[EDLING:305] New campaign to persuade English speakers to learn Welsh

[Francis M Hult]

Eurolang

http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4752


New campaign to persuade English speakers to learn Welsh
Abergele 9/10/2004 , by Huw Morgan

The Welsh Language Board has launched a new campaign aimed at encouraging
English speakers and Welsh learners to use the Welsh language. The
campaign is called 'Work, play, live... Use Welsh' and the message is that
the Welsh language is relevant to everyone in Wales and can be used in all
aspects of life. The campaign includes a series of advertisements on
television, billboards and buses across Wales as well as a new website.

"The purpose of the campaign is to engage English speakers and Welsh
learners in the language so that they to become interested in using
Welsh," says the language board chair Meri Huws. "The focus is on
introducing Welsh in a manageable and relaxed way that gives people the
confidence to try out the language."

The language board has created a website that features short, everyday
phrases in Welsh along with their phonetics and audio prompts to help with
pronunciation, so people can try practising the phrases and start using
Welsh as soon as they log onto the site. The site offers practical tips
and information on learning the language as well as real life stories from
people who have themselves started learning the language.

A recent report found that learners of the language needed encouragement
and reassurance. The report also highlighted the importance of colloquial
and spoken Welsh. These points have been incorporated in the campaign.

"Quite often people are daunted by the Welsh language, seeing it as
something formal and rigid," explained Ms Huws. "We must move away from
this assumption so that people perceive the language as more
conversational, informal and easier to approach. I hope that this campaign
will not only succeed in raising interest and awareness of the language
but that people will see that learning the language is fun and that it can
be used in real, everyday situations."

The campaign coincides with the Welsh language television channel S4C's
Welsh Learning Week. Now in its fourth year, the Welsh Learning Week sees
presenter and tutor Nia Parry travelling the length and breadth of Wales
holding Welsh ‘taster’ sessions at different companies and organisations.
(Eurolang)