[lg policy] UK: Language activist offers to teach Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd execs to speak Welsh

Sat Mar 21 15:08:02 UTC 2015

  Trending Flintshire <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/flintshire>
Wrexham <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/wrexham> Carwyn Jones
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/carwyn-jones> North Wales Police
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/north-wales-police> A55
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/a55>

   -  Family Notices
   <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/buy-sell-tell/family-notices/>
   -  Flintshire <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/flintshire>
   -  Gwynedd <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/gwynedd>
   -  Conwy <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/conwy>
   -  Weather <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/weather/>

   -  Home <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/>
   -  News <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/>
   -  North Wales News <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/>
   -  Welsh Language <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/welsh-language>

  Language activist offers to teach Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd execs to
speak Welsh

   -  16:46, 20 March 2015 <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/by-date/20-03-2015>
   - By Hywel Trewyn <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/authors/hywel-trewyn/>

 Former Cymuned chair Aran Jones wants to give housing group's two new
directors free lessons for five weeks

    [image: Aran Jones makes language offer to CCG]
Aran Jones makes language offer to CCG

Two non-Welsh speakers appointed to directors’ jobs by a housing group have
been offered free lessons to learn the language.

Bangor-based Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd (CCG), which is landlord for 6,300
former Gwynedd Council homes, controversially dropped Welsh as an essential
skill
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-language-unessential-gwynedd-housing-8868466>for
the jobs because it wanted to “maximise” its changes of getting more
candidates to apply for the £82,000 posts which they will start in June.
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-housing-group-carry-recruiting-8344831>

The decision sparked months of protests
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/hundreds-attend-caernarfon-protest-against-8510020>
including one at Caernarfon in January attended by 250 people and was
denounced by politicians including Arfon AM Alun Ffred Jones.

Gwynedd councillor Sian Gwenllian resigned in protest.
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/hundreds-attend-caernarfon-protest-against-8510020>

Resources director Paul McGrady, 47, formerly head of finance at Denbighshire
Council <http://www.dailypost.co.uk/all-about/denbighshire%20council> is
learning Welsh while director of assets and infrastructure Ian Atkinson,
50, now at Monmouthshire Housing is not a learner at present.

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.

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”.

Councillor Gwenllian said: “Aran Jones should be thanked for his generous
offer.”

 [image: Sian Gwenllian, who resigned from Cartrefi  Cymunedol Gwynedd
board, speaks at the protest] Sian Gwenllian, who resigned from Cartrefi
Cymunedol Gwynedd board, speaks at the protest

Mr Jones is former leader of Welsh communities organisation Cymuned and now
runs his own ‘Say Something in Welsh’ language company.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

Last year, Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws
<http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-housing-group-carry-recruiting-8344831>
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.

She is now collating “all the evidence in relation to the matter” and will
publish a report in the near future.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/language-activist-offers-teach-cartrefi-8887470

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
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)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20150321/24f99e96/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list