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When you cross over the border from England into Wales you don't have to show your passport but
you do notice a difference immediately. All the road markings and signs are shown in two
languages-English and Welsh. Not all visitors to Britain know that other languages are spoken here.
There's the Gaelic language in Scotland and a few people speak Comish in the southwest of England,but
the most widely spoken language in the UK apart from English is Welsh.
Perhaps the first Welsh word you'll see on the road into Wales is ARAF. There's a helpful English
translation next to it-SLOW. As you can see,Welsh looks quite different to English. It sounds very
different too. If you think English
pronunciation is difficult,try this: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogery-chwymdrobwllantysiliogogogoch.
That's the name of a small town in Wales and,in English,it means "The church of Saint Mary in the
hollow of the white hazel tree near the rapid whirlpool and the church of Saint Tysilio near a red cave".
Welsh looks and sounds so different from English because it's a Celtic language. Celtic cultures still
exist around the edges of the UK-in Wales,Scotland and Northem Ireland and also in parts of France.
For hundreds of years,almost everyone in Wales spoke Welsh but nowadays there are only about
500,000 Welsh speakers-about 20% of the population.
So is Welsh dying out? Not at all. Nowadays all school children in Wales study Welsh and many
choose to go to an all Welsh-speaking school. You can get public information in Welsh,speak Welsh in
court or take a course at university in Welsh. People surf the Net in Welsh,keep up with friends on
Facebook and write blogs in Welsh.
And by the way," Croeso i Cymru ! " means "Welcome to Wales"-I hope you'll be able to visit
one day.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?
A. Only English and Welsh are spoken in Britain.
B. Welsh has its roots in the same culture as English.
C. Welsh is the second most widely spoken language in the UK.
D. All visitors know other languages are also spoken in Britain.
2. The writer gives the name of a small town in order to _____.
A. show that the small town's name is very strange
B. show that learning Welsh is great fun
C. tell us that Welsh is widely used in Wales
D. tell us that Welsh is difficult to pronounce
3. It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that _____.
A. Welsh still plays an active part in Wales in daily life
B. most British children go to an all-Welsh school nowadays
C. Welsh is mostly used in court in the UK
D. Welsh is likely to disappear soon