Posts by Joe Grundy

I am not a Welsh speaker, although I can understand some and use it in very limited conversation. My daughter-in-law's first language is Welsh, and on rare occasions she has to stop and think and translate her thoughts into English because the Welsh word or concept does not exactly convey the meaning. The Welsh word 'hiraeth' for example has no direct translation but means 'the homesickness for Wales felt by those who are not there and miss the country and it's culture' - whether that's geographical or historical.

My father was a Welsh speaker, although he rarely used it and it was discouraged throughout his education. His father owned and ran the village shop ('Pandy Stores') during the '30s depression and after in a small mining village near Port Talbot - Pontrhydyfen. The family still have the old shop ledgers, including notes saying 'sorry we can't pay the two shillings off our bill this week but could we please have a quarter of a pound of tea and some butter'. Times were very different then. One of the families in the village was the Jenkins, whose most famous son Dickie became world-famous as Richard Burton.

I went to a grammar school in Pembs in the late 60s/early 70s. Welsh was not an option.

Now, there is an upsurge in the Welsh language, but the biggest increase (I understand) is in new learners who have chosen to settle in Wales from elsewhere. It is 'politically correct' to learn Welsh, and there is a strong and influential movement within Wales (nicknamed the 'Taffia'). BBC and S4c are examples.

I hate to think of the amount of money we waste in being bilingual. Every roadsign, all government documents (my driving licence, HMRC tax papers, council tax demands, etc.) must by law be bilingual. My own view is that there are no residents of Wales who do not understand English.

I hope that my grand-daughters will be brought up to be bi-lingual. That is their heritage and I do my part by reading them bedtime stories in Welsh as far as I can.

Sorry, this is turning out to be a far longer post than I intended but it's a complicated issue. It's not quite true to say that Welshness increases the farther west you go. I live in Pembrokeshire (as far west as you can go). Here, the south of the county is English but there is adefinite line (the 'Landsker' line) north of which you are in Welsh territory. And, of course, the Welsh spoken in North Wales (esp. Ynys Mon) is quite different from the Welsh spoken here.

There is a legal requirement here for Welsh to be taught in schools and there are 'Welsh medium' schools where every subject is taught in Welsh.

But I agree with the thrust of your post. It would be far more useful if the resources were used to teach languages of more use in the modern world. I for one am fed up with government money being wasted in sending me every document in Welsh and English.

61

Brits

by NewChapter in

jw
friends

i hear americans called yanks---and it never even made me blink an eye.

so i'm not sure---and almost used the term brits a minute ago and edited to say british people.

so tell me----is it offensive?

Joe Grundy

And further re Welsh/English:

When I married my first wife in an Anglican/Church of England parish church in her home village we had to choose the music that the organist played while my wife and I, marriage witnesses and the vicar, signed the marriage register (just a few minutes).

My wife and I agreed on a romantic Welsh tune.

Unfortunately or not the organist misunderstood and played the hymn on the opposite page of her book.

It was not, however, inappropriate to celebrate the forthcoming wedding night.

The title in Welsh was 'Ar Hyd Y Nos' - 'All Through The Night'!

61

Brits

by NewChapter in

jw
friends

i hear americans called yanks---and it never even made me blink an eye.

so i'm not sure---and almost used the term brits a minute ago and edited to say british people.

so tell me----is it offensive?

Joe Grundy

boc: 'good night' is 'nos da' in Welsh. ('Nos' pronounced with a short 'o', 'da' pronounced 'dar'.)

61

Brits

by NewChapter in

jw
friends

i hear americans called yanks---and it never even made me blink an eye.

so i'm not sure---and almost used the term brits a minute ago and edited to say british people.

so tell me----is it offensive?

Joe Grundy

'Brits' is fine with me (British/Welsh).

26

After twenty four years of loyal service, I am about to commit treason...

by CaptainSchmideo in

jw
friends

of a sort.. i have been with the same company for 24 years, and the last 5 have not been very enjoyable for me.

i like the owner of the company, but the management team is terrible, and the dept.

i work in (tech service) is demoralized.

Joe Grundy

When I retired from the police I had a conversation with a colleague retiring at the same time. It covered the points raised in OP - loyalty, etc., (although we'd both 'served our time').

He said to me 'When all's said and done, we're all just a line of Tippex on a duty rota. Tomorrow someone else's name will be written over ours'.

He was right.

Good luck with getting and enjoying the new job.

40

My take on the new Be Jehovah's Friend DVD

by blond-moment in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrx7ej2b8m.

Joe Grundy

Blond-moment: very thought-provoking, I had never considered this aspect (I was never a dub).

Extending this a little, it's worrying that children being brought up in an organisation known to have child abuse problems are led/trained/encouraged into being secretive and keeping their true thoughts and feelings to themselves out of fear. That can only promote an environment where abuse is more likely to go unreported and undetected.

166

Watchtower's New "Toy Story" - What Parents Need To Know

by cedars in

i've uploaded a new blog article that addresses the latest dvd release at the current district convention, namely "become jehovah's friend!

" - the tale of young caleb and his brush with divine wrath over a plastic toy wizard.

a link to the article, which includes the youtube samples of the production, is below:.

Joe Grundy

Cedars: Following on from my post above, please feel free to PM me if I can assist.

166

Watchtower's New "Toy Story" - What Parents Need To Know

by cedars in

i've uploaded a new blog article that addresses the latest dvd release at the current district convention, namely "become jehovah's friend!

" - the tale of young caleb and his brush with divine wrath over a plastic toy wizard.

a link to the article, which includes the youtube samples of the production, is below:.

Joe Grundy

Unusually for me, I drafted a long post regarding this but lost it when my net connection failed - and I don't have any plastic toy wizards (or smurfs) in the house!

In summary, I agree with the comments above about this horrific propaganda, designed IMHO to control the parents as much as the child. I could envision this household as being the setting for domestic abuse as well.

Cedars: great job! More power to your elbow.

A thought strikes me, inspired by Think's comment at the top of this page. From what I observe in the UK at present there seems to be quite a movement in education circles to enlighten teachers as to parental, home, cultural and other influences on children which may affect their learning capabilities. Just an idea, but might it be worth making the relevant authorities aware of this DVD? I'd suggest sending it to Michael Gove (UK Minister for Education). I'm happy to do it if you wish, and I could also forward it to my local MP with whom I have a connection.

19

My GE Water Kettle just died after few years. RIP

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

my ge water kettle just died after few years.

rip.

they do not sell ge water kettle anymore.

Joe Grundy

After many years of being 'conned' by advertising into buying expensive kitchen appliances I came to the conclusion that it was a better choice to buy cheap and replace as necessary.

My current kettle (1.7 litre, auto, cordless), 4-slice toaster, filter coffee maker and 'healthy contact grill' each cost less than £5 (just!) and are going strong after two years. All came with a 12 month warranty.