Welsh is the official language of Wales, spoken by approximately 580,000 people. However, it is in danger of extinction. Welsh has existed for 4,000 years and is therefore one of the oldest languages in Britain. By Welsh people it is called Cymraeg and it is a language with regular and phonetic spelling only. Although it is spoken by a comparatively small number of people Welsh is a living language. It is still used in daily life by thousands. However, because of the risk of extinction, it is especially important that Welsh is represented in the media. There are various Welsh TV and radio channels, books, magazines and websites. 2 General overview of Welsh-language media Generally speaking, English is the main language used in media within …show more content…
In addition, it was the result of concerted and focused political lobbying and direct action. It was a complex process, but what stands out is the extent to which no other development in broadcasting in the UK from 1922 onwards had been the product of such a prolonged and popular political campaign.” Furthermore, linguistic boundaries are invalid, as you can watch all S4C content with English or Welsh subtitles, sign language or audio description. In addition, programmes can be regularly watched on the Internet as so called podcasts. Since 2013 the licence fee via the BBC Trust provides most of the channel’s income, as well as a portion from the UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and S4C’s own advertising sales. Wales’ Office Minister Alun Cairns' states in a speech at Cardiff University on 25th February …show more content…
Pobol y Cwm (“People of the Valley”) is the most popular Welsh program after rugby. The soap opera has existed since 1974 and is shown at S4C five nights a week. It also features young and successful Welsh actors, such as Ioan Gruffudd (known from Hornblower, Fantastic Four or Forever), Iwan Rheon (Misfits, Game of Thrones) or Alexandra Roach (Utopia, Hunderby). Some fluent Welsh speakers said that they were willing to watch S4C, although they wished for dramas with a better quality, more contemporary, new actors or more learner content. Another program by S4C is Cyw, a television block especially for children. An example from the the beaufort research shows how this programme helps using Welsh. family admits they let their children watch Cyw in the morning in order to get their children thinking and even speaking in Welsh before they attend Welsh-medium school, as the Dad is not confident in using the language anymore and the Mum is a non-Welsh speaker. This sample seems not to be rare. Yena Song, a native speaker, stated in an interview that she used to watch Welsh kids