Welsh presenter Alex Jones has shared an optimistic view of the future of the Welsh language. The 46-year-old presenter of BBC’s The One Show was speaking to WalesOnline from the 2023 Urdd National Eisteddfod in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire - of which she is President of the Day on Monday, May 29.
Alex, who herself is from Ammanford and began her career as a presenter on Welsh language channel S4C, said: “I really think [people’s perception of the Welsh language is changing]. I’ve seen the perception change since I started on The One Show back in 2010.
“Back then, it felt like people didn’t really understand - they thought it was sweet and that it was nice that we had our own language but I didn’t feel it was given the respect it deserves. I feel that has changed.” Radio presenter Huw Stephens recently shared his own thoughts on the state of the Welsh language in the latest episode of our podcast, In the Spotlight - read more about that here.
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In December last year it was reported that the number of Welsh speakers had fallen in the last decade, with fewer children speaking the language. Office for National Statistics figures in 2011 showed that there were 562,000 who could speak Welsh and this number dropped to 538,000 in 2021. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
These numbers haven’t phased Alex, though, who said: “People are a lot more positive about Welsh, people are a lot more interested and people ask a lot more questions and want to know when I started learning.” The presenter, who is married to Charlie Thompson and has three children, described how she saw this first-hand while recently filming a show for S4C.
“Even though they say that the number of Welsh speakers are going down, I went back to Carmarthenshire recently and I was filming a programme about the Welsh language for S4C and as I walked through Ammanford where I grew up, Welsh was the language on the streets so I feel that the language is in a pretty good place.”
Alex then talked about how the Welsh language had been beneficial to her as she had progressed in the industry. “It doubles your chances of being bilingual and if you want to get into the world of broadcasting, which is so competitive, it’s a no brainer.
“If anyone were to ask me who’s lucky enough to live in Wales and has access to learning Welsh, ‘Should I bother?’ Absolutely. It doubles your chances and also, for me, it was such a learning curve going into S4C. I learned my craft there - I learnt how to be a presenter and about production. I made some mistakes early on but when the call came to go to the BBC, I was ready and that was thanks to years and years on a channel I still love.
Alex, who was being interviewed early in the day, said that while no children had come up to her to ask questions about the industry yet, she expected it later on. “I would 100% recommend that people be proud of their heritage and to learn Welsh and speak it and use it because, actually, it only leads to good and only expands your horizons.”
The current Eisteddfod, which is being held between May 29 and June 3, marks the eighth time the event has been held in Carmarthenshire. It was first held there in 1935 and the most recent events include Eisteddfod Sir Gar in 2007 and Eisteddfod Cwm Gwendraeth in 1989.
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