Steady growth in Euskara-medium education

Prompted by this article on Nationalia, I've just been skimming through the Fourth Report of the Committee of Experts on regional and minority languages in respect of Spain, and was encouraged to see the continued growth of education through the medium of Euskara, the Basque language, in sections 372-378.

2010-11

Pre-school ... 71.1%
Primary ... 63.7%
Secondary ... 55.9%

2011-12

Pre-school ... 72.3%
Primary ... 65.4%
Secondary ... 57.7%

2012-13

Pre-school ... 73.5%
Primary ... 67.4%
Secondary ... 59.4%

The next sections of the report also provide a useful insight into the place of adult education in developing new speakers of the language:

381 ... The Advisory Council on Basque has found that of the approximately 300,000 new Basque speakers attracted over the last three decades, 100,000 came from the teaching of adults and adult literacy and 200,000 from the general education system.

I must admit to some surprise at how high the figure for adult education is. Certainly we don't put anywhere near the same emphasis on teaching Welsh to adults. But then again, neither do we make competence in Welsh a reqirement for all but a small percentage of jobs in the public sector, nor do we fund adult leaning of Welsh to the tune of over €30m (£23m) a year.

Un Peth Bychan

Fel cyfraniad bach at ddiwrnod y Pethau Bychain, i ddathlu'r iaith Gymraeg ar y we, dw i'n moyn cymeradwyo pecyn iaith sydd ar gael i ddefnyddio porwr gwe Opera yn y Gymraeg.

Mae Firefox yn iawn, ac mae pecyn iaith wedi bod ar gael i'w ddeffnyddio yn y Gymraeg ers talwm, yma. Ond, yn fy marn i, mae Opera yn lawer, llawer gwell. Mae'n fwy cyflym, mwy addasiadol, mwy defnyddiol, mwy diogel.

Does dim pecyn iaith Gymraeg swyddogol ar gael ar gyfer Opera, ond mae fersiwn answyddogol ar gael yma. Diolch yn fawr iawn i Marc. Dw i wedi bod yn ei ddefnyddio ers pythefnos nawr. Pleser pur. Ond, yn anfoddus, dydy rhai llythrennau gydag acenion—e.e. â, ï, ô ayyb—ddim yn gweithio. Roedd y ffeil yn gymharol hawdd i'w thrwsio. Felly, dw i wedi gwneud fersiwn arall o'r ffeil, sydd ar gael yma. Dyma lun o'r sgrîn:

     

Opera. Y dyn porwr mwy pwerus yn y byd.

     

Diolch i Jaxxlanders am ddod o hyd i'r llun.

Frieze

Hot on the tail of this dragon, I've found something else that appeals to my inner child.
 

 
Details from here. Of course the professional side of me will justify this post on the grounds of getting the scroll box to work. Just slide the button to see the whole thing. And the linguist in me just likes the word frieze. It's a word I haven't heard in years.

But the Welsh word is even more obscure. GPC gives addurndalaith and pilladdurn, but googling them gives only one return for the first and none for the second. I particularly like addurndalaith ... now I just have to see if I can work it into a normal conversation.

Every child should have one

   

... including those of us who are now children only at heart!

Click image for details.