Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

New Welsh Laws

Welsh Law changed in 1993 so that, in all government functions (courts, schools, street signs, etc.) people are entitled to have duties carried out in either Welsh or English. It is my host mother's job to insure that, if someone is in the court system and wants to operate entirely in Welsh, they are allowed Welsh lawyers, judges, etc. Welsh medium schools (taught all in Welsh) have blossomed, and demand overwhelms supply. However, graduates of such schools are often put to work as regular translators when in the job market, rather than working at what they have been trained for, since there is a shortage of Welsh speakers and translators, and it is seen as necessary to have things from advertisements to announcements to job applications in Welsh as well as in English. In regular English schools, children of a certain age are also required to take Welsh classes as part of their regular curriculum (which includes Math, English, Science, and History). This law was just passed a few weeks ago, and I don't think that it has been put into effect, although it may have been.