The Welsh Language Board published a report on its 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey on Tuesday 9 May which shows that a high proportion of Welsh speakers use the language daily.
The Survey showed that 62% of all those who could speak Welsh and 88% of the fluent speakers said that they spoke Welsh daily. However, the Survey showed that, while the percentage of people able to speak Welsh had increased, the percentage and number of fluent speakers has decreased. 57% of Welsh speakers considered themselves fluent. In 1992, the corresponding figure, according to the Welsh Office’s Welsh Social Survey, was 61%.
Meirion Prys Jones, Chief Executive of the Welsh Language Board, said, “The results form the survey are positive on the whole and show that a high proportion of people who can speak Welsh use it on a daily basis. This shows that people are very willing and eager to use their Welsh in all aspects of their life and that’s good to see”.
One of the Survey’s most striking results is the connection between fluency and language use. There is an obvious link also between how many people speak Welsh in an area, fluency and the level of use of the language.
Meirion Prys Jones said, “The Survey shows that we need to concentrate our work on two areas in particular in order to further increase the use of Welsh. We need to build people’s confidence so that they are ready to use Welsh as part of their daily lives and at the same time we need to develop the opportunities that are available for people to do so.”
Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language, said "The survey's results that show the level of Welsh language use on a daily basis are encouraging. Iaith Pawb, the Assembly Government's national action plan for a bilingual Wales, identified the need for more comprehensive, targeted and regular data on the Welsh language. Studies like this one are invaluable in giving us a picture of the position of the language and steering future policy. I'm pleased that the additional money provided by Iaith Pawb has made this study possible.”
A selection of the main results is given below:
- 21.7 per cent (611 thousand) of all those aged 3 and over could speak Welsh. This compares with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 Census.
- 57 per cent (315 thousand) of Welsh speakers considered themselves fluent in Welsh. In 1992, the corresponding figure, according to the Welsh Office’s Welsh Social Survey was 61 per cent (363 thousand). Therefore it is estimated that approximately 12 per cent of those aged 3 and over are able to speak Welsh fluently.
- Of those who said that they could speak Welsh, the percentage who considered themselves fluent increased with age. Of speakers aged 3 to 15, 44 per cent were fluent, compared with 72 per cent of speakers aged over 65.
- Of those who could speak Welsh, 62 per cent spoke Welsh daily. 88 per cent of fluent speakers said that they spoke Welsh daily.
- In order to assess what proportion of common conversations are in Welsh, respondents were asked about the language of the most recent conversation they had had (not including conversations with family members). Welsh was the language of their most recent conversation in the case of 58 per cent of fluent speakers.
The Welsh Language Board commissioned a series of three surveys over 2004-2006 in order to expand on the information available from the 2001 Census. The intention was to obtain information on who uses Welsh, and how, when and how much they use it. These are the first results to be published from the 2004 survey.
The survey, called the Welsh Language Use Survey, was organised in conjunction with the “Living in Wales” Survey commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Welsh Language Use Survey is based on the responses of 2,500 individuals who could speak Welsh.