Hi Gwyn,
My grandparents were of the generation you are speaking and both spoke
both languages later in life, but not as children in Wales. In fact, as
of today you will hear school children or North Wales speaking Welsh to
one another, though they do speak both languages. Welsh was, and still is
the primary language of North Wales.
My family in Wales speaks Welsh, they hardly ever speak English unless I
am around. There is no need to speak English as everything is done in
Welsh. You can't get a job in North Wales unless you speak Welsh.
In South Wales there are Welsh schools my little cousins attend. They
speak English outside of the class room, and never write in English until
they are a 4th year student. However, English is the primary language of
South Wales and all signs are in English first then Welsh. North Wales
the signs are all in Welsh with motorway signs having English below.
Up until the death of my aunts and uncles, everyone spoke Welsh in their
homes even though they were in the United States, and this was up until
the 1970's. We US born cousins didn't want to learn that strange
language. Boy, are we now sorry!
Merry Christmas,
Arlene Berta
Folsom, California
Hello Gwyn,
You are talking about the 19th Century. It could happen.
In the 20th Century, my own husband Goronwy, born 1935, in Holyhead, only
spoke Welsh during his younger years. He went to a primary school where
they only conversed in Welsh, then went to Holyhead High School (mainly
English speaking) and wanted to learn English as a foreign language. The
Head Teacher was not amused!!!
I still laugh, thinking of what I witnessed happening every summer in
Holyhead during the 18 years I lived there (1973-1991). Everybody
reverted
to speaking Welsh, especially when the summer visitors were around. I
never
let it bother me, just asked questions in English and I was usually
helped.
Margaret Owens
Melbourne, Australia
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