English grammar Quote by Richard Llewellyn
““English grammar and composition is difficult even for the English, but worse and worse for a Welsh boy. He speaks, reads, writes, and he thinks in Welsh, at home, in the street, and in Chapel, and when he reads English he will understand it in Welsh, and when he speaks English, he will pronounce the words with pain and using crutches. So stupid are the English, who build schools for the Welsh, and insist, on pain of punishment, that English is to be spoken, and yet, for all their insistence, never give one lesson in the pronouncing and enunciation of the spoken word. And Good God in Heaven, if you cannot read English aloud and in the English of the King, half the beauty is taken from you. O, and what pity, to hear a noble tongue chewed, and besmirched, and belittled…””
About This Quote
Source Novel: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, 1939
The quote laments the difficulty Welsh speakers face learning English, criticizing schools that enforce English without proper pronunciation instruction, and lamenting the loss of linguistic beauty when a language is forced and mispronounced.
In simple terms: Welsh speakers struggle with English pronunciation due to lack of proper teaching.
Key Takeaway
Advocate for better language instruction that respects native tongues.
Themes
language
education
culture
identity
colonialism
Mood
frustrated
hopeful
critical
Type
cultural
educational
political
When to use this quote
- school curricula
- language immersion programs
- community language workshops
- policy reform
Key Concepts
bilingualism
phonetics
cultural erosion
Questions to Reflect On
- How can schools balance English proficiency with preserving native language integrity?
- What role should community elders play in teaching pronunciation?
A Different Perspective
It assumes all English instruction is uniformly poor, ignoring successful bilingual models.
![“I believe it is imperative to see modern English grammar as a rich and diverse linguistic system deposited on our [England's] shores 1,500 years ago, and left with us unweakened, though substantially changed by the social and political events of the intervening period.” quote by Robert Burchfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/620/robert-burchfield-39223_believe_i-believe-it-is-imperative-to-see-modern_818844.jpg)
