Editor

Re: ‘Machynlleth pupils could be forced miles away’, Cambrian News last week. The case put by the two Mid Wales politicians sounds so reasonable, but it is not when you dig deeper.

What is at stake here is the future of the Welsh language; the English language is not under threat, it is the dominant language throughout much of Mid Wales and the rest of the world.English is a very useful language and many of us could consider ourselves fortunate to have it as our mother tongue. Children growing up today in Mid Wales would have to work very hard to avoid learning English. However, with Welsh it is much easier to avoid. When our children were at school, they learnt Welsh as a second language, it was just another subject alongside maths, science etc and they complained because they could not see the point of learning it, it had no relevance for them, especially as my wife did not speak it. If we are to make Welsh relevant to children growing up in an area dominated by English, we need to immerse them in the language at school.

It won’t take them long to develop fluency and many will become bilingual well before they leave school. Being able to speak another language fluently has many side benefits including learning to appreciate a different culture and perspective., connecting with others and improved listening and learning skills.

I have seen teachers in action in a school with children of mixed ability and backgrounds. Some of the children’s first language was not Welsh or English.

The teachers were brilliant, when they noticed that a child was not understanding, they would explain it slowly in Welsh and if necessary, add in an English word or two until the child understood. All this was done without fuss.

I am confident the children will take it in their stride and the teachers will be there to support them. It seems to me that the real problem is how do we help the parents adapt?

Andrew Cape lLlanidloes

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