The Linguist

New laws for Welsh In its efforts to promote Welsh and reach its ambitious target of having 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050, the Welsh government has proposed a new law to help all pupils in Wales become confident Welsh speakers. The aim is to increase Welsh-language provision within English-medium schools and to increase the number of Welsh-medium schools, along with other policies requiring local authorities to promote Welsh-medium education. The public consultation on the plans closed on 16 June. The target of 1 million Welsh speakers was set out in 2016, after an analysis of the 2011 census identified the workplace, family, schools and the planning process as priority areas. Worryingly, the 2021 census showed a decline in the number of Welsh speakers from 562,000 (19% of the population) in 2011 to 538,000 (17.8%). There were particularly sharp drops in traditional strongholds for Welsh, while urban areas, such as Cardiff, showed a slight increase. It is undeniable that the Welsh government is making a concerted effort to promote Welsh, putting the necessary legislative means at its disposal. And the UK government is joining the action, proposing legislation that would make TV channel S4C's Welsh- language content available throughout the UK. S4C's CEO Siân Doyle said: "The new framework will make the UK's Indigenous languages, including Welsh, part of the new public service remit for television in the UK." This is significant because it moves media in Indigenous UK languages away from their geographical straitjacket and into a national arena. Echoing this shift, S4C's highly acclaimed 2022 series Dal y Mellt has become the first Welsh-language drama to be streamed on Netflix, under the title Rough Cut. S4C will also develop a Welsh feature film every year. Interestingly, Welsh was listed as the 45th most influential language in the world (out of more than 600 languages) in the 2022 edition of the French government's World Language Barometer study. The factors enabling it to score so highly include the life expectancy, education and high level of GDP of its speakers, but also – crucially – its presence on Wikipedia and wider translation parameters "showing that speakers of Welsh are active and Welsh educated". This is where we see the power of the Welsh-medium policies pursued by the Welsh government. The renowned linguist and CIOL Vice-President David Crystal described Welsh as "one of the success stories of the 20th century in terms of the revitalization process". That success seems set to continue through the 21st century too. 6 The Linguist Vol/62 No/2 thelinguist.uberflip.com NEWS & EDITORIAL In the media PHILIP HARDING-ESCH In a bid to boost language learning, the UK government announced a £14.9 million network of 200 primary and secondary schools, though this was missed by most of the mainstream media. Led by the UCL Institute of Education, the Language Hubs network has a focus on German in partnership with the Goethe Institut. Language services in other parts of the public sector are not faring so well. Pulse magazine reported that patients are coming to their doctors for translations of hospital letters, adding to GP workloads. "NHS England standards do not require written appointment information to be given in any non-English language, other than for people with a disability" and this "poses a particular risk for patients if their first language is not English". The i newspaper reported on a campaign calling for paramedics to have basic sign language training, as communication issues are increasingly impeding emergency health care. The UK is estimated to have 11 million people with hearing loss, but emergency services are often inadequately trained to serve them. There were reports of ambulance staff turning to children to act as interpreters in traumatising circumstances. In one case "paramedics were unable to tell a deaf woman that her husband had died". The Law Gazette ran a thought-provoking analysis of "new obligations when drafting witness statements", which should now be in the witness's "own language" following a 2022 judgement. However, given the cost of translation, the author worries that "retaining clients whose own language is not English may no longer be a sustainable or economic way for law firms to operate". The Independent offered some light relief as it covered an online discussion about the common practice in France of translating Hollywood film titles "from English to… English". 'The Hangover' became known as 'Very Bad Trip', and 'Not Another Teen Movie' became 'Sex Academy'. Sacré bleu! Philip Harding-Esch is a freelance languages project manager and consultant. © PEXELS

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