Minority Languages of the UK

Minority Languages

As you know, English is a dominant language in the UK. English is very strong and it shortens the number of other language speakers. There are some languages in Britain such as Welsh, Scots and Gaelic. There used to be Manx and Cornish as well; however, those languages had gone. They were extinct, but also the number of people who speak Welsh, Scots and Gaelic is decreasing. Because English is important and necessary language in Britain, many people give up speaking their minority languages. It means that English suppresses those languages. In this posting, I want to write especially about Welsh, because I was interested in the long place name that our teacher told us. I also want to suggest some solutions to protect minority languages.

Welsh
First, I want to write about Welsh. According to The Welsh Language Board, 21.7 % of Welsh people could speak Welsh in 2004. It means about 611,000 of Welsh people could speak Welsh. After Wales and England were merged in 1536, English became a common language in Wales. Speaking Wales in schools was banned, and Welsh was discriminated. Therefore, the number of people who speak Welsh kept decreasing. However, people started to protect this language from 20th century. More and more people speak Welsh recently because of the education and TV programs. Elementary and Junior high schools in Wales started to teach Welsh again, and some TV programs like BBC Wales or ITB Wales which use Welsh started to be broadcasted. While people in South part of Wales do not speak Welsh so much, people in middle or North part of Wales speak it in daily lives. If you are interested in Welsh, click here and study Welsh. You can find English-Welsh dictionary in the site.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Next, I want to write about the second longest place name in the world. The longest place name in the world is officially called "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu" in New Zealand. People call it "Taumata" though. The second longest place name is in Wales. As you can see the top picture of this posting , the place is called "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch". Originally, this place was called "Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll" until 19 th century, but the name became longer to attract tourists. In order to protect the language and culture, Wales could have needed to attract people in some way. The handout that we were given in the class explains the meaning of this place name as "The church of St Mary in the hollow of write hazel near the rapid whirlpool by the church of St Tysilio of the red cave". People who want to move to Wales take an examination whether they can pronounce this long place name correctly though Welsh people call the place "Llanfair PG" in short; however, this pronunciation examination could be the good first step for people who are interested in Wales to speak Walsh. While pronouncing Maori words is quite easy because they are similar to pronouncing Roman alphabets, pronouncing Wales is difficult because the rule of how to pronounce are complicated. According to the rule, it may be pronounced like "Lanvair pulgwingil gogerahuwarandroubl lantisilio gogogoho" . Still, I do not have confidence. If you want to learn Welsh pronunciation, click here or here(Japanese site).
Promotion

Finally, I want to describe how to revive minority languages. There are many ways to promote them as my classmates discussed in the class. Making TV or radio programs, newspaper, web sites, songs, video games and books are very good ideas, because everyone would be interested in and see or hear them. Also, making opportunity to communicate with minority language speakers is nice for people who cannot speak that language; for instance, people can experience enjoying and studying the language at the same time through joining clubs or parties. It is important to enjoy studying, but also, the government sometimes should be strict to protect the language; for instance, making examination to get citizenship, people who cannot speak those language cannot get credit and so on. It is sad thing that the language dies because it is like the culture dies. Therefore, people must work hard to preserve minority languages.

Opinion

English is convenient to communicate, but it is too strong and endangers other languages. It is sad thing that the languages die because it is like cultures disappear. Fortunately, the situation is getting better in Wales, but Welsh government must promote the language more. I also think that the other minority languages need such promoting activities. I want them to use the ways that I suggested in this essay.

Reference
wikipedia
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BA%E8%AA%9E

Storry, M. and Childs, P. (2007) British Cultural Identities. (3rd Ed.) Routledge.

Roedean School

There are girls’ schools in Britain, such as Cheltenham, Roedean, Wycombe Abbey, and Benenden. All of those schools are independent schools. Independent school is a kind of private school, but it financially doesn't depend on the government or the local government, and it runs the school by the profit from the school fee or donation. Especially, I would like to introduce you about Roedean School, because I found the interesting information about the summer program for students all over the world, so I was interested in this school.

Basic information
First of all, I want to write about basic information. It was founded in 1885. It is located in Roedean village, Brighton and Hove, England. People can see the sea from there. The school fees are between £4,550 and £9,750 per term because the fees depend on students. If a student is boarding, it costs much more than day students. There are many attractive facilities in this school, like a theater that the capacity is 320 people, a heated swimming pool, and a chapel. Pupils from 3 years old to 18 years old can go to the school. Click here to see the official site of Roedean School.

School policies

Next, I want to write about school policies. There are many policies in this school; for example, anti-bullying, smoking,and alcohol policies. Students must not bully others, smoke in the cumpus, or bring the alcohol into the school. If students break the rules, they are punished by the school. The punishments depend on the rules, but one punishment is being sent to their parents' houses. Not only students but also teachers or visitors have to agree with the policies, like "smoke in only designated smoking area in the campus" . What I was impressed was the "bihavior policy". According to the policy, students must be punctual and polite, like "Students to walk sensibly round the school and leave their bags in designated areas" or " Prepare diaries to be kept up to date". Click here if you want to see other policies. Because Roedean School is a popular girls' school, rules must be strict and make great students.

Summer program
Finally, I want to explain a summer program. What I was interested in the school was the summer program for students all over the world. Of course Japanese students can join the program if they can read and write simple English. They have English classes there, but this program is not only studying. Because Roedean is famous for sports, students can learn sports there. They can learn sports hard or they can enjoy with students from all over the world. They can choose sports from many alternatives like tennis, soccer, golf, horse riding, or dance. After school, many activities such as watching a film, disco, and karaoke, are held every day. On Saturday and Sunday, you can go London and Oxford for sightseeing. During summer vacation, the school is coeducation (boys and girls are mixed in the school), so boys can also join the program. During the program, they stay at the dormitory and have 3 meals there every day. The cost is a little bit expensive. It costs 523,000 yen for staying 2 weeks; however, it will be a great opportunity to learn English and sports at the one of the most popular schools in England.

Opinion

As I write, Roedean School is popular and students can be sensible grown-ups if we can get education here. Students can also get good physical education here. It is true that the school expenses are really high and the rules are strict for students, but this school must make students cleverer and more sensible. I strongly think that this school is worth paying expensive school fees. If I were younger and richer, I could join the summer program!

Reference
Global Edu Tour
http://www.edutour.jp/visit/plan_12.html (Japanese site)
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roedean_School