Wel, diolch yn fawr am eich ateb chi. Dim Cymro ydw i, wrth sgwrs, ond dim un sy’n cydymdeimo â’r Seison chwaith. A’r hyn o bryd dwi’n byw yng Nghernyw, math o ‘half-way house’ falla? Mae ‘na weddillion o’r hen iaith ym mhobman, sy’n dipyn o drist, heb dim ond ychydig o ddysgwyr yn ei siarad erbyn hyn.

Wel, mor belled a mae dy ymdrech i ddysgu Cymraeg yn y cwestiwn, rhaid dy longyfarch yn enwedig gan dy fod yn byw rywle yn Lloeger. Mae’n ddigon caled i unugolyn brwdfrydig fynd i afael a’r iaith yma yng Nghymru felly rheswm i lawenhau yw bod un a dros y Clawdd wedi medru i’r safon sy’n amlwg yn dy waith ysgrifenedig.

Fel y gwelir, fe gefais fy nghodi yn Gymro, ond ar y pryd ( yn y 50 -60au ) roedd y drefn addysg yn ein Seinegeiddio o tua 7 mlwydd oed ymlaen, ac erbyn 16 dim ond GCE yn Cymraeg oedd yn cael ei ddysgu drwy gyfrwng yr iaith. Ym myd gwaith, Saesneg eto oedd pua hi. Am amser, fe weithiais mewn cwmni o dros 800 o bobol yng Nghaerdydd a dim ond 3 ohonom a ganfyddais yn siarad Cymraeg, a hynny yn y sefyllfa anffufiol achos ‘roedd pob cyfarfod busnes o reidrwydd drwy gyfrwng y Saesneg.

Gellir ail adrodd y profiad/hanes hwn hyd a lled Cymru gyfan, hyd yn oed o fewn “Y Fro Gymraeg”. Hynny sy’n dylanwadu ar fy agweddau at y mewnlyfiad Saesnig sydd wedi tyfu dros y degawdau diweddar i lefel lle mae’n boddu’r iaith a’i diwilliant.

O fewn y nodyn hwn fe welir gwallau llysafu, yn beth amlwg mewn nifer o bobol sydd yn fwy cyfarwydd a’r iaith lafar yn hytrach na’r ddisgyblaith ysgrifenedig. Pur debyg fel dysgwr y byddid yn gweld rhain yn gynt na hen werinwr fel fi. Dal ati y ddysgu, ac efalle y byddid yn fardd neu lenor rywbryd.

Mae’n od iawn i fi, bod y seison yn barod i ddysgu ieithoedd estron (rhai ohonyn nhw o leia!) ond a’r un pryd yn hollol anwybyddu’r iaith drws nessa iddyn nhw, yn byw o hyd ar yr un ynys fach-ma. Ond am hynny, wrth i fi sôn yma am dwi wedi dysgu’r Gymraeg, yr ateb dwi wedi ei gael oedd, “fyc off” cwta. Wel, diolch yn fawr iawn, gan y fath hyn o anogaeth does dim syndod mae llawer wedi rhoi’r gorau iddi hi.

I don’t expect English visitors to speak Welsh, although those intending to settle could at least acquire a modicum of ability, and most certainly a degree of courtesy towards native speakers would not go amiss. Their prickly attitude towards a Welsh conversation at a pub or a store typifies their stance that they should be enabled to understand all that goes on around them. In which case either learn the lingo or wait until the chat finishes and they are addressed. OR, bugger off whence they came !

As for learners I and most of my acquaintances have always been keen to engage in any kind of conversation as means of exercising the learner’s skill to a better level of fluency. Hell, it’s a tough language to learn for any person whether they come from Wales, and may have had some exposure to classroom Welsh as kids, or have arrived from darkest England or further afield. Oddly, learners from outside the UK seem to the most enthusiastic. Although fluent in English they don’t appear to have any jingoistic Anglo baggage and that probably helps.

Exactly. Cornish nationalism seemed to be doing OK until a few years ago, but now seems to be on the decline. There were three LibDem MPs who spoke up for Cornwall but they’ve now all been replaced by Tories. Pretty hopeless really. Cornwall should be an awful warning to you of where Wales could easily end up if you just let things slide.

Funny, you’ve just expressed my own concerns about Wales, but in an even more hopeless manner.

Diddorol iawn. So if I understand you correctly, you’d expect English visitors to Wales to use the local language. As it happens I was just reading a book about the difficulties Welsh learners have in getting native speakers to talk to them without changing to English. These are not casual visitors but usually residents who are trying to learn the language. They appear to be treated with a mixture of suspicion, confusion and even hostility. How do you expect people to learn Welsh if you won’t speak to them? They’d have neither the motivation nor the opportunity. But then the example is not really symmetrical, because you speaking English in London or an international setting is no different from a Dutchman or a Finn etc. all of whom would speak English when outside their own countries, that’s just how it is these days.

P.S to above

When in Cornwall I have been confronted with similar attitudes. People who have been relocated into the area 20 years or more often “complain” that they are still seen as outsiders, but offer snide comments about native Cornish. On the other hand speak to young natives and they will tell a tale of struggling to buy a starter home, seasonal jobs, patronising Londoners ( and other well off tourists). Indeed a similar tune to many of the Welsh issues other than the language.

The YES Cymru movement while well meaning is 20 years to late to have any discernable impact on Welsh politics, the battle for Wales is almost lost. Look around folks come May UKIP will be in the Assembly is enough numbers to cause chaos and turn people against the Assembly but more importantly any form of Welsh self governance. That added to Wales willingly voting to leave the EU later this year, followed by Scotland leaving the UK and bar a miracle our course is set for final assimilation, its a horrible time to be alive and be so powerless to stop it.

And why oh why are people still responding to the Max troll with its highly offensive blood and soil nationalism guff, he trolls the Scottish blogs and they ignore he/she/it and it’s high time we did to.

That’s actually the point I was trying to make. For the moment the SNP can mostly serve as a common front for almost all those who desire independence. After it’s achieved it’s more than likely that the SNP would split into several parties having achieved it’s central aim. Meantime they’re doing a pretty good job running the country and softening the effects of Tory austerity as far as they’re able.

But Scottish nationalism, whatever it may have been 50 years ago, is now largely ‘civic’, only the London press seem to think it’s anti-English. But IMO it’s far more difficult to take that tack in Wales because of the deep-seated association with the language and other cultural ‘baggage’. (At least not religion very much these days, that’s one bonus). The ‘rot’ if you like, degradation of cultural identity due to in-migration and all forms of assimilation, has probably gone so far already that you won’t get independence democratically without having a fair few ‘new residents’ on your side.

So your manifesto will need to be very finely tuned.