Wales' other languages

The many voices of Wales

The Wall of Languages in Oriel 1, St Fagans National Museum of History

Wales has always had many voices. Welsh and English are Wales' official languages, but people here speak many other languages. Like two-thirds of the world's population, many people in Wales are bilingual or multilingual.

It is not easy to find reliable statistics about languages other than Welsh or English, because there isn't a question about them in the census. A survey by CILT Cymru revealed that at least 98 languages are spoken by school pupils in this country. In 2006, Amgueddfa Cymru collected the names of 78 languages from people who spoke those languages and lived in Wales, and displayed them in an exhibition.

Hear some of these languages

Here on the People's Collection, you can listen to some of these languages and the experiences and opinions of the people who speak or spoke them. You can help us also to find out more about Wales' languages. If you live in Wales and your language community isn't included here, why not tell your own story on the People's Collection?

Japanese

Japanese is spoken by about 125 million people, 99% of them still in Japan. However the number of Japanese speakers living abroad has increased with the expansion of Japan's economy, working for Japanese companies or the government.

There are about 50,000 Japanese speakers in the UK, with about 2000 of them living in Wales. Wales is the largest centre in Europe for Japanese electronics firms. The first Japanese manufacturing company came to Wales in 1973. Over the last 30 years, that number has expanded to about 60 firms, employing thousands of Welsh people. Japanese-speaking pupils have been reported in schools in Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Flintshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea/Neath/Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham.

Midori Matsui: Japanese

"I came from Japan, and in Japan I was a schoolteacher of English. And I wanted to see England, Great Britain first, before Wales. So I came to England in 1972. Having spent one year there, I was asked to come down to Wales to work for a Japanese company. So the next year, '73, I came to Wales and ever since I've lived here.

A lot of people have already made a comment, I have got a Welsh accent. I can't tell though. About Welsh accent, I've got a funny story. One day I was at Heathrow airport, looking for a whisky, a particular brand of whisky. And the manager came up to me, started to explain about the whisky. He was thinking I was a tourist, and Japanese people are well known as a lover of whisky. And then all I said was, 'Thank you very much but no, I know what I'm looking for. So I'm all right.' But when I said that, he said, 'Where on earth did you get that Welsh accent?' And then he realised that I was living in this country, not a tourist, not just a tourist."

Somali

There have been Somalis in Cardiff since the 1870s. The city has one of the oldest Somali communities in the UK. The first settlers were sailors who came here shortly after opening the Suez Canal in 1869, when Cardiff was developing as a major international seaport. During the 1980s, another wave of Somali immigrants arrived, fleeing from the civil war in the Horn of Africa. It is estimated that currently over 8000 Somalis live in the Cardiff, Newport and Swansea areas, making them the largest ethnic minority community in Wales.

There are about 10-15 million Somali speakers worldwide. It is a language which has a long, rich tradition of poetry and literature. However it was only in 1972 that the Somali language became the official language of Somalia, replacing the colonial languages of English and Italian in government and education.

Faisal Mohamed Hashi: Somali

"I was born in Newport, in the Pill part, the new Pilgwenlly part of Newport, which is the docks area. The reason I was there was that my father was a merchant seaman who came to the UK with the Merchant Navy, British Merchant Navy. He settled here with his family and I was his first product that he had here in this country. But it was quite strange being born in Wales — though I was Welsh in that respect, being born here, but the first language I learnt was Somali because within the home it was like being in Somalia but obviously transported to Wales. So in that respect, I was Somali first. But then obviously when I came onto the street, I realised my Welshness and my Welsh roots have grown since then.

Language is very very important within my culture. And obviously the first language that you learn is the language that your parents speak to you. My mother's first tongue was Somali, so she made sure that when she spoke to us, she spoke to us in Somali. What it meant for me was that I learnt Somali first, then I learnt English. There was obviously a step back from living in this country. So in that respect, there's great pride in the knowledge of the language and there's great pride in being able to speak in one's tongue and to have an understanding of your own culture.

I do have a Welsh accent — an English-Welsh accent — when I speak Somali. If I was to stand behind that wall and have a conversation with a Somali person, they could definitely tell that I wasn't born and brought up in Somalia. But I have a broad vocabulary which would make them think twice about exactly what my origins were. But in terms of accent, definitely, I've got an English-Welsh accent when I speak Somali.

Essentially, yeh, I'm Welsh. Somali Welsh. In that respect, the Welsh accent comes through in both my English and in my Somali."

French

There are about 128 million people around the world who speak French. It is not only an official language in France, but also in 24 other countries, for example Switzerland and Canada and some African countries. It is spoken in the Channel Islands, and there are sizeable French communities in London. It is by far the most commonly taught language in UK secondary schools. In Wales, first language French speakers have been reported in schools in Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Conwy/Denbighshire, Flintshire, Newport, Swansea/Neath Port Talbot, and Wrexham.

Sylvie Hoffman: French

French I've learnt — it's my mother tongue. I was born in France and French was spoken at home. Although my grandparents spoke Plattdeutsch, because we are on the border between Germany and France, and we were invaded so many times that my parents were forbidden to speak French in school, so were my grandparents. And my great-grandparents were French-speaking, but I didn't know them...

Being in Wales — I have been on the receiving end of arrogance of, when I am in France, people who don't bother to speak the language. Not even greet in the language. From Germans, and I have met some English people. So I thought, no, this is not going to happen. My children will have an awareness, will know that we are in Wales, that Welsh is spoken, and everything. So I sent them to the Welsh school and my daughter then, she just lapped it all up...

Wales against England with the rugby, you shout for Wales of course, you know. But Wales against France? I was shouting for France! And in front of me, that ten-year-old was shouting for Wales. In front of me! I thought that was of the highest, the highest treason. I grabbed her like that and said to her, 'Qu'est-ce-que tu fait? What do you think you are doing?' And she said, 'Mam, I'm Welsh. I've decided to be Welsh.' And I said, 'Mais, pourquoi? Why?' And she said, 'When I speak French with you, I feel disloyal to Dad, because he doesn't understand French, and — well he understands but he doesn't speak French. And when I speak English with my dad — he doesn't speak Welsh — I feel disloyal to you, so, I've decided to be Welsh. So I don't have to owe anybody anything.' So she decided to be Welsh, and from then on she was Welsh. And that's it. And her sister followed suit.

Malayan

The Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is a language spoken by people living in the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra and parts of the Borneo coast. It is an official language of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. About 18 million people speak Standard Malay, while there are also about 170 million people who speak Indonesian, which is a form of Malay. Malayan speakers have been reported in schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Juliet Revell: Malayan

I'm very fond of learning new languages. Welsh is very interesting, and different to my mother tongue. And also it's a great challenge for me to learn it. I believe it's important for me to be able to speak Welsh so I can socialise with people locally. Because I live in Wales now. Wales is my home.

I speak Welsh with neighbours, friends, or my Welsh tutor. Sometimes I'll go to a CYD (Friends of Welsh Learners) meeting to practice my Welsh. I have one very interesting story. One of my neighbours, the farmer, said it was difficult to talk Welsh to me, because my Welsh is as good as a minister's. Oh, how I loved hearing that!

Swahili

Swahili is a language that has spread beyond its place of origin on the East African coast due to trade networks. It is a Bantu language, but through contact with Arab traders it has adopted many Arabic words. During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was used as a language of administration by the British who colonised that part of Africa. Swahili became the national language of Tanzania and Kenya when those countries achieved independence in the 1960s, but it is also spoken in parts of Somalia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. It has about 5 million first-language speakers, but there are 50 million or so second-language speakers who use it as a lingua franca.

A survey of local education authorities in Wales indicated that there were Swahili speakers in schools in Conwy/Denbighshire and Swansea/Neath Port Talbot. It is only one of many African languages spoken by people living in Wales.

Aime Kongolo: Swahili

Aime Kongolo is from Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an area that was at one timed ruled by Belgium. He comes from a society where speaking many languages is the norm.

"Swahili's like my mother language, my mother tongue. I can say that, 'cause in my city in Katanga, everyone speaks Swahili. We have other dialects spoken there, but we speak, all of them, we understand Swahili. So Swahili, I grew up with that language. And then the same time, from — because my father was a teacher — in my house I was speaking two languages: my father French, my mother Swahili so I grew up with those two languages. And from — from just primary school, from nursery to primary school, you go to secondary school and then go high school — there it's only French.

Lingala, I came to learn Lingala when I moved to Kinshasa, the capital city. In the capital city there's all those people. They speak different, all those Congolese languages. But Lingala, it's like the main language they speak, all of them. They understand each other. And French as well. But Lingala, it's more when you go out, socialising life, when you speak Lingala. If you go like in professional way, it's only French. Or maybe if you just want to be posh, you speak in French all the time. So it's up to you.

When I came to England, I started learning English, and then I moved to English — to England, to Wales, where I learnt more English. Now maybe I speak a little bit more with Welsh accent for people to understand me. Probably in future I was thinking to start learning Welsh."