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Welcome to Rhapsody in Lingo! My name is Israel, I’m a composer from Hong Kong, having lived in Britain for 7 years.

And welcome to my first video completely in Welsh! Why? Well, look where we are! National Eisteddfod 2025 in Wrexham!

This is the first time I’ve taken part in this Welsh cultural festival. Don’t worry! There will be another video
about my experience. Subscribe now!

Anyway, I’ve just received my Advanced Welsh certificate just in the tent over there… With Distinction! And this is also the place where I want to make a big announcement. I’m going to…

Oh, you’ve seen the title already. Well, yeah. I’m going to take the citizenship test in Welsh, aka Life in the United Kingdom, the test that is required to become a British citizen. More on that later.

There is one other person who’s done this before. You might have heard of Dr Rodolfo Piskorski
in Cardiff. But… This is not a race. No rush. I don’t have to become the second person to do the test… Perhaps the first from Asia… Or the first who isn’t white… It’s significant, okay??

But… What is the test testing? Perhaps knowledge that is essential to living in the UK? Surely it only includes things that you Brits already know… Right? We’ll find out! Through asking people here at the Eisteddfod. Come with me! After pressing like!

1. Which country is Swansea located in? In Wales.
2. When is Christmas Eve? The 24th of December.
3. Which saint’s flag contains a diagonal red cross on a white ground? England’s one? That would be Saint George?
4. What is the name of the centrepiece to the Remembrance Day service located in Whitehall, London? The name of the thing? Does it have a name? It does. The Cenotaph?
5. True or False: Pool and darts are traditional pub games in Britain. True, surely?
6. When did the UK leave the European Union? In… 20… 201… Or in 2021, we did… The 31st of January 202… Oh, no. I don’t remember.
7. How many members are in the Scottish Parliament? OK, so there are 60 in the Welsh Senedd. There are more in Scotland. I think there are a lot more. They need more!
8. If you are with someone over 18 years old, how old do you have to be to drink alcohol with a meal?16.
9. When was Britain separated from the continent by the English Channel? No idea. No idea at all. I’m not sure.
10. Who is the spiritual leader of the Church of England? The King? Are you sure? Innit? God! Gotta be!
11. Who invented the World Wide Web? No idea at all.
12. When did the Wars of the Roses start? Oh, I should know this. This is the one in… 106… No. The one between Lancashire and Yorkshire? Yeah. No idea. No idea at all, sorry. I should know. Me too.
13. True or False: The Commonwealth has no power over its members, and it cannot suspend their membership. It depends. I’m going to say false.
14. What is a coalition? A coalition government is when more than one party join together in the government. Like for example the Lib Dems and the Tories 2010–2015. If you know, you know.
    

Were you able to answer these questions? Let me know in the comments!

See? There’s clearly so much to study! Not even the people here know the answers. But why? Why do you need to know these things to become a citizen?

Well, guess what? Originally, in 2005, the test used to focus on practical things in everyday life, as well as things like human rights and social benefits. But in 2012, it was the Home Secretary, Theresa May, who changed the test, to reduce the practical and useful parts and replace them with how great and glorious our country is, which heroes won awards and battles over the years. So today, we have to study hard.

But why? Why do I want to take this test in Welsh? I’m not Welsh. I haven’t lived in Wales. I don’t have family or work in Wales. (yet) Just friends. But I have a special connection with the language. I was born in… Nah… I’m not using the same joke again.

First of all, Wales is the land of song, and I’m a composer. There is a respect and enthusiasm towards beautiful music in this country. And I want to be part of that, someday. When I got the opportunity to compose for a Welsh group in a performance in Cardiff, I decided to portray harbours of Hong Kong and Wales in the piece. And give it a Welsh name.

Secondly, for a very long time, I’ve seen similarities between the histories of Welsh and Cantonese. They’re following the same historical trajectory but at different stages. Welsh is recovering from historical challenges that Cantonese is facing right now. After moving to Britain, it’s harder to fight for my own language, but I can join a different battle in the same war; support the people who are in a similar situation, in my new home.

But the most important reason is because we have the right. The government makes us jump through hoops to patronise us, and this is an opportunity for us to patronise them back. Welsh people have fought for and won rights that many languages in the world also deserve. So I have to take advantage of them. To fight against the way of thinking that assumes facts about languages, that takes for granted that one language is more important than others, or better. To prove the right, to test it, to strengthen it by using it, and remind the world that it exists, that the languages of the islands have to be respected.

Well… There aren’t a lot of Welsh speakers who can use this right. So… It’ll have to be me!

Also, because I can!

But we have problems.

So, what do you need to do to sit the test in Welsh? Well, a bit of logistics to start.

I need to apply for a special test in Welsh. Usually, they never make a version in Welsh, of course. When Rodolfo did it, he had to phone them to convince them to offer the test in Welsh. But, very fortunately, today, there is an option on the website to ask for special arrangements. I just click and send a request.

Perhaps I’ll need to convince them anyway. I have no idea.

In the video where I talked about the language requirements for citizenship, I mentioned applying for a test in Welsh. But basically, I sent a request to the office, accidentally, and I haven’t answered their message since. Because I wasn’t planning to sit the test yet. But recently, I replied to ask what is required to sit the test, how much time is needed for them to prepare a test in Welsh, where I need to go to take it, etc etc. Hopefully they’ll reply soon.

The second problem is that I live in England. The law guarantees that I get to sit the test in Welsh in Wales, but not necessarily beyond. It makes sense. After all, I sat my Welsh exam in Wrexham. But unfortunately, there isn’t a centre to sit this test in here North Wales. I don’t mind going to Cardiff for the test, but I thought, What if I lived in North Wales and only spoke Welsh? Would I have the right to sit the test somewhere closer? So, I will ask for a test for example, in Liverpool. We’ll see how they respond.

The third? I need to study. Usually, candidates prepare simply through looking through the questions and past papers and remembering the answers. But my situation is different. I’m sitting the test in a language that isn’t my strongest. So, I’ll do the same thing as language learning: I analyse what I need to do.

In this case, I’ll need to study a lot of technical vocabulary related to history, government, etc. Very luckily, Rodolfo, the hero who’s done this before, has published his flashcards of vocabulary that is in this book. And I have downloaded them and converted them into an Anki deck.

And afterwards, I’ll have to learn the facts. I presume that I’ll have remembered some things while studying the words and perhaps googling their meanings.

So, starting this autumn, I’ll be streaming myself learning the words and facts that are required for the test. We’ll be able to take a look inside the content, discuss what is true (or not) or just chat with each other and support each other on this journey.

Well, there we go! The plans are in motion.

If you’d like to support me, come to the streams and learn with me! If you’d like to support me financially, you can give Super Chats on the streams or become a member of the channel or on Patreon.

Thank you for watching and for supporting me on this unique journey. My life has changed so much since the start of this year, thanks to Cymraeg.

And… I hope you enjoy this year’s Eisteddfod! I’ll see you in the next video or on the streams!

I’m sure I’ve seen a podcast by you! Which podcast?