. There is pride in being Maori and pushing the culture forward. It's great that there are people out there that care about these things and won't let it disappear. So good on the Welsh channel for doing this. It's a high profile event and I hope people respect the decision and gain something from it.

I think I recall two of the longest place names in the world are in Maori and Welsh.

Long time ago I read that and might dig them out but I know the Maori one was ridiculously long.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

The name "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu" translates roughly as "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one".

It's fine that a Welsh broadcaster is showing the game/highlights with welsh commentary, but I don't think there is an issue with the OP stating that's a small downer for non-Welsh speakers (such as him and me). I'd slightly prefer commentary I could understand, but I'm grateful that he's shared some info on where to pick up highlights and wouldn't not watch because of it.

by LordDowlais Mon 08 May 2017, 10:14 am

Here is the Welsh one:-

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch"

Roughly translated it means a place that has a church called St Mary's near the white hazel next to the river that has a strong current and it's next to a red grotto or cave. Or something along those lines, other people might translate it differently.

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