Mae wedi digwydd efo fi hefyd, bod pobl yn troi at y Saesneg, pan maen hwy'n sylweddoli, mod i ddim yn Gymro Cymraeg. Wrth gwrs, nid pawb sy'n neud hynny. Ond mae gen i arfog newydd rwan. Yn yr achos yma, bydda i'n troi at y Hwngareg. Akkor mindenki csak les, és azt se tudja, fiú-e vagy lány :-) Dw i' ddim wedi trio eto...
Pan ddes i i Gymru y tro cyntaf ym 1987, roedd pawb yn croesawu fy ymdrechion i ddefnyddio'r iaith. "Americanwr yn dysgu Cymraeg?! Mynediad am ddim, te!"
Os oes digon o eisiau ar unrhywun i ddysgu'r iaith, allai neb arall ddweud os oes hawl ganddynt i wneud. Mae'r myfyrwyr yn cadw'r iaith i fynd. Dysgodd fy Mam i yn y coleg rhyw ugain mlynedd yn ol, a nawr mae hi'n gweithio fel cyfieithydd yn y Cyngor, ac mae ei Cymraeg hi'n academaidd gywir erbyn hyn. Mwy o fyfyrwyr os gwelwch yn dda!
The practice of switching to English when speaking to those considered learners is often deliberate and intentionally insensitive. Gruffyd and Morris provide some good examples of where this is clearly the case. It is plain rudeness and the people concerned should be called out on it in the strongest terms. However it is up to the "learners" themselves to make a much stronger stand than they are at present if they truly wish to end this discrimination and the way they are labelled. A meeting at the local siop siarad to plan a way forward should surely be simple enough to arrange.
The word "student" should be used instead of "learner" This actually blurs the boundaries which is what is needed to reverse the situation. A student can be someone who is learning as a foreign language, improving their existing language or studying the Literature and culture of their first language. This is the norm with learning other languages and subjects. At present someone who speaks colloquial Welsh and goes on a course to improve their language is branded a learner for the rest of their life as the fact that they have been on a Welsh course is now recorded. The question, "Where do you come from originally?" which is in all Welsh courses should be changed to, "Where are you from?" This is normal when learning other languages.
Pity about the constant banging in the background. It makes both the English and (more importantly for a learner) the Welsh hard to understand. Why spoil an otherwise excellent video, with the important message it tries to convey, by backing it with meaningless noise?
The label "learner" should definitely be dropped. Twenty years ago there was no such thing as a Welsh learner even though there were plenty of people learning Welsh and if you spoke Welsh then you simply spoke Welsh. Now it is quite a devisive term used to winkle out who is a first language speaker from Welsh speaking parentage and who is not. It should be treated like the N word - something we don't say any more. Bronwen speaks Welsh as a first language and the winner of the chair learned Welsh growing up. To call her a learner was pretty disgusting. If something similar were to happen in England it would be racist. Plain and simple.
***** Or your own language even. There are plenty of "learners" who have better competence than native speakers so the whole learner concept just doens't make sense. And, as you say, complete competence even in one's own language is unattainable-
