June 13, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1423

CARDIFF (UK): Forty children sit cross-legged on the white and brown tiled floor of a primary school room in northwest Cardiff.

When the headmaster, Arwell Williams, enters, they look up in unison. “Bore da!,” says Williams, greeting the pupils in Welsh.

From that moment, not a word of English is heard in the classroom.

The singing and prayer is exclusively in the language of the ancient Celts. Amazing when one considers that, until a short time ago, not one of these youngsters could understand a word of the tongue.

Most of the pupils here come from families where English is widely spoken — practically everywhere in Wales — yet at the primary school in Beechly Drive with the very Celtic-sounding name, Ysgol Coed Gof, lessons take place in Welsh only, or rather in Cymraeg. That’s the proper Welsh name of the language related to Breton.

There’s no blackboard in the classroom — Williams relies instead on an overhead projector which throws the text of the song on to the wall. That’s to ensure the boys and girls don’t forget words which they are still unsure of. The pupils are all wearing red pullovers, dark trousers and plimsolls and all of them sing without hesitation as Williams starts playing the piano.

The children clap along to the first song, closing their eyes during the prayer that follows. “Ein Tad yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd, Sacteiddier dy enw” goes the text — the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh. All of them are praying. Such full participation cannot be taken for granted. Welsh can be a tongue-twister. There are unusual letter combinations such as dd, which is pronounced like the English “th” whereas “u” is spoken like “i” and “w” like a short “u”.

Travellers to Wales are puzzled by the exotic combinations of letters. “Ysbyty” is Welsh for hospital or “Llwybr cyhoeddus” for public footpath. The most difficult compound word must be: “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch” which means: Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel trees, near the fierce whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio, by a red cave. The name used to adorn a railway station in the north of the country and was understandably shortened to Llanfair PG.

So it’s hardly surprising that many Welsh men and women cannot manage to get the tongue around their own language. Anthony Hopkins (who played Hannibal Lector in “Silence of the Lambs”), was born in Wales and grew up there but cannot speak Welsh.

Dylan Thomas, one of the most important of Britain’s 20th century poets, could not speak Welsh either. Prince Charles, heir to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II of all people, can speak it. The “Prince of Wales” studied in the region whose name he carries.

Of the 350 pupils who attend the primary school in the Cardiff district of Pentrebane, 98 per cent come from families with a “totally English background.” The kids, who start school at the age of four are quick learners. “By the time they are five they’re speaking fluent Welsh,” said Williams.

Success can be attributed to the radical concept of the school. From the outset all subjects are taught in Welsh. Almost all of the tutors come from Cymraeg speaking families and only two had to learn the language from scratch.

The Ysgol Coed y Gof-Schule is a symbol of a revival of interest in Welsh, which is spoke by 600,000 people in Wales, in a region where it was all but extinct. Welsh is still seldom heard on the streets of Cardiff but is in everyday use in the northwest.

The “Cymdeithas yr laith Cymraeg” — the organization set up to preserve the use of Welsh, has come a long way towards its goal of saving Europe’s oldest spoken and written tradition from extinction. Important authors are translated into Welsh, the BBC sends programmes in Welsh and maintains a Welsh news website. Even private TV station S4C has its Welsh service.

Welsh is the oldest of Europe’s languages, the tongue of the Celts who were pushed into the extreme west of Wales together with their legendary King Arthur around 450 by the invading Saxons and Angles. From the 16th century English was the official language in Wales. and up until the early 20th century teachers would beat pupils who dared utter a word of Welsh in class.

Events like the Eisteddfod song contest, held annually since the 19th century, and a popular version for young people, have kept the language alive.—dpa