Amusing anecdotes & random ramblings
"Mae gen i TGAU yn Gymraeg"
I recently had a work meeting with someone senior who turned out to be from Wales. Thus one small tangent of the conversation involved me saying I was from Wales, and stating that I had a Welsh GCSE certificate. Second language, of course, but who’s counting?
Of course, what happens? I get back a short work email … entirely in Welsh. I can distill the odd phrase or word and get the gist of the email – all but the last sentence.
Now, do I:
- admit defeat, and reveal my inadequateness in using Welsh (after all, I’m not genetically Welsh and haven’t lived in Wales for three years)?
- soldier on, find someone to translate the text for me, and fire off some pithy comeback in Welsh, and keep the illusion going?
Oh, these work dilemmas…
About the author
By day a BBC/Intranet content producer. By night, mildly obsessed by web, film, comedy, pop/digital culture, people, and randomness.
| This entry was posted by andrew on July 15, 2009 at 4:17 pm, and is filed under Me me me me me, Wales, Work. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
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Just tell them you did Welsh TGAU, but you’re in your mid 30s now and can’t speak it.
I can barely even remember which GCSEs I did, let alone the grades or details of what I learnt (I’m 33). My German and French knowledge comes back to me in a haphazard fashion when I’m in countries where they’re spoken, but I wouldn’t expect to reply to an email written in either of them. Don’t sweat it.