Welsh Medium Education R.I.P. - hgunn.uk

           The Welsh language issues are highly political in Wales. Duncan Astle who is a Cognitive neuro scientist in Cambridge University of the Brain, which is funded by the health service to investigate children’s learning difficulties, stated in his Learnus Ytube Lecture to professional Q.T.S. teachers that governments are not very good at understanding educational issues. He attributes their not being populated by scientists.

          The ambition to create a million Welsh speakers by 2050 can only be described as a political marketing soundbite. No bank would invest in a company without a convincing business plan. There is no evidence that any convincing research exists to illustrate how the ambition can be achieved.

         There has been a history of promised educational reforms that have failed to deliver their promises. The most commendable of these initiatives was the Blair Governments introduction of the primary numeracy and literacy hours. A great deal of work and professional development went into developing the initiative. Research now illustrates that it did not significantly alter the standard of children's attainment.

          There has been an Oliver Twist mentality about how to save the living Welsh Language in Wales where ever increasing demands are made of what should be done to save it. False arguments are bring been made that unless specific initiatives are implemented that the living language will die. This  amounts to moral blackmail.

               Anyone who raises any concerns about Welsh Medium Education tends to get castigated in the media. Children's education is in the domain of highly trained Q.T.S. professional teachers. Just because academics have PhDs in Welsh do not make them experts on education. They have never taught children. They can only express their unqualified personal opinions a prejudices.

The Purpose of Welsh Medium Education

         Children go to school to be educated. They have the human right to have the opportunity to reach their full learning potential. They should not be going to school to learn the Welsh Language. They should not be going to school to save the living Welsh Language.

           The Welsh Language tail must not be allowed to wag the educational dog. This should not be interpreted as an argument for abolishing Welsh Medium Education. It arguing that the focus must be on preparing children for their future everyday lives, which should not be influenced by political rhetoric

Welsh Language Learning

          We all acquire our oral native language naturally from birth. Children are actively involved in their learning. We essentially wake up with our oral native language. We do not have an appreciation of hard and how much time it to learn.
    

               There has been a history of cheap websites aggressively marketing miracle methods of new language learning. There is a popular misconception all adults need to do to learn a new language is to memorise phrases like parrots. The wplan method has been applied in the Welsh for Adult Service for 30 years required learners to learn Welsh phrases like parrots.

                There have been Welsh language activists like Aaron Jones, who has  been earning his livelihood giving Welsh lessons, who was deliberately deceiving the Welsh public how easy Welsh is to learn. He was claiming on Ytube That learners can become confident Welsh speakers within six months using his SSIW method providing they practise around a hour a day. In practice, it will take six years for a novice Welsh learner in favourable circumstances to reach A' Level standard in the Welsh Language.

            The word speaking a language can mean anything. It can mean saying a few words in Welsh. It can mean fluently speaking Welsh. It has been used to deceive the public through implying that it means fluency, what it refers to speaking a very limited language. Those who deceive the public know what they are doing.

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