Wales proud of the Welsh language and wants more support for it, poll shows

The vast majority of people in Wales want to see more done by the Welsh Government to promote the Welsh language, according to an opinion poll published today.

The Welsh Government asked 11,000 adults in Wales and found that:

• 83% of non-Welsh speakers were proud of the language
• 63% of non-Welsh speakers thought more should be done to support the language
• 62% of non-Welsh speakers would like to be able to speak it

There was higher support across the board from Welsh speakers. 97% thought the language was something to be proud of, and 88% felt more should be done to support it.

The Welsh language society welcomed the findings, saying that it was “great news that there’s so much support for the Welsh language”.

“The results have a clear message for anyone in authority – which is that they should be brave and determined in promoting the Welsh language,” said Tasmin Davies from the society.

“We as a movement feel have called for the right for a Welsh medium education for all, the right to use the Welsh language in the private sector, and the devolution of broadcasting to Wales in order to expand and normalise broadcasting in Welsh.

“It’s time that politicians realised that the public support this and want to see them take implement this.

“It’s also clear that many adults want to learn Welsh so we need much more investment in this field.”

Despite the findings only 49% of Welsh speakers and 38% of non-Welsh speakers thought the language would be stronger in 10 years.

“It’s clear that the Government are yet to convince the public that they are doing enough to strengthen the language,” Tasmin Davies said.