Language app sees rise by a third in just a year

The number of users learning Welsh on one language app has risen by a third in just a year.

Duolingo said about 38,600 people in the UK used its Welsh course in September, a 34% rise on 28,600 users in the same period in 2018.
Another online tool, Say Something in Welsh, estimated it has up to 60,000 regular users of its website.
The Welsh Language Commissioner said the apps "offer an alternative way of learning the language".
The Welsh Government aims to get one million people speaking Welsh by 2050.
Anecdotal evidence has also suggested more and more people are using Duolingo outside of the UK.

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Redadeg, race for the promotion of the Breton language, will take place from May 15 to 23, 2020

The Redadeg, race for the promotion of the Breton language, will take place from May 15 to 23, 2020, 2,020 km between Guingamp and Carhaix. This event which takes place every two years, passes in the five Breton departments, on more than three hundred communes. This race takes place in relay, with a passage of a witness, which symbolizes the sharing and the transmission of the Breton language, between the generations, kilometer after kilometer. It is a moment of celebration, sharing and friendship to live together, and an opportunity to show your pride in being Breton, and an opportunity to contribute to the financing of projects that will advance the use of the Breton language, in Brittany.

€ 647,000 redistributed since 2008

In six editions, no less than € 647,000 were distributed: 50% for Diwan schools and 50% for projects for the development of Breton culture. The goal for the 2020 edition is to raise € 130,000. In the Trégor, four courses are scheduled: Saturday, May 16, Plounévez-Moëdec - Ploézal and Ploézal - Louannec and Sunday, May 17, Louannec - Plestin-les-Grèves, and Plestin-les-Grèves - Morlaix. To participate in this popular event, it is possible to buy kilometers, for 250 euros, for municipalities with less than 3,000 inhabitants, and 350 euros for municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants.

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More primary pupils than ever being taught through Irish

The number of pupils being taught through Irish at primary school reached record high levels in the recent academic year.


New figures published by the Department of Education show that almost one in 12 schoolchildren at primary level is receiving their education through Irish.

This has risen steadily from 6.4pc of primary pupils in 2000 to 8.1pc in 2018-19.

A total of 45,278 students across 247 primary schools were taught through the medium of Irish in the recent school year - an annual increase of 1.5pc.

The majority of schools - at 147, with almost 38,000 pupils - are outside Gaeltacht areas.

However, the figures show there is wide variation in the proportion of students being educated through Irish.

The highest rate is in Galway city, where almost a quarter of all primary schoolchildren are taught through Irish.

Other areas with rates over 10pc include Cork city and county, Galway county, Donegal and Monaghan.

In contrast, Cavan has the lowest rate at less than 1pc of pupils, with only one school in the county offering classes through Irish.

Only one Gaelscoil is available in counties Roscommon, Sligo, Laois, Longford, Kilkenny and Carlow.

An Foras Pátrúnachta, the largest patron of Gaelscoileanna, has welcomed the recent initiative announced by Education Minister Joe McHugh to increase access to Irish-medium education.

Under the new system, a new school being established in an area with a growing population will be a Gaelscoil if there is no existing one.

In addition, at least one school will provide education through Irish where a number of new schools are being established in the same school planning area.

Other measures include a pilot on delivering two eight classroom schools, one in English and one in Irish, in a shared building rather than one 16-classroom school, and an opportunity for the patrons of schools to change their language of instruction from English to Irish.

An Foras Pátrúnachta's general secretary Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, said the changes represented a process for addressing "an imbalance" in the provision of Irish-medium education.

The patron body said a pilot system where parents indicated their choice of ethos and language of instruction of new primary schools showed 26pc on average favoured a school providing classes through Irish.

"These steps will result in supply better meeting demand and moving away from a situation where less than 5pc of primary schools are Gaelscoileanna," Mr Ó hEaghra said.

However, he said many students still had difficulty in continuing their education through Irish after leaving primary school.
Source

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Welsh Language Society meeting in Ceredigion to highlight housing issue

Campaigners from Cornwall, Wales and Scotland will meet in Ceredigion next month to discuss tackling the house price crisis, with special attention given to how holiday homes threaten the Welsh language.

In Ceredigion, house prices are more than seven times average wages. Last year, 39% of the homes sold in nearby Gwynedd were either holiday homes or ‘buy to let’ – a rise of 34% from the previous year.

Following a campaign by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, councils were given the right to raise the level of council tax on second homes, and many of them have since increased the tax over the last two years.
In St Ives in Cornwall around a quarter of all homes are second homes. Following a referendum three years ago, a new rule was introduced that means no new homes can be bought as second homes.
Cllr Loveday Jenkin from Cornwall Council and architect Màrtainn Mac a'Bhàillidh from a language group in Scotland will be among the speakers at a discussion in Aberystwyth about housing organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith.
It will be held in Canolfan y Morlan on Saturday, October 12 (2pm) and Robat Idris from Cymdeithas yr Iaith said: “More and more people are finding it difficult to live in their local area. In turn, that undermines community life, our towns and our villages and the Welsh language.
“We need a property system which ensures that house prices reflect what local people can afford. That’s why we’ve decided that housing, including holiday homes, will be the main focus of our annual general meeting.
“We hope to bring speakers together from various countries in order to discuss what we can do differently. Some policies in Porth Ia (St Ives) in Cornwall offer an answer to the problems, with restrictions on second homes.
“But we need to consider other measures in order to bring prices down. One possible answer is to normalise houses as a public service in public hands rather than a private asset. Bringing the right to buy to an end was a step in the right direction, but how do we bring the present private housing stock back into the hands of local communities?
“It also needs to be realised that unaffordable houses are only part of the reason for the patterns of out-migration and in-migration that are undermining the language in our communities.
“Our ‘Gwaith i Adfywio Iaith’ (Work to Renew a Language) policies which we published last year offer some simple measures to get to grips with the economic challenges, including recommending establishing local banks with the support of local councils and their pension funds; a tourism levy to support investment in broadband access in every part of the country; abolishing tuition fees for students who stay to study in Wales; devolving hundreds of jobs out of Cardiff; and establishing training colleges for health workers and vets in Aberystwyth and Bangor.”

Link to the event

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