Keep talking the language of St David

Felicity Roberts issues a challenge to the Church to continue with the amazing pioneering work done for the Welsh language

One has to recognise that the Church has been completely pivotal in the story of protecting the Welsh language. Without the marvellous and completely fateful work done by dedicated men of the Church, the state of the Welsh language would probably have been very different today.

It is generally recognised that the Bible being translated into Welsh saved the language. Bishop William Morgan is acknowledged as the one who completed this work in the first instance, in 1588. However there is a monument outside St Asaph Cathedral remembering another 7, every one except William Salesbury church clerics.

Following that, in the eighteenth century, Rev.Griffith Jones, Llanddowror who is recognised as the one who more or less made the Welsh a literate nation, through teaching them to read in his circulating schools, and that in order that they could read the Bible.

It was in the Church that William Williams Pantycelyn began his journey too: the amazing hymn writer who enriched our worship so much with his invaluable hymns.

Let us today in the Church, as it is still a great challenge for us to maintain the Welsh language in our modern world, continue the work of those brave pioneers who worked tirelessly to do the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in their unflinching use of Welsh.

We have a system which works for people who did not learn Welsh as children, to learn as adults. In Aberystwyth area, two whose contribution has been invaluable and who prove this to be possible are Rev Mark Ansell who is in charge of Eglwys Santes Fair as part of his responsibility, and Rev Andrew Loat who is responsible for leading a Welsh service in Llanbadarn Fawr Church as part of his ministry. Two others who have learned brilliantly and who contribute in the area are Revs Nicholas Bee and Jeffrey Gainer.

These prove that it is possible to learn Welsh successfully and contribute to its growth rather than its death.

As well as facilitating people to learn Welsh, classes are fun. Two things which are essential in order to succeed are the willingness to continue regularly, the willingness to venture to yse the language, accepting tha fact that one will make many mistakes at the beginning.

You can learn Welsh through Aberystwyth University.