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<h1 class="" itemprop="headline name">
Language activist offers to teach Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd execs to speak Welsh
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<a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/by-date/20-03-2015"> 16:46, 20 March 2015</a>
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By
<a class="" href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/authors/hywel-trewyn/" rel="author">Hywel Trewyn</a>
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<h2 class="">Former Cymuned chair Aran Jones wants to give housing group's two new directors free lessons for five weeks </h2>
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<img src="http://i1.dailypost.co.uk/incoming/article8887816.ece/alternates/s615/JS59585518.jpg" alt="Aran Jones makes language offer to CCG" itemprop="image">
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<span>Aran Jones makes language offer to CCG </span>
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<p>Two non-Welsh speakers appointed to directors’ jobs by a housing group have been offered free lessons to learn the language.</p> <p>Bangor-based Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd (CCG), which is landlord for 6,300 former Gwynedd Council homes, controversially <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-language-unessential-gwynedd-housing-8868466">dropped Welsh as an essential skill </a>for the jobs because it wanted to “maximise” its changes of <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-housing-group-carry-recruiting-8344831">getting more candidates to apply for the £82,000 posts which they will start in June.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/hundreds-attend-caernarfon-protest-against-8510020">The decision sparked months of protests</a>
including one at Caernarfon in January attended by 250 people and was
denounced by politicians including Arfon AM Alun Ffred Jones.</p> <p>Gwynedd councillor <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/hundreds-attend-caernarfon-protest-against-8510020">Sian Gwenllian resigned in protest.</a></p> <p>Resources director Paul McGrady, 47, formerly head of finance at <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/denbighshire%20council">Denbighshire Council</a>
is learning Welsh while director of assets and infrastructure Ian
Atkinson, 50, now at Monmouthshire Housing is not a learner at present.</p> <p>Welsh
tutor Aran Jones, 46, used Twitter to contact Cllr Gwenllian and
initially said he’d be willing to do five intensive weekends with Mr
Atkinson - for free.</p> <p>Today Mr Jones, who has learnt Welsh
himself, extended his offer also to teach Mr McGrady so that they both
can “confidently hold a conversation in Welsh”.</p> <p>Councillor Gwenllian said: “Aran Jones should be thanked for his generous offer.”</p> <p>
</p>
<img src="http://i4.dailypost.co.uk/incoming/article8510246.ece/alternates/s615/JS55234064.jpg" alt="Sian Gwenllian, who resigned from Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd board, speaks at the protest" class="" title="Sian Gwenllian, who resigned from Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd board, speaks at the protest" height="409" width="615">
Sian Gwenllian, who resigned from Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd board, speaks at the protest
<p>Mr Jones is former leader of Welsh communities organisation
Cymuned and now runs his own ‘Say Something in Welsh’ language company.</p> <p>He
said: “We have been running experimental intensive courses for a few
weekends. If they can spend six to eight hours a day learning Welsh,
then it’s possible that they will be able to speak it confidently and
with ease. Then, it’s a matter of spending 30 minutes a day practising
and speaking so that CCG’s main internal language remains Welsh.”</p> <p>Mr
Jones said he’d be willing to travel to CCG’s headquarters or invite
them to his home in Mynytho, Llŷn for the one-to-one sessions rather
than in the “boot camps” classes he normally runs.</p> <p>He said: “If
they really want to learn Welsh, then they could start now so that they
will be able to speak it by the time they start work with CCG in June.”</p> <p>A
CCG spokesperson said: “We are aware of Aran Jones’ generous offer via
Twitter and we have passed the message on to our human resources team.
We would support the two new directors fully to learn or improve their
Welsh.”</p> <p>Last year, <a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-housing-group-carry-recruiting-8344831">Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws</a>
had urged CCG to delay advertising the jobs while she carried out an
investigation into the validity of the decision taken in September –
breaking its own language policy.</p> <p>She is now collating “all the evidence in relation to the matter” and will publish a report in the near future.</p>
<br><a href="http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/language-activist-offers-teach-cartrefi-8887470">http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/language-activist-offers-teach-cartrefi-8887470</a><br></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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