This question of census statistics seems to me to be *extremely* complicated! So much depends on the questions asked and the interpretation placed on them by the person who fills the form in. As I remember it, the 1991 census asked if the individual was 'able' to a)speak, b)read & c)write the Welsh language, without specifying to what competence. Obviously, different people will assess their competence in diffent ways, and againt different standards. For example, someone with a 'little' Welsh in an area with 90% fluent Welsh speaking population might answer No, No and No, whereas someone wih the same ability in a completely Anglicised area might well answer Yes, Yes and Yes! The problem of many Welsh speakers thinking that their Welsh 'isn't good enough' i.e. they happen to have a different accent, or may use English words, is well known. My completely subjective impression is that there is far less of this attitude about - but it *does* still exist. Extracting the real meaning from the bare statistics is difficult. For example, it is encouraging that Welsh seems to be gaining strength among children. The point however, is about survival of the language over time and this depends on a number of factors. How many of these children will a) retain the language after leaving school b)have a chance to use it in the community even if they do retain it & c)pass it on to their children. The question of transmission to children is important since otherwise the schools will be starting from scratch with every new intake of kids. This will be a problem wherever there is a non-Welsh speaking majority since families will be linguistically mixed and inevitably children will be less likely to speak Welsh at home. Having a chance to use the language is also important. Being *able* to speak Welsh does not mean that you *use* it! This presumably is also true of Welsh speakers living outside of Wales. Mae'n ddrwg gen i fod hyn i gyd yn Saesneg, ond gan fod gweddill y trafodaeth wedi bod yn Saesneg......enghraifft perffaith o beth rydw i newydd ddweud???!!!! Hywel ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hywel Davies hyd@aber.ac.uk -----------------------------------------------------------------------