Welsh government to write to Duolingo after updates to course 'paused'

Salamendacious@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 336 points – Welsh government to write to Duolingo after updates to course 'paused'
news.sky.com

Wales's minister for education and the Welsh language said he will write to the company to see how the government might be able to support the course's continued development.

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Dywedodd Mr Miles y byddai'n gofyn i'r cwmni ystyried sut y gallai'r llywodraeth - sydd â tharged hunan-osodedig o gyrraedd miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050 - gefnogi datblygiad y cwrs, gan weithio gyda'r Ganolfan Dysgu Cymraeg Genedlaethol. Roedd ffigyrau Cyfrifiad y llynedd yn dangos bod 24,000 yn llai o siaradwyr Cymraeg o gymharu â degawd yn ôl a dywedodd adroddiad yn gynharach eleni fod amheuaeth ynghylch cyrraedd y targed. Ychwanegodd Mr Miles: "Mae Duolingo yn adnodd gwerthfawr a all helpu dysgwyr ar eu taith i ddod yn siaradwyr Cymraeg, ochr yn ochr â chyfleoedd dysgu iaith eraill. Roedd y tiwtor iaith Richard Morse yn un o'r rhai a fu'n gweithio am nifer o flynyddoedd i roi cynnwys y cwrs at ei gilydd.

ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

D̴̫̹̗̼͖̙̯̲̬̝̽̑ͅǔ̴̧͕̫͇̘̖̫̲̱͑̄̾̓͒̈́͝d̸̛̞̪̤̜͓̥͆e̴̻̝̓̀̀̑̑͜͠ͅ ̶̡̧̧͎̭̫͎̦̼͔̭̣̠̖̑̆̋̌͐̌͒̐͋̔̍̿͛I̷̛̛̦̖͈͙̯̝̟̻̓͑̓̀͑̐̇̓̅̾̕͝͝'̵͈̗̻̮̣͔͓̘̿̋͆̄̓̌̕m̸̨̧̠̻̯͎̯̼͍̹͇͇͒͗̀̓̽͆̐̌̑̚͜͠ ̸̢͍̘̥̠͔͇̹̦̊̄̂̈́̀̄́͗̈͊̂̆̚t̵̛̪̠̒̄̈́̌̊͝ṙ̵̬̬̼̙̮̭̹͓̼̗͎̜̥͕̈́̿͑̽̋̑͝͠ŷ̸͕̥̞̞̥̺̭̞̏́̿̄̓̽̂͋̽̂̆͐͂̿ĭ̶̲̝̱̭̹̟̤̏̏̇͐̐͋͘̕͜͜n̴̨̙͖͓̜̻͚̑͋g̶͇̻͕̎̂̽̃̂́́̎ ̶̡̳͉̘͔͈͈̻̗̽̂͂͒̍͋̃͠͠t̸̛̗̞̋̋̓̏̽͒̾́̄͑̍o̴̜̲͓̫̠̭͚̳̲͐͗́̚ ̶̳͎̳̳̀̓̿̈́̊̅̇͜ͅs̶̙͖̞͐̋͆͋́͘͝ḷ̶̰͍̰̣̙̍̿̿̀͒̿̊̃͂̆̄͒͝ȩ̸̤̯̟̪̐́͗̇̄̐͂̚͜ë̷̲̺͕̥̀̎͐̚p̶̨̛̥͖̲͕̺̥͚̳̆͒͊̍̿̓̉̓̽̕,̴̛̖͎̣̭̥̰͆͒̾̓̏̽͘͘͠ ̸̹̃̏̔́͐͐̍͊͗̊̀̄͛͠q̸̟͕̖̣͆͝ų̴̗̟͔̜̻̎͋͐̒̂̂̃̅́̈́͑́̆̽͜͠i̶̢̟̱̞̿̍̎̈̐̉̌̄̕͝t̶̯͙̥͙̞̉̓̈́ ̴̧͔̞͕̬̥͔̟̹̤̭̎͆̄̍̋͂̈́̂́̐̀͂s̶̢̬͇̬͈͎͙̞̲̣̘̺̅͐̈́̒͐u̶̖͍̣̼̣̹͍͈͈̩̞̻̘̤̘͌̅̈͆̑͋͗̔̈́̃͆̕m̶̢̪̤̮̆̆͐͋͂͂̉̓̓͆̊̿m̶̧̧̨͖̝̖̤͓̞̹̮͔̬̼̮̆̋̚o̴̰̾͑̎͘n̶̨̧͈̤͖͍͂̌͗͌͂͑̕͝i̸̡̩̼̻̱̒̇̄̌͊̾̈́̈́̈́͗̄n̵̡̡̢̺̰͎̙̳̗͖͍̺͉̬̦̈́̒͐̑̄̀́̉̍̈́̀͂̀̆g̵̢͎̬͕̰̗͉͇͓͓̫͙̹̬̩̈́̌͊͛̅̈́̽̔̓̈͗͠ ̷̞̬̺̝̆u̵̧̙̯̤͉͖͔͙̘̰̤̪͈̫͗̄͆͌͛͜͝͠ş̶̣͔͖̮͉͈͉̙̬̳͖̬̤̄̽̉

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You make a strong case. Maybe people should learn...that.

It's really useful! It's spoken across the world in ... Uh, one country that's not even really it's own country. In fact you'd be better off speaking English there.

I get the desire to preserve it as history, but it's really not up to a private company to do something about that. And I say this as someone who knows private companies should be doing a lot more for people and the world than they are.

Welsh is spoken across the world. There is a significant community of Welsh speakers in Argentina, many of which don't speak any English.

Language is much more than history. It is also deeply connected to culture and identity. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.

I don't think your intentions are bad, but this attitude leads to cultural destruction (when applied in scale). Cultural destruction is serious evil, those that carry it out often use misdirections like it's just not practical.

Good thing it's not on either me nor a company to preserve that culture then!

The Welsh are free to whatever they please to preserve their culture and language. And Duolingo is free to not help if they don't want to.

I swear, Welsh looks like ROT13 encoded English.

English version:

Mr Miles said he would ask the company to consider how the government - which has a self-set target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050 - could support the development of the course, working with the National Welsh Language Learning Centre. Last year's Census figures showed that there were 24,000 fewer Welsh speakers compared to a decade ago and a report earlier this year said there was doubt about reaching the target. Mr Miles added: "Duolingo is a valuable resource that can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities. The language tutor Richard Morse was one of those who worked for several years to put the course content together.

ROT13 version:

Ze Zvyrf fnvq ur jbhyq nfx gur pbzcnal gb pbafvqre ubj gur tbireazrag - juvpu unf n frys-frg gnetrg bs ernpuvat bar zvyyvba Jryfu fcrnxref ol 2050 - pbhyq fhccbeg gur qrirybczrag bs gur pbhefr, jbexvat jvgu gur Angvbany Jryfu Ynathntr Yrneavat Prager. Ynfg lrne'f Prafhf svtherf fubjrq gung gurer jrer 24,000 srjre Jryfu fcrnxref pbzcnerq gb n qrpnqr ntb naq n ercbeg rneyvre guvf lrne fnvq gurer jnf qbhog nobhg ernpuvat gur gnetrg. Ze Zvyrf nqqrq: "Qhbyvatb vf n inyhnoyr erfbhepr gung pna uryc yrnearef ba gurve wbhearl gb orpbzr Jryfu fcrnxref, nybatfvqr bgure ynathntr yrneavat bccbeghavgvrf. Gur ynathntr ghgbe Evpuneq Zbefr jnf bar bs gubfr jub jbexrq sbe frireny lrnef gb chg gur pbhefr pbagrag gbtrgure.

Mr Miles said he would ask the company to consider how the government - which has a self-set target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050 - could support the development of the course, working with the National Center for Learning Welsh. Last year's Census figures showed that there were 24,000 fewer Welsh speakers compared to a decade ago and a report earlier this year said there was doubt about reaching the target. Mr Miles added: "Duolingo is a valuable resource that can help learners on their journey to become Welsh speakers, alongside other language learning opportunities. Language tutor Richard Morse was one of those who worked for several years to put the course content together.

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