I consider my abilities in German to be pretty good, having studied the language at school and now lived in Berlin for three years, but I get quite apprehensive when making major purchases (including airline tickets) on German-language websites and always choose the English version if one is available in case I miss or misunderstand the details, conditions or small print.

In the case described by the OP, I can easily imagine the nervousness a Welsh-speaker might feel when faced with an English-language website, even if their level of conversational English is very good.

He is going to New York.

His plan is train from Holyhead to Euston, then taxi to T5.

He is going to book disability assistance both for the train and on arrival at T5 as he is somewhat unsteady on his legs. So they should get him through security etc and to the aircraft and off it again at Newark.

His cousin is picking him up at Newark (the thought of two septuagenarians trying to find each other at EWR is not something I have delved too deeply into).

Then basically the same on the way back.

I think he will be okay with the assistance booked. He has flown before but not for a number of years.

It makes you think how people with foreign tongues manage when flying with BA, but many seem to do it and get by okay.

I thought the only distinction was the colour? :D I had three collies, one black and white border collie, one toffee and white welsh collie and one blue merle. Never tried calling them in anything other than English though.

Best trip is to go and visit Hiddy, take a flight to Puerto Madryn and go inland a bit. You can then talk to Llewellyn ap Fernandes and Jose Edwards to your heart's content. That's the closest Wales had to being a colonial power!

Well, why not? By that I mean I'm sure he will have a whale of a time (haha) so maybe this forum can help?

For example, why not create a BAEC account for him, with you as the Nominated Third Party? Then you can liaise with the new Disability Assistance team recently set up in Newcastle, to make it all work smooth. Then these erudite and intelligent forumites here can help with advice and support.

Great idea CWS - Many thanks.

Can I be his nominated third party re booking his assistance etc, or will the travel agent have to do it? I thought (probably wrongly) that with travel agency bookings only the travel agent can do things right up until the last moment?

Ideally, I would like to book it online for him whilst he is on the phone to me, but my own Welsh is somewhat 'rusty' and his partial deafness doesn't help matters. I would simply hate to get something wrong that is important to him due to mistranslation or mishearing something.

Can I at least create a BAEC account for him and he then give the number to the travel agency?

I have only ever made my own bookings online using DDS, which sadly as he is a retired MOD Civilian he is not entitled to use.

Thanks

Barney.

Is he too young for National Service? He just needs a Service Number. (Though I recall Welsh mother tongue lads were on a long list of men unable to do National Service).

But yes, if you are a Third Party Nominee you can totally manage the account for him, make bookings, liaise with Contact Centre, liaise with the Disability team. So ideally you would take your tablet off to Holyhead, work it out between the two of you, and once you've got the main facts lined up you can handle the details on your own, and pop him a postcard from time to time.

Many thanks for that CWS.

He was just too young for National Service, plus he was a farmer when he was younger, so likely would have been exempt anyway, regardless of his mother tongue. He later joined the MOD initially as a civilian batman at Valley back in the late 1970's. It was whilst doing this that he learnt most of his limited English.

Yes, I think a trip over to see him is long overdue and I will take the iPad with me.

Thanks again.

Barney.

Years back my wife did an immersive Welsh language course (Wlpan) at Lampeter University. There were some Patagonian Welsh people on the course too, and the only language they had in common with the other participants was Welsh.

All Welsh speakers will also speak English. Maybe not as perfectly but for all intents and purposes fluently.

Who are you to tell others how competently or confidently they speak English?

What does this rubbish even mean?

Wrong. Be more ignorant.

I have first hand experience of at least one person who wasn't. A few years ago I was interviewed by the BBC for the S4C programme Clwb Rygbi, and alongside me they also interviewed a prop from the Llŷn, same age as me. He could certainly speak English but not fluently, and he said to the producer he wouldn't dare do a TV interview in English, but was happy to do so in his native tongue.

An interesting post, but a number of points arise:

1. Is this a disclosure of yet another string to the CWS bow? Slaughterman, farmer, constant traveller and Welsh speaker too? What do you do in your spare time?;
2. Drawing conclusions on the back of a sample size of 1 prop may not be reliable: Research based on such a sample would probably conclude that humans are spherical killing machines with strength that belies their shape, but some of the props I know are barely fluent in their mother tongue, let alone any other...;
3. These days, people from around the world increasingly devote time and effort to learning English as a second language, no matter how difficult it may be for them. Is it particularly unreasonable to expect the residents of North Wales to do the same, at least to the point where they can book their holiday travel unaided?

I shall now duck in expectation of accusations of intolerance, sundry isms, etc. Hopefully a smiley face can protect me?:)