Minority Languages in the UK

As you know, English is an official language of the UK, and it is spoken by more than 70 % of people in the UK. The population of the UK is over 61,000,000 ( estimated in 2009 ), so about 15,000,000 people speak other languages. Of course, there are many residents from overseas and they speak their mother tongues, but in fact, many minority languages are spoken in the UK, and the government promotes to protect and improve them. Among of all, Cornish ( in Cornwall ), Irish and Ulster Scots ( in Northern Ireland ), Scots and Scottish Gaelic ( in Scotland ) and Welsh ( in Wales ) are popular languages. A Language map of the UK

WELSH
Welsh is a language spoken in Wales ( to the west of central England ). It is classified into Indo-European, Celtic, Insular and Brythonic. Most Welsh speakers are residents of Wales, and some are in Argentina. The Welsh population is about 3,000,000. 19 % of the population speak Welsh, and 33 % understand it.

Welsh has been strongly associated with nationalism. ( Some are strongly against England. ) Wales has its capital city ( Cardiff ), national anthem,( click HERE to listen on youtube) national flag (the red dragon ) and the indigenous Welsh language. The Welsh language is officially protected by the government and some Acts ( 1993, 1998 ). Most documents, traffic signs, signboards, web-sites are provided in both languages Welsh and English. When I visited Cardiff in summer last year, I found many signs written in these two languages. In a cafeteria near the Cardiff castle, I was surprised to look at the menu book which has pages in Welsh and English, and it was a little confusing to read for Japanese. I also found flags of Wales throughout Cardiff, while the UK national flag ( union jack ) were found sometimes.

I got interesting information about Wales from a handout I read. It said that in 2001 an unofficial citizenship exam for English people who planning to move to Wales, was suggested to test their ability to pronounce this long place name: Llanfairpwllgwingyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch
This is because one of the best known places in Wales claims to be the world's longest place name after one in New Zealand. This is read phonetically: Llan-vire-pooll-guin-gill-go-ger-u-queern-drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch. It translates as: St Mary’s Church by the white aspen over the whirlpool and St Tyllio’s Church by the red cave. The Welsh places names map on BBC is HERE.
I also found an useful webpage to know the Welsh alphabet and short conversation phrases for begginners. Croeso i Gymru! ( Welcome to Wales! )

REFERENCES:
Storry, M. and Childs, (2007) British Cultural Identities. (3rd Ed.) Routledge
Wales.com-Homepage http://www.wales.com/