The Welsh language and Timbuktu.

There, that title attracted your interest, didn't it !


I was talking today to a friend in Talgarth, after we heard on the news that the Welsh Government is going to promote the Welsh language and create more Welsh medium schools, where every subject is taught in Welsh.  

We were saying that even children in schools in Wales who have compulsory Welsh language lessons from nursery up to 18 years don't use it in every day conversation with their friends.   Its a nice idea to try and preserve the language in this way, but it is fraught with problems.   Parents who are not Welsh speakers but who live in Wales can't help their children with homework.   And what sort of Welsh is going to be taught ?   North Wales Welsh is very different to South Wales Welsh.  

An example of the difference between North and South Walian usage would be the question "Do you want a cup (of tea)?"  In the north this would typically be 'Dach chi isio panad?' while in the south the question 'Dych chi moyn dishgled?'  would be more likely.    

My friend was saying she would like to see the WAG funding the translation of all the Welsh poems, books etc from the past so that they are available to more people.  Also historical documents.  She imagines it must be really hard to research a Welsh-speaking family's family tree because so much stuff in the past (before England started making laws about it) was written and recorded in Welsh.   

So for historical purposes, and cultural reasons, yes, its good and necessary to keep Welsh alive, but I'm sorry, I am of the opinion its mostly irrelevant for every day useage.   How many people go around speaking Latin to their friends ?


Now for Timbuktu !      I've been reading this book .... 

Its "a fascinating interweaving of past and present ... " as the dust jacket says.   Timbuktu has for hundreds and hundreds of years been a centre of learning; I believe it had a university from the 11th century, but not quite as we would know a university.   There were many centres of learning within the city, where various subjects such as astronomy, plants, medicine, mathematics and others were written about, in an old form of Arabic.  The ancient manuscripts which were studied have never been stored in a 'library' but in family homes, some of them with great care and reverence in chests, and others much less so.  Over the centuries, the sand and heat and insects have wrought havoc with many of the manuscripts, which are and can be such a valuable source of learning.    More recently, al Qaeda destroyed by burning many hundreds of them, BUT fortunately hundreds of thousands were hidden away and looked after by the families who had had them in their care for generations.   It is estimated that there are something like 700,000 of these manuscripts in the city !

So what has this to do with Welsh ?   It seems to me that both the Welsh language and the ancient form of Arabic used in the Timbuktu manuscripts are clues to the past of both countries, and their culture.  So much of the past could easily be lost and I do hope that Welsh academics are translating old Welsh documents into English, for future generations.   (They may be doing this for all I know !)   In Timbuktu, manuscripts are now being appreciated and translated (many of the translators are women !)  AND it is so important for youngsters in Wales and in Mali .... and other parts of Africa ... to be taught about their past and learn from it.   

I am horrified that in Kenya, English and to a lesser extent Kiswahili are the languages of choice in schools and nowadays in the homes.   There are over 60 languages spoken in Kenya, but many are dying out and being allowed to die out.   I met a Luo family in Kisumu last year, where the children are taught in English at school, their well-educated parents speak English in the home, and the children cannot now speak to their grandparents, who have a wealth of ancient lore and history and knowledge which is being lost.   That's taking modern education TOO far.   

Africa, particularly countries like Senegal, Mali, Sudan, Egypt, the Swahili coast of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and so on, have a very rich ancient culture which we are only just beginning to find out about; how much knowledge has already been lost I wonder ?   Oral knowledge in countries where there was not a custom of writing is just as important as written knowledge.   We need to preserve both.