Minority Languages in Britain

Everybody knows that English is offiial language in Britain. However, there are some minority languages there; for example, Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, Scots, and Welsh. Now, I'm going to simply describe what these are.

Gaelic

This language have 2 different languages: Irish Gaelic and Scotish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic is spoken in Ireland, and is known as Irish. Scotish Gaelic is, of course, spoken in Scotland, especially in Highlands. In 18th century, this was banned because England started to popularize English. Due to this campaign, Scotish Gaelic speakers decreased year after year. Although, about 60,000 people still speak this.

Manx

Manx is spoken in the Isle of Man. This had been disappeared for 30 years because the last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, however, some people has revived again and now the speakers are slowly increasing.

Cornish

Cornish is spoken in Cornwall. Many people could speak this in 16th century, however, the then government had the people speak English. Due to this, the number of the people who could speak Cornish decreased. Then, the last speaker, Dolly Pentreath, died in 1777 so Cornish disappeared once. Yet, the government started to preserve this recently.

Scots

This is spoken in Scotland and Ulster in Ireland. This is called "Lowland Scots" to distinguish from Scotland Gaelic. The number of the speaker is about 1.5 million, and it is the largest number in the minor languages in Britain.

Welsh

Welsh is the most promoted and preserved minor language in recent Britain. In 2001, it is said that about 20% of Welsh people can speak this. The reason why Welsh became minor language is the campaign of speaking English. When England qnnexed Wales in 1536, English became official language and the campaign "Welsh Not" had started. To speak Welsh was strictly prohibited, therefore the number of the speakers decreased. However, people who want to conserve Welsh started to speak it again in 20th century. And thanks to the Welsh education systems and the growth of the population, the number of Welsh speaker is increasing.

Promoting Welsh

I could find two ways of promoting Welsh in progress: teaching in school and TV programs. However, I think it is a little bit insufficient. What can be done more to save Welsh? First, all newspapers delivered in Wales sholuld be written in Welsh. And, all signs should be rewritten in this. And the government should declear 'Welsh is the official language in Wales' when most of Welsh people can speak this. I think these are good ways to save and promote Welsh.

Cheltenham Ladies' College

Cheltenham Ladies’ College (CLC) is the one of the most famous school for girls in Britain. There are 865 girls, and they are divided two types of students, day and boarder. In this school, 75% of students go to school as boarders. They study harder to be a good lady. And this is also famous for gaining high score at GCSE and A Level.

Ethos

The principal and staffs in CLC encourage girls to think about beliefs and values. It seems that they want girls to be independent.

Location

CLC is located in the heart of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where is in western England. This town is famous for hot spring so a lot of people come for sightseeing. It takes 3 hours by bus from London.

History

CLC was founded in 1853 and first pupils entered in the next year. Dorothea Beale became the first principle of this school in 1858, and she did many things to be a leading school in Britain. Through her effort, CLC is of the top school in Britain now.

Cost

Boarding students need to pay ￡8,843 per term and ￡5,978 for day girls. Girls at the Sixth Form is higher than students mentioned above, it costs ￡9,961 Boarding, and ￡6,751 day girls per term.

Uniform

Girls in CLC must take pride in their appearances so they wear well-dressed uniforms. In this section, I will introduce what they wear. They often wear green, knee-length pleated skirt, white, open-necked blouse and green v-necked sweater with house badge.

Clubs

Most of girls join and try harder at clubs in their free times. They usually belong to art, magazine, drama, football, etc. Above all, I’m surprised that there is a kickboxing club! Girls do kickboxing! Sorry, I can’t imagine.

Universities in Britain

Britain is famous for its high-level education. There are many colleges which have long history and high educationnal systems. Now, I'm going to introduce some universities in UK.

Ancient University

This kind of university has long history. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the UK. It was founded in 11th century. And this university is famous for the high quality of education, so this has high ranking in the world. This university was ranked the number five in the World University Rankings, done in 2009. On the other hand, the University of Cambridge is famous for its long historical background and high education systems. In the ranking mentioned before, this university is ranked in number two. Also, University of St Andrews (founded in 1411), University of Glasgow (founded in 1451), University of Aberdeen (founded in 1494), and University of Edinburgh (founded in 1582) are categorized into Ancient University.

Class

Britain still exists class system. It's divided into 3 classes roughly: upper, middle, and working. Now, I'm going to describe them below.

1. Upper Class

Generally speaking, people who belong to this class are extremely rich and sophisticated. Royal family is the top of this group. Others are lords who have a lot of properties, such as money, lands, and other much wealth.

2.Middle Class

I guess this is ordinary class. Most of them work as doctors, lawyers, professors, bankers, busenessmen, and so on. Above all, people who can earn a lot of money in these occupation are classified into 'upper-middle' class. On the other hand, people who can't earn much money in this class are recognized 'lower-middle' class. By the way, upper and middle class people support the Conservertive Party.

3. Working Class

this cass is divided into two categories: skilled working and unskilled. Skilled working class people are needed some technical skills and knowledge for their job. They usually work as technologists: for example, plumbers, electricians, etc. Unskilled workers do the job that everyone can do, such as cleaners, deliverers, and so on.

They look dirty and speak rough. And they usually depend on junk food so they tend to die young compared with upper and middle class people.

And there is a class dosen't belong to each class above.

4. Underclass.

People who are belong to this class are umemployed, homeless.

Location & size

Britain is located at the latitude between 50 and 60 degrees north, the longitude about 0 degree west. The size is about 240,000 square kilometers. It's said that this is about two-third the size of Japan. Population is about 60 million. It is about half as large as that of Japan.

Britain is located in higher than Japan, however, it seldom snows compared with Japan.

Vivienne Westwood

Now I’m going to write about Vivienne Westwood. As you know, this is the name of a brand. This is also that is one of the best designers representing Britain. Writing about her and her products is good for you to be interested in British culture, so let me introduce her.

Beginning

She was born in Derbyshire on April 18 1941, and she moved to London with her family 9 years later. She studied fashion and silver work after graduating a grammar school. At that time, she made a lot of clothing. This experience made her become the world-famous fashion designer later.

Career

She met Malcolm McLaren in 1965 and they started their business. They opened their boutique, called ‘LET IT ROCK’. She designed many eccentric clothes. When punk rock movement had started in Britain, Vivienne and Malcolm aimed at this. Vivienne had started making clothes, mixed punk culture. Her clothes were really radical at that time. Leather jacket for motorcycle riders and rock singers and messy T-shirts were particularly made. On the other hand, her husband, Malcolm, managed the famous punk rock band, called Sex Pistols. They were in the most important position of punk movement then. After this movement, they changed the name of their shop ‘Worlds End’, and Vivienne also changed her concept for making clothing. Her clothes were more funny and originated, and those who were fashionable all over the world impressed her clothes. After all, she became famous. Now, her items are loved all over the world.

How is Vivienne in Japan?

Of course, Vivienne Westwood is very popular among young Japanese. But, the products are very expensive, so boys and girls cannot buy them a lot. However, they want Vivienne! Almost all young people who think like that have wallet. Vivienne’s wallets are comparatively cheaper (about 20,000 yen) than other items (for example, clothes are about 70,000 yen on average). Also, they are attracted to Vivienne’s icon, called ‘orb’, I guess. It looks very smart and noble. Accessories are popular in Japan, too. They are really smart and funny designs. By the way, I have been attracted to the orb! I don’t have a wallet, but I have a belt and a muffler! they're cool…Nothing with the article, sorry!

Anyway Vivienne is still popular in the world, if you have some interests, why don’t you visit the website?

Blog Reports

Sorry to be late. Now, I'm going to write down my feedback to friends.
I thought everybody's very interesting! I can't decide who the #1 is. But, Azusa's research is better, I think. I haven't ever known New Zealander speak different English pronunciation. This is really interesting for me! Also, it was easy to understand because of the good structure. I enjoyed!

But, sorry, I haven't been able to decide who is the best.