Minority language in UK

(linguistic map of the world)

There are lots of languages in the world. Especially, in Europe, there are some old languages. Celtic had originally thrived in Europe, and spoken by the Celts. However, Roman and Germanic peoples invaded the British island, also, dominated there. After all, there are quite a few people who are able to speak Celtic languages in Ireland , England, and France.
The group of Celtic that remains in Britain are classified Gaelic and Breton language. The kind of Gaelic are Ireland Gaelic, Scotland Gaelic, and Manx. Also, the kind of Breton are Welsh, and Cornish.
These languages are almost dying without Welsh. Especially, Manx, and Cornish has been dead, but they are restored as revival languages.

In 1536, England decided to make Wales a part of England, moreover, England banned to use Welsh. Gradually, the numbers of people who can speak Welsh were declining. The ratio moved 80% to 20% during 160 years(1800-1960). I think it is too long, and it makes 5 or 6 generations. So, it is difficult to teach Welsh to next generations.

However, in 20th century, the movement to use Welsh occurred little by little. In 1962 Saunders Lewis found Welsh Language Society, and England allowed using Welsh in Wales. In 1993, Welsh was approved as official language in Wales. Fortunately, the number of people using Welsh raised barely in 2000. Now, you can find easily the bilingual traffic sign in the Wales.




Then, why has Welsh survived in Britain?

I think that for the people in Wales have the anxious about the extinction of their language. In fact, they found the elementary school called 'Ysgol Glan Clwyd' which teaches Welsh in 1956, and now, more than a quarter number of elementary school in Wales use Welsh. In 1977, the radio broadcasting(BBC radio cymru) using Welsh began, besides, TV broadcasting(SC4), which broadcasts in golden time about 22 hours in a week using Welsh, was started in 1982.

In my opinion, it is difficult to use Welsh in the business scene, because it has been already increased to use English in the society. So, Welsh should be used in culture scene, like music, movies, books, plays, festivals, or something like that, because only the original culture has the specific idea.