Nows and Forevers

While I don’t speak Welsh every day anymore, Wales and the Welsh language still hit me in the heart. And this is an important video by Tudor Owen, a Welsh-language comedian and radio host. But he’s not being funny here and that’s what makes it all the more powerful. It’s a few minutes worth watching, if only for the beauty of Wales shining through.

There’s been a steady destruction of the Welsh language and culture over the last 100 years or so (let’s be honest, it goes back centuries longer than that). I joined the defense when I began to learn the language, as I did, in Welsh-language schools out of Merthyr Tydfil, Caerdydd, Abertawe and Sir Penfro. You know, like, America’s favorite, Wrecsam.

Yes, Welsh can be a difficult language. My primary tutor told me, no exaggeration, that Welsh is the language of heaven and I believe it. I’ve understood thoughts and feelings in the language that I can’t convey in English. And even years of French, and living in a bilingual French/English community, never gave me the same kind of immersion.

Cymraeg is beautiful, yes, but it’s also an ancient language full of mystery and wonder. Even in its place names possess distinctiveness.

“So it’s not just a name, it’s a story,” Owen said. He’s right.