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Chris Nash wrote: Lots of different words Minx, but I think the one you were after is, 'tolwch'

it's definitely pronounced kutch, I'm not sure but it may be specifically referring to the way you hug and hold a baby.

my nephew understands give your aunty a kutch though and that's good enough for me

I've got to learn how to sing happy birthday in welsh and a few key phrases as well, as Huw is being brought up bi-lingual and looks at you like you thick when you don't know what he's on about

Minx wrote:

Nick King wrote: I can swear in Afrikaans - quite useful if you work amongst many South Africans (who taught me these sayings)!

Gaan kak in die mielies (fairly mild, but amusing) Jou ma se poes (very offensive!)

I do wish that I'd learnt French and German (I did in school, but was lousy at both subjects).

Spanish and German would be useful - especially for travelling amongst European countries, and Spanish/Portugeuse would be useful for South America.

In Welsh, I can only count up to 5... Oh, and the knowledge of what "-ystwyth" means (e.g. Aberystwyth) is quite good - i.e. the mouth of the river .....

Ah well, maybe one day...

I was always taught it was Aber that meant river mouth... makes sense to me as there are a lot more places named Aber-something than something-ystwyth

my favorite welsh word is 'kutch' (dunno the spelling) which is hug/cuddle

You are completely correct - it's the other way round - I should just stick to counting up to 5!

Chris Nash wrote:

But back to my main point - should language lessons for teachers be government funded in order to cope with the language diversity in some classes/schools?

No one has commented yet...

I think it depends on how it will be used. Will they be teaching children through their first language to help them transition into their second? Languages aren't learned overnight, and kids can't stop learning simply because they don't know the new language...

That being said, I also don't think aiding to the problem by teaching ONLY in the first language makes any sense. I don't see how people can graduate high school, get a diploma but not know a lick of English (my school had about 25 non-English speakers graduate).

....but then how many native-born really understand English anyways

no, there should just be better individual support for children with english as an additional language - whether that's in the form of extra tuition or in-class support.

what shocks me is that the people who are specifically designated by the local authority for this role have little or no knowledge of the languages either.

the issue is growing faster than our capabilities to cope with it.

When I went to vote for London Mayor this morning they gave us a 30 page book of instructions on how to vote. Turns out it wasn't that complicated - it was 1 page of instructions in 28 different languages!

Do they do that for elections in other countries? I would guess that elections for mayor of LA have instructions in Spanish at least, and for mayor of Paris in Arabic, but 28 must be a record, surely?

404 error wrote: When I went to vote for London Mayor this morning they gave us a 30 page book of instructions on how to vote. Turns out it wasn't that complicated - it was 1 page of instructions in 28 different languages!

Do they do that for elections in other countries? I would guess that elections for mayor of LA have instructions in Spanish at least, and for mayor of Paris in Arabic, but 28 must be a record, surely?

Possibly not as many as 28, but a lot of Europe also has the same number of different nationalities as Britain... It's just that the Daily Mail chooses to gloss over on that particular point...

I took some German classes at my university last year, and I took level 1 and then level 2, but apparently, the university no longer has a level 3 class, so that's why I'm not in any German classes right now.

Nick King wrote:

404 error wrote: When I went to vote for London Mayor this morning they gave us a 30 page book of instructions on how to vote. Turns out it wasn't that complicated - it was 1 page of instructions in 28 different languages!

Do they do that for elections in other countries? I would guess that elections for mayor of LA have instructions in Spanish at least, and for mayor of Paris in Arabic, but 28 must be a record, surely?

Possibly not as many as 28, but a lot of Europe also has the same number of different nationalities as Britain... It's just that the Daily Mail chooses to gloss over on that particular point...

Its not the number of nationalities I'm curious about, rather whether other countries translate official documents into as many languages as we do. I have a sneaking suspicion the French, say, just print things in French. But perhaps I'm wrong.

Wonder what the Polish is for 'Oh Dear God we might be stuck with the blond buffoon'?

404 error wrote: Wonder what the Polish is for 'Oh Dear God we might be stuck with the blond buffoon'?

Damn good question - I'm glad I don't live in London! :p

He may be good on "Have I Got News For You", but...

I did German at school but remember very little of it.

I wanted to start Spanish lessons last year, but a friend of mine speaks Russian and it sounds fantastic so I might try that instead.

404 error wrote: Its not the number of nationalities I'm curious about, rather whether other countries translate official documents into as many languages as we do. I have a sneaking suspicion the French, say, just print things in French. But perhaps I'm wrong.

French is the official language of the French administration since François Ist (first part of the XIVth century I think).

As far as I know, French is the only language used. I think, not sure 100%, that only EU citizens are allowed to vote for local elections...

Chris Nash wrote: But back to my main point - should language lessons for teachers be government funded in order to cope with the language diversity in some classes/schools?

No one has commented yet...

It could be a good thing according to some old... - can't find the good word.

A few years ago, a man running a factory in Eastern France decided to move to Rumania. You know, it all goes about globalization and all these fairy tales... He said that his highly qualified workers cost him to much. But the man was full of humanity, like a rich catholic capitalist of the XIXth century. So the deal was : you earn about 1,000 to 1,500€ in France, which is to heavy for my profits. If you follow the factory to Rumania, you will earn 230€ and keep your job. Of course, if you disagree, it means that you are bloody leftist wankers...