SubscribeAccording to the census, 80.1% of Ceredigion residents, who were born in Wales are Welsh-speakers, ranging from 58.8% in Aberystwyth and 65.2% at Borth to 94.9% in Llanwnnen and 94.6% at Llanddewi Brefi. These correspond quite closely to the absolute percentage of Welsh-speakers in these areas in 1971 , which was the last census before the huge increase in migration into rural Wales.In other words, there is very little evidence of "lack of desire among the Welsh to bother with their own language", and lots of evidence to suggest that the decline is due to patterns of migration (outward, as well as inward).
Now Spanish authorities say [retired British immigrants] are placing an unbearable burden on scant medical resources and are demanding that the UK pays for their care. And in a move likely to send a chill through the expat community, Spanish doctors - even those who speak English - are now refusing to treat anyone who cannot speak Spanish without an interpreter present.
Guardian
...demand for classes in English and French as second language (ESL; FSL) has never been higher, and actually exceeds supply in many cities. According to the 1991 Census, 98.6 percent of Canadians report that they can speak one of the official languages.[footnote 16] This figure is staggering when one considers how many immigrants are elderly and/or illiterate in their mother tongue, and who therefore find it extremely difficult to learn a new language. It is especially impressive given that the number of immigrants who arrive with knowledge of an official language has declined since 1971. [footnote 17] [...] The overwhelming majority do learn an official language, and insofar as such skills are lacking, the explanation is the lack of accessible and appropriate ESL/FSL classes, not lack of desire. [footnote 18] [...] For example, despite Gwyn and Bissoondath's rhetoric about the proliferation of ethnic "ghettos" and "enclaves," studies of residential concentration have shown that permanent ethnic enclaves do not exist in Canada. Indeed, "it is scarcely sensible to talk of 'ghettos' in Canadian cities." [footnote 22] What little concentration does exist is more likely to be found amoung older immigrant groups, like the Jews and Italians, whose arrival preceded the multiculturalism policy. Groups that have arrived primarily after 1971 [the institution of the policy of multiculturalism], such as Asians and Afro-Caribbeans, exhibit the least residential concentration. [footnote 23].I would have typed up the rest of the mentioned footnotes, but they're just references without explanation. Anyone who really wants to can drop me a MefiMail, though.
Footnote 16: Some 63 percent of immigrants have neither English nor French as their mother tongue, yet only 309 000 residents in the 1991 Census couldn't speak an official language. Most of these were elderly (166 000 were over 55). See Brian Harrison, "Non Parlo ne inglese, ne francese" (Statistics Canada: Census of Canada Short Article Series, #5, September 1993.)
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And I don't remember seeing chinese people spitting around in Melbourne.
What I have seen is, lots of "people that look like immigrants" ignoring the big sign saying "do not take Abalone - Natural Reserve" and walking away with crates of it. And when the police invariabily pops up, its all "no speak english" and the like.
So all the advice should boil down to "don't try to be a smartass or we will kick your ass".
Ir probably boils down to a culture (prevalent in a lot of the countries of origin of the immigrants) that if you don't do it because "its forbidden" someone else will and you end up looking like an ass.
Its it certainly the rule in my country of origin (Italy).
posted by elcapitano at 3:20 AM on February 6, 2008