Pic: Rennes-le-Chateau

Ever since the Da Vinci Code was published, and probably long before, the towns of Rennes-les-Bains and Rennes-le-Chateau have been at the centre of conspiratorial quests for the Holy Grail, the Templars and other matters. How many of us know that the area is also rich in Celtic history and geography? I didn’t. However, on the Rennes-le-Chateau Research & Resource site, they tell us of a book published in 1880 by L’Abbé Henriu Boudet called La Vraie Langue Celtique et le Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains which means The True Celtic Language and the Cromleck of Rennes-les-Bains.They say:

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-09-17 09:43:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: bloke_with_camera

The British Government is to stump up more than £6m to promote the Irish language following top-level negotiations at Downing Street, it was revealed today. The £6.2m follows direct meetings between Gerry Adams and Gordon Brown in recent weeks which led to speculation that Sinn Fein might not renominate Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.

The cash will maintain the Irish Language Broadcasting Fund, which commissions Irish programmes for BBC, RTE and TG4, as well as providing training, for a further two years.

Sinn Fein had accused former DUP Culture and Arts Minister Edwin Poots, now replaced with MP Gregory Campbell, of threatening the future of the fund which formed part of the Good Friday Agreement.

The DUP’s Nelson McCausland said today, however, the funding would be discriminatory unless equal amounts are made available for an Ulster Scots fund.

Source

Originally posted 2008-06-18 11:26:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Ben Bore (Rhys)

The Daily Post reports that the need for Wales’ smaller eisteddfodau to work closer together was emphasised at a meeting in Bangor over the weekend. The aim is to avoid date clashes, encourage support from local schools, plus the need to win back senior competitors, currently conspicuous by their absence in many eisteddfodau.

Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru (Association of Welsh Eisteddfodau) was established 10 years ago by Dr Aled Lloyd Davies and others to support and promote the 120 smaller eisteddfodau across Wales. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-12-13 09:26:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Amazon

The Isle of Man is undergoing a Manx Gaelic revival. The number of Manx speakers has gone up tenfold in the last twenty years. The government-sponsored Manx Heritage Foundation (Undinys Eiraght Vannin) and the Manx Gaelic Advisory Council (Coonceil ny Gaelgey) regulate and standardise the official use of Manx and have combined to commission this definitive guide to the language: Practical Manx. The book covers the grammar, spelling and pronunciation of Manx Gaelic, rendered accessible to readers of all levels of competence. An accompanying website with voice recordings provides a unique opportunity to observe intonation patterns and other features.

I have to confess that I love grammar. I know a lot of people don’t, but I love the way languages are put together and work!

murmurs Jennifer as reported by the Liverpool Daily Post. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-02-24 09:37:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Novopress

BBC Alba, the new Gaelic television channel launching next month, is on the hunt for a long-running soap as part of its commitment to broadcasting original drama.A new Scottish Gaelic soap would be the first since Machair, which ran for six years and came to an end in 1998.

Alan Esslemont, BBC Alba’s head of content, said production of original drama formed part of the channel’s strategy and revealed discussions had taken place with a number of independent production companies in Scotland about potential ideas for a long-running series. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-08-25 00:10:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A member of the Catalan government told Welsh Member’s of Parliament this week that business had nothing to fear from the introduction of legislation in Wales that would strengthen the position of the Welsh language, reports Cornwall 24. Bernat Joan i Mari, who is the Secretary for Language Policy in the Catalan Government was speaking to Westminster’s Welsh Affairs Select Committee, who are considering whether to give the Welsh Assembly the power to update the 1993 Welsh Language Act.

A new language act for Wales is likely to extend into the private sector, which has given rise to the concerns of businesses in Wales that they could incur higher costs. Currently the 1993 act only covers the public sector. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-06-23 10:32:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Welsh Flag Logo Pic: Language Trainers

Wendy Wong, from the Language Trainers Blog remebers that from a recent article (Google translates into Welsh as ‘No’): IT’S just the latest in a long line of tools designed by one of the world’s best-known internet companies to make our lives that little bit easier. But users of Google Translate – which has followed in the footsteps of the firm’s maps, images and news functions – have spotted one significant flaw: it won’t translate into Welsh. Well, I use Google Translate via (Mozilla add-on) Ubiquity all the time, but I’d never noticed the lack of Welsh, to be honest.

Bethan Williams, chair of the Language Act Group – Cymdeithas yr Iaith, said: “For a multi-national company like Google failing to consider the Welsh language with translating tools is disgraceful.

“They offer translation services in Arabic, Hindi, Maltese and a host of other languages so why not Welsh?

Google Translate is currently available to work between 42 languages, and the Google search page is already available in Welsh.  Now, before any angry Welsh language speakers email me about my insensitivity, I’d just like to point out that not only would it take an awful lot of man hours to add more languages to an already quite comprehensive and free translation service, but that other languages may have a more pressing need.

According to a 2004 survey, there are approximately 600,000 Welsh speakers living in Wales, while another survey indicated about 130,000 living in England.  Very, very few of these speakers are monoglots (only speak one language, i.e. Welsh).  Therefore, any translation services would likely only be needed by non-Welsh speakers, and not the other way around.

Read the full article by Wendy on the Language Trainers Blog.

Our reponse is that the Celtic Languages are part of our heritage, a heritage that spreads across the world, and adding them to Google Translate should be a priority and not just a luxury. If you are involved in Celtic STudies at any kind of serisou level, the study of the language becomes a necessity to understand not only the culture but the poetry of the everyday life of the Ancient Celts, a poetry that has continued to the modern day and shows not signs of dying out.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Welsh Logo Pic: Language Trainers

The Welsh Class, derived from the Say Something in Welsh lessons and Podcast makes the following well-stated points about entering Welsh as one of your spoken languages on the 2011 Census in the UK. They say: How many Welsh speakers are there in Wales? This year’s Census will try to find out, but if you don’t answer accurately, we still won’t know even when the figures are in!

A comment on the SaySomethinginWelsh forum (see on the Welsh Class page) seems to show that lots of Welsh learners don’t consider their Welsh to be good enough to tick the “I speak Welsh” box in the Census. Come on people! Your collective ticks will decide Welsh language policy for the next 10 years, so make sure you tell the truth!

You speak Welsh if you are able to put useful sentences together. These may be about your opinion, your wants and needs, your everyday life. Does that sound complicated? Well it’s not really. If you can make up sentences like “I like speaking Welsh”, or “I’m trying to go”, then you are able to speak Welsh (and anyone who has completed lesson one of SaySomethinginWelsh is able to do just that!). The trick is in the “making up” bit. If you have learnt some sentences off by heart – “I like coffee” (dwi’n hoffi coffi) is one of the favourites – and can say “bore da” and “diolch” then you are not really speaking Welsh, you are repeating phrases, just as if you were singing “Sosban Fach” or “Hen Wlad fy Nhadau”. You can’t really use your Welsh except in a very few pre-set situations.

On the other hand, if you know how to change “Dwi’n hoffi coffi” into a negative, and talk about something other than coffee, or add a bit about milk and sugar, then you are speaking Welsh. You must admit it on the census form – it is a criminal offence not to.

“But I can’t take part in conversations!” say some. I hate to disagree, but you can. What you are concerned about is that conversations easily get too complicated for you to keep up. There are two things at work here. One is that you don’t have all the vocabulary you need yet and the other is that your brain isn’t up to speed with listening and understanding. (The Say Something in Welsh listening practices are designed to overcome this. Click here to find out more).

When people discuss things in English that you don’t understand, I doubt that you’ve ever considered that you “don’t really speak English”. Accept that you need to build your vocabulary, but don’t ever think that you “can’t speak Welsh” just because you don’t understand everything!

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Cornish Crafts Pic: Kenra Craft

June 18th, 19th & 20th Crasken Farm, Helston , Cornwall. Medieval Fayre, Hog Roast, Amazing Stalls, People, Sponsored by Haunted Cornwall. Tarot, Aura Imaging, Witchcraft, Crystals, Healing. Live Bands, Ale Tent………. See you there……………..

Sponsored by Haunted Cornwall

They say:

We are professional and experienced event organisers, incorporating the companies HAUNTED CORNWALL & HAUNTING EXPERIENCES. We have been operating paranormally based events since 1999, long before a lot of recent companies jumped on the bandwagon.

Our ghost walks, nights and other events are fun, professional, informative and enjoyable… that’s why the vast majority of our customers come back time and time again.

Rest assured that, unlike many “ghosthunting” companies, we do not adopt silly gimmicks or sensationalism and give our customers plenty of opportunity to experience locations under a genuine environment.

Haunted Cornwall

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Originally posted 2010-06-10 23:00:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: The BS Report

Labour and Conservative MPs united to keep ‘Cornish’ off the 2011 census last night, as the Government voted down a proposal from North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson, to have it included, Cornwall 24 reported on the 4th December. Mr Rogerson said the Cornish national identity should be recognised with a tickbox, just as the Scottish, Welsh, English and Northern Irish identities will be.

He tabled an amendment to the legislation which enables the census to happen, and gained backing for his initiative from the Liberal Democrat leadership. Labour MPs voted against, while Conservatives sat on their hands.

Commenting, Mr Rogerson said:

Cornish is an identity of its own, distinct from that of the English, and it should be recognised as such. We have already made progress by getting the Government to ‘code’ any answers where a citizen writes that their national identity is Cornish, but this will still vastly underestimate the number of Cornish people since many will simply tick ‘British’ or ‘English’.

It makes sense to include a tickbox, so that every Cornish person makes their identity known.

Andrew George, MP for the West Cornwall constituency of St Ives and the Isles of Scilly added:

We made an important and useful step forward at the last census in 2001. We should recognise and celebrate the different groups, identities and peoples of the world. Cornwall wants to put itself into the celebration of diversity. Not cut itself off.

Read the full article on Cornwall 24.

Originally posted 2010-01-02 08:01:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter