The people of the falklands have the strongest claim surely.

“it is therefore, more important than ever, that we all find common ground, which unites us all, not issues, that drive us apart.”

Exactly.

Ysgol y cwmuu is inspiring, diolch yn fawr iawn!

Learning a language is a generational thing, that would be fixed if all schools became Welsh Medium. I can understand though, that it is a big ask for many Welsh people, who do not speak Welsh already, to focus on the language as the driving issue, in attaining more power for Wales. What is fundamental, is that we find a shared goal, which does unite us, regardless of our political colours, in attaining, as you mention, more power for Wales and a better way of life for us all. One of the most destructive aspects of colonialism is ‘Divide and Conquer’, it is therefor, more important than ever, that we all find common ground, which unites us all, not issues, that drive us apart.

Just to add, with regard to learning Welsh, I have found that the ‘Say something in Welsh’ programme to be really good and it has an excellent free App, to get started. As I mentioned before, I find learning languages a real challenge, but this app is really helpful and you take it at your own pace, without any pressure, here is the link:

https://www.saysomethingin.com/welsh

There is also loads of other free Welsh language stuff on line, once you start looking and there should be local classes, with learners of all levels.

Control over education and the legal system is a good start. It will empower Welsh people if these institutions are used for the good of the Welsh. I think though there is an assumption that English speaking Welsh need to or want to go back to speaking Welsh. From their point of view, maybe more power and prospects will be enough without having to aim for a cultural ideal that is more important for others who retained the language.

There has to be more motivation for English speaking Welsh to strive for more power for Wales, than putting Wales back to the way it used to be in terms of the language. The motivation has to be to make Wales as it is presently a better place to live, with or without the language. If the drive does not come from that attitude then I don’t think many English speaking Welsh will be concerned enough to push for independence. The problem for Welsh speaking communities is that they either push for their right to not be colonised, which entails focussing the push for Welsh independence towards their situation, or they do nothing. I don’t think the rest of colonised Wales will see it their way though. A push for an independent Wales without cultural requirement may work out though.

I think you are right about the effects of colonisation, this is the major issue that needs to be dealt with by the Welsh Government, but instead they have been encouraging colonisation through so called initiatives, like the One Planet Development. It’s a vicious circle, the Welsh have been disempowered, because they have no real power in the first place. The Irish do not have the same crisis of identity and threat to their culture, because they fought for their independence from England. The Scottish do not have the same level of threat to their culture through colonisation, as they are in control of their legal and education system, this gives them far more autonomy and confidence to protect their culture. This is what we have to fight for in Wales, more power to stop colonisation, which is a cancer to Welsh Culture. Nurturing our culture and our language is part of the same process to empowerment, but we need to have control over our legal and education system. Control over our education system will give all our children an innate confidence in our very unique identity and autonomy over our legal system, where we can make our own laws, independently from England, will protect the interests of the Welsh and will be empowering.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine in terms of Welsh spoken in the family. It is true that if everyone was taught Welsh then these obstacles would not exist and unity would be easier. But colonisation wasn’t halted when that was the situation not long ago. The effect of colonisation and pushing out the language is so profound however that it will never be reversed in the current setup and probably won’t be reversed under any other system. So learning Welsh isn’t a problem, I will probably keep having a go myself but it has little to do with the continuing disempowerment of the Welsh in Wales.