So far I've only read Trainspotting which I think is a great book. At first I found it somewhat difficult to read since it was written in the Scottish dialect. However, once I got used to this I thought it was a very entertaining and sometimes darkly funny novel.

So what do you think of his work and style of writing?

BQ: What are some other books that are written in a particular dialect or accent?
BQ2: Favourite author from Scotland?

I was watching Castle in the Country just now which is a TV programme in England looking around castles, churches and stately homes around Britain and learning about their history and in this one programme they were talking about a Welsh princess (i can't spell her name, i can hardly even say it lol) who was imprisoned as a nun within the church by the English king at the time and gave the title Prince of Wales to his son which is where the tradition started, the title of Prince of Wales in the English monarchy.
Of course England has a royal family and i know Scotland and Wales use to but what about Ireland, or did they just have clan/tribe leaders scattered around the country and depending on who's land you were on you abide by their rules, or something?
I know Scotland had clans aswell as a monarchy (well i think they were around at the same time as our monarchy is at least a 1,000 years old and the scottosh one should be about the same age) i remember the Romans built Hadrians Wall to keep the horrible scottish clans out of Britian.

I can't learn it right now, because my hands are full with German and Japanese. But I have half-Celtic ancestry (English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish), so would eventually one day like to add a Celtic language to the list of ones I know.

I know that Welsh is the healthiest in terms of survival (Wales still has a strong linguistic identity unlike Scotland and Ireland - and growing), but how easy is it compared to the others?

Are Scottish Gaelic and Irish essentially just novelty languages today? Are are they still used in significant numbers elsewhere.

Thanks for reading and for the upcoming answers.

Other than standard English, Gaelic (in Ireland) and Welsh (in Wales), what Celtic languages still survive ion the UK and Ireland? What is the most ancient language in Scotland that is still spoken? Is there a ancient language other than English spoken in England? Thanks

New research by "Visit Wales" researched what visitors thought of Wales?

The research found people enjoyed the Welsh countryside, mountains and beaches. They also liked seeing Castles.

They said Cardiff without the Millenium Stadium was just another city, which I agree with. It's only on matchdays that you truly see Cardiff as a capitol city.

However the part of the research I found really offensive was where it said whilst visitors from most countries (especially Ireland, France and Scotland) enjoyed hearing the Welsh language being spoken, the English hated it.

Does this show English racism?

Hey, I'm from Ireland & I really want to go to Wales. I know allot of English people who tell me that there is no real difference between Wales & England. I've been to Scotland before & it's different to England but doesn't feel like a total different country but you can definitely sense the different culture.
From what I know Welsh people are very proud of their culture such as their language, countryside of north Wales, accent & descending from different people to the rest of the U.K. But is this enough to seem like a different country to England because its in the same state as England (U.K).
Since I'm from Ireland of course there are similarities to the U.K. but we have enough to be a different country. What we use that's different to the U.K. is kilometers, euros, we have a total different culture, there are areas in Ireland called Gaeltachts where people speak Irish as their first language, we have our own sports like hurling & Gaelic football, we have our own tv channels and programmes. I could list allot more things but I think you have the point.
Any help is really appreciated!

Its annoying. For starters Wales and scotland are on the island of great britain. Ireland is its own island and apart from like 6 counties ireland is independent and not part of the uk. Wales and scotland use different currency to ireland and have different culture, religion, language.
@ panda. all europeans have common roots.

In Scotland there have been quite a few cases of people being attacked because they're English, or being attacked because they're wearing an England football shirt or something equally retarded.

However, in Wales there seems to be significantly less overt aggresion towards English people. Obviously, there's tossers everywhere, but I haven't heard many cases, if any, of English people being attacked in Wales simply because they're English, and I can't imagine anyone wearing an England football, or even rugby shirt in Wales getting any trouble providing he didn't shout about it.

I also can't imagine many Welsh people these days having any profound resentment towards English people, of course, you might get drunk idiots who start going "English bastard", etc, but I don't think there is much in the way of profound hatred for English people and I think these days an English person could live in most places in Wales and not have any trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the Irish or the Scottish, but I have noticed there is a significantly higher proportion of the population in NI and Scotland who dislike the English, and as we all know, in NI it is often extremely violent.

Some of the issue with Scotland is there are a growing number of people in Scotland who I would describe as "Little Scotlanders', who think they should close the border to any English person.

Not so many of these people exist in Wales, ok, I know Wales has Plaid Cymru, but their main concern strikes me as being to protect and maintain the Welsh language. They don't strike me as being anywhere near as obnoxious and biligerant as the SNP.

I'm not talking about the Authentic Celts who originally lived in Central Europe (There's no proof of them coming over to Scotland). I'm talking about British Celts.

Why do so many Scots, especially the Nationalists have such a problem with Wales? But what do you base your opinions on?
When I go to Wales, I see more of a country than Scotland. Because you all speak English, your national anthem is in English, you're trying to wipe out your languages (I'm not including 'Scots' as it's just a dialect of English). Also, all your signposts are in English, but I do know you have Gaelic ones in some areas.
The Welsh still have their own language. Scotland chose English as their language, while the Welsh were forced to speak English. Yet, they have saved it from dying out.

I have more respect for Welsh people, as they have more respect for their country. They don't base their nationality on hating us, and are proud of their culture. Wales has had cultural nationalism, and I don't think Scotland has ever had something like this. Also, Scotland went into the Union, because you were bankrupt by the Darien scheme, and England bailed you out, yet you still hate us! Independence- You're so blinded by anti-Englishness, you'll do anything to get away from us, even at the expense of your country's wellbeing.

Why do you believe that you've been oppressed by England, and Wales has had an easy ride? Do you know their history? Why do you enjoy being 'victims'? Why do you have this 'Braveheart' mentality? It's 2009!

My girlfriend is Welsh, and she had a lot of hassle in Scotland for being Welsh. She speaks her language, and so do her family. They're really proud people, and I have never seen this in the Scots. Just anger and bigotry. And not just towards the English and Welsh. Heard some nice anti-Irish chanting from Rangers fans.
I'm not aiming this at all Scots, just the ignorant ones.

Cumbric is a loose term used to describe the Brythonic language of Northern England, North Wales, and Much of Scotland. It survives today in the form of modern Welsh, although little remains of the language in England, other than bits of vocabulary and grammar which are preserved in place-names.
I do not claim to be writing down the exact language of Northern England, here I am using Middle Welsh and Old Welsh as a basis upon which to build an idea of what Cumbric sounded like before it became Welsh, and the later forms of language spoken across The Northern United Kingdom. The reason for using the older form of the language is because this form would have probably been largely understood across much of Northern Britain, later Cumbric probably was too diffrenciated to be so. Thus people who might use this work are a good way to understanding both modern Cumbric and Modern Welsh, and likewise speakers of Modern Welsh will find the language of their ancestry not too much of a challenge.

Thankyou, I'll give 5 * rating for translation

Hi, there!

I am a bit confused as to what languages are spoken in Scotland and Ireland, other than English, of course. It looks like both countries come from a similar background, yet their languages differ.
I need this text translated in welsh, or the language the Scotland's ancestors were speaking. I should be so lucky if somebody who knows both languages will take a look at my humble request.

"NOT EVEN DEATH CAN STOP ETERNITY"

Here comes the tricky part: I need one word, ONLY one, translated in old Irish.

I am trying to write a book, and this small phrase is meant to sent my heroine into a search quest. Having one word in Irish in this phrase, it will give her the certitude she's not wrong.
I don't care which one is the word, as long as it is from old Irish.
Thank you!

So far I've only read Trainspotting which I think is a great book. At first I found it somewhat difficult to read since it was written in the Scottish dialect. However, once I got used to this I thought it was a very entertaining and sometimes darkly funny novel.

So what do you think of his work and style of writing?

BQ: What are some other books that are written in a particular dialect or accent?
BQ2: Favourite author from Scotland?

I am English, not Welsh or Scottish so why on visa to go abroad etc to i have to write British?
But i am not from Wales or Scotland i am from England. I am English why should i be grouped together with the scots and welsh, no offense to them i am sure they feel the same.

Welsh is spoken in Argentina in Chubut

and i know that some forms of gaelic are spoken in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and so on,

Is Gaelic spoken more in canada/Usa than Welsh is in Argentina?
Alu it, wyt ti'n siarad Cymraeg? Habla usted Galés?

And thank's jock but i think your wrong there because there are around 60 000 Scottish Gaelic speakers in Scotland aren't there so ?

in wales do you start speaking welsh if you want to have a private convo in a public place for example train,bus, etc ,

non welsh speakers do you find this offencive if welsh speakers change there language when 'you' enter the room or carriage or bus etc

or do you just accept it as part of normal life in a welsh speaking area ??

I'm asking this because on the way home from college me and a friend were having a private convo in welsh when this english man comes up to us and tells us that we should not be speaking our language as other people find it offence if (we were standing in the doorway of a 2 carriage train because there were no seats ) we carried our convo on and had him glaring at us for the next hour !!

do you think its acceptable to ask somebody not to speak there own countries language in there own country ??

i would understand if we were in england or scotland because its nice to respect the other countries if you can (as in speak there lang)

your opinions ??

xx

After reading answers from other questions,it is obious to me that most people dont know a thing about the Welsh language.I speak it fluently,diolch yn fawr,but most people think of it as a dying language that no-one cares about.Or,even more annoying,mix it up with a toatally different language gaelic.Welsh is from Wales and Gaelic is from Scotland,to simplify it for Americans reading this.More than 20% of us welsh speak it and many more have(50%)a basic understanding of it.iT is used and very alive,so proudly Spoken by many a countrymens tounge,including mine.So,if think otherwise,have a view or something to say....ANSWER NOW!!!!!

I want to learn a foreign language but i cant decide one and none besides German Welsh or Gaelic. Im in my 2nd year of German in High School so i have previous knowledge of German but i don't really try in that class so i haven't learned as much as i should of i guess. Gaelic- Im an Irish American and i have a ton of irish/scottish background like My great great great great aunt was the Queen of Scotland and i absolutely love the culture of Ireland. Welsh- Im going to want to some day live in the UK, Germany, or Ireland and Welsh seems like a pretty cool language, i do not have any previous knowledge of Welsh. So just whats your guys opinion on what i should learn and most likely i will end up living in one of these places?

I had an interesting conversation about 8 years ago with a visiting Scot. He confirmed for me that in Scotland's eyes-if you are born on this side of the Atlantic, you're not a Scot you're a yank.
That's always been the way I've thought of it.
I don't wakl around saying I'm Scottish, irish or Welsh when I'm not.
I'm an American. I don't even use Irish American or Welsh American. American should be all that's needed on the subject.
But two years ago, I talked this over with a student who had spent some time in Ireland and she said the opposite. That Irish Americans are regarded as Irish (or very close to Irish) in some parts of Ireland.
So I have Welsh, Scot, and Irish in my family tree. All cultures from the British Isles that are not actually Britsh are represented in my blood.
What do the Welsh, Scots, and Irish have to say on the subject?

After reading answers from other questions,it is obious to me that most people dont know a thing about the Welsh language.I speak it fluently,diolch yn fawr,but most people think of it as a dying language that no-one cares about.Or,even more annoying,mix it up with a toatally different language gaelic.Welsh is from Wales and Gaelic is from Scotland,to simplify it for Americans reading this.More than 20% of us welsh speak it and many more have(50%)a basic understanding of it.iT is used and very alive,so proudly Spoken by many a countrymens tounge,including mine.So,if think otherwise,have a view or something to say....ANSWER NOW!!!!!