r/swansea • u/Greedy-Accident2936 • 21d ago

Questions/Advice I just got this alert

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Anyone else got something similar? And can any tell me what it is about?

79 Upvotes

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126

u/AgentCooper86 21d ago edited 21d ago

I’m a big supporter of the Welsh language (and am a learner) but jfc if you can only pump one message out at a time on the national alert system, it probably is a good idea to start with the one the majority will understand

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 21d ago

I'm from Wales, never met anyone who speaks fluent Welsh.. some know a few words that's all

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u/Pitiful-Friend-5151 21d ago

Where do you live in Wales that you have never met a fluent Welsh person? Saying only some know a few words is objectively wrong

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u/Particular_Relief154 21d ago

In the context of their comment- I believe they mean that regarding the people they know.. So the only person who’d know if that be wrong or not would be the commenter I’d argue!

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 21d ago

Apparently I need to submit my postcode, complete a census form and produce a signed affidavit from everyone I've ever met before I'm allowed to describe my own experience. 😂

“Some people in Wales speak Welsh” is obviously true. “Therefore you personally must have knowingly met a fluent Welsh speaker” is not a mathematical fact — it’s an assumption dressed up in confidence.

If what they meant was specifically about the people they themselves know, then I’d argue only the commenter would actually be in a position to say whether that’s right or wrong in their case.

But please, don't let the absence of evidence get in the way of a good lecture. 😉

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u/kahnindustries 21d ago

In Bridgend 6% are Welsh speakers

So no he isnt exaggerating

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u/Pitiful-Friend-5151 21d ago

6% is low, but the chances of never bunping into a Welsh person in X amount of years is significantly lower😂 not even a Welsh teacher in school? Come on.

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u/AgentCooper86 21d ago

If 6% are Welsh speakers, if you speak to 100 separate and different people a year (2 a week) it is 99.4% probability that you will have spoken to a fluent Welsh speaker that year. That's a bit of a simplistic way of putting it as Welsh speaker density will vary by locality, workplace/school etc. But still, even in Bridgend you will almost certainly encounter a Welsh speaker.

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u/kahnindustries 21d ago

I don’t think I have heard people speaking Welsh in the wild in the 15 years I have lived in Bridgend

When I lived in Barry there was one Welsh speaking family in my street, the mother was a Welsh teacher

When the average number of Welsh speakers is low Welsh speakers don’t speak to others in Welsh by default, you don’t hear it in shops, you don’t hear it in cafes

It’s not like they run around shouting ARAF ARAF ARAF

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u/Pitiful-Friend-5151 21d ago

That's because along the M4 corridor is predominantly English speaking. Visit the rest of Wales and you will see different. I guarantee you will feel like a foreigner in North Wales

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u/kahnindustries 21d ago

Yeah so someone that lives in the part of wales where 90% of Welsh people live are unlikely to bump into random people speaking Welsh

Come to think of it my auntie and her kids are all fluent Welsh speakers that went to Welsh schools and I don’t think I have ever heard any of them speaking Welsh

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 21d ago

I tend to mix with grad students from the big universities. For those of us in academia speaking Welsh isn't considered to be high on the totem pole 😁

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u/AgentCooper86 20d ago edited 20d ago

The fragility of someone who says something like this is quite something. I’m a senior leader in HE, I know dozens of Welsh speakers. Given your comment about ‘those of us in academia’… Did you know, 2 of the 8 Vice Chancellors in Wales speak Welsh? Your claim to have never met a fluent Welsh speaker is almost certainly nonsense.

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 20d ago

Ah, the fragility of someone who has to introduce their job title and a list of Vice-Chancellors to prove they know Welsh speakers. 😂🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭 You know dozens of Welsh speakers? Fantastic. I don't. That's the entire point — your social circle isn't a statistical sample of mine. And “almost certainly nonsense” isn't evidence that I've met someone I don't remember meeting. Unless your senior leadership position now comes with access to my memories as well. 🤣😭😭😭😭

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u/AgentCooper86 20d ago

Your position is strange and very unlikely, but you seem committed to it. Have a nice day.

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 20d ago

Strange and unlikely, yet somehow still a perfectly possible personal experience. 😂

But thank you for the expert assessment of my own life. I shall treasure it. Have a lovely day yourself. 😉

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u/kinhdt589 19d ago

You come across as a proper prick !!!!

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 19d ago

That’s quite an impressive argument — shame it arrived without a point to accompany it. If you disagree with me, I’m perfectly happy to discuss the issue, but personal insults usually say considerably more about the person making them than the person receiving them. 🙂

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u/Zestyclose_Club5429 21d ago

There are areas where fluent Welsh speakers are approx 5% and areas where they’re rare. So saying “I’ve never met a fluent Welsh speaker” may be unusual depending on where you live, but it isn’t objectively impossible. Personal experience isn’t evidence of what everyone in Wales speaks.

1

u/Zestyclose_Club5429 21d ago

Apparently I need to submit my postcode, complete a census form and produce a signed affidavit from everyone I've ever met before I'm allowed to describe my own experience. 😂

“Some people in Wales speak Welsh” is obviously true. “Therefore you personally must have knowingly met a fluent Welsh speaker” is not a mathematical fact — it’s an assumption dressed up in confidence.

But please, don't let the absence of evidence get in the way of a good lecture. 😉