Officially, Welsh has equal parity with English under the law. In practice, that's not always the case. Bilingual or even monolingual Welsh signs are, I think, more common in the North. Welsh-language government forms are available, but not always easily accessible--You generally have to ask specifically for them. Fortunately, thanks to Cymdeithas yr Iaith Cymraeg (Welsh Language Society) and a recent upsurge of interest in the language, this is changing- slowly. But it's an ongoing battle. Shops will display little yellow signs "Siaradir Cymraeg Yma" (Welsh spoken here). Re kilometer- no, there isn't a natural k in the Welsh alphabet, but kilo isn't a Welsh word. There are a few other examples of this in words borrowed from other languages, but at the moment I'm brain-dead & can't cite any specifics. Sorry... Hwyl, Lisa Deeds