“Tom Law’s article Cachau Bant: Mind Your Language”;
English is one of the worlds most recognized and dominant languages and one of the most widely spoken languages by foreigners. English is taught in school in almost every country of the world and is therefore very commonly spoken and often taken for granted. What we seem to forget is how English has become such a dominant language. Through the English colonization in the time of the great British empire a lot of people were taught English whether they wanted to or not. This is why English is among the most common and widely spoken languages today.
But the question is; Did the way that the British empire forced people to speak English have consequences and how did the countries accept the new language?
That is what the welsh journalist Tom Law describes in his article “Cachau Bant: Mind Your Language” from December 2013. He reflects on the results of the way that the Welshman were forced to replace their native language with English.
In this analytical essay I will analyze and comment on Tom Law’s article where part of the focus will be on the tone and style, and on how Tom Law views the connection between language and national identity.
Tom Law is angry about the 150-year crushing of his native Welsh language, where he asks; ‘How would you feel if you were made to speak German?’. The Englishmen came and made English the first priority and their native language was made second priority. They took over the Welsh school system and converted it to traditional English.
But what he is most angry about is the fact that no one seems to care about the Welsh people. He is angry about how English speakers react to the Welsh people being afraid of loosing their mother tongue.
He uses the European union as a scary story and the fact that Brussels wants to absorb Britain into a Euro-state to compare with the Welsh story. According to Tom Law that was exactly what England did to Wales end their native language. He explains it with “The Welsh language declining so rapidly because of the Englishmen placing a pillow over its face and smothering it.” Then he tries to put it into perspective for the English people and makes them imagine a world with German as the dominant language. He asks the question “How would you feel if you were made to speak German?’” and then he describes a world were German will take over the English language and culture precisely as England did to wales. He describes this with the ironic sentence “You don’t care about some bloke in Altrincham moaning about the German signs on his local fish and chip shop.” also referring to what he said earlier about that no one cared about the Welsh people.
With the attempt to wipe out the Welsh language, consequences have followed. With English as the new big and fast-growing language people are forced to take a choice. Some have chosen to welcome this new language and culture while others have chosen to stick with their mother tongue and original identity. This starts to split up the society and divides it along two different language lines. “It’s a cultural civil war which has brought out the worst aspects of both sides. A nation which once fought for its rights, which fought against inequality and injustice has been effectively turned in on itself.”
The development has left the non-Welsh speakers like outsiders in their own country, with no chance of accessing the old culture and traditions and with reduced chances of finding jobs. The Welsh Speakers has to deal with being battered from all sides, endlessly being under attack and having to justify the use of their own language – mostly to fellow Welsh people who have been brought up with English as their mother tongue.
The tone of the text is informal and where Tom Laws own opinions are shown significantly. It is also clear to the reader that Tom Law between the lines is very angry at the Englishmen for exterminating the Welsh language. The fact that he writes in this informal tone makes it easier for the reader to identify with the text and the different points of view. He uses many typical British terms like “this all sounds absolutely nuts”, “watched English telly”, “but it’s bullocks”. Tom Law also uses a lot of rhetorical questions through out the text which is a good way as an author to come out with your points of view. He also repeats words, sentences and selected terms. That is not something you necessarily notice as you read the text but it affects your subconsciousness and makes you more focused on his belief. He also uses symbolism in his essay. I have already quoted one of them where he said; “The Welsh language has declined so rapidly because the English placed a pillow over its face and smothered it.” The last part of the sentence with the pillow being smothered over the face of the Welsh people is a symbol of the Welsh Language being wiped out.