SIR,—The letter which appears over the name of R. S.
Lang in your issue' of February 26th contains one impbrtant piece of misrepresenta- tion, perhaps my choice of words is too polite, for in the second paragraph of the letter, which he has taken the trouble to circulate in Pembrokeshire, he states that the Central Advisory Council (Wales) recommends that the children of Welsh-speaking parents " shall NOT be taught English . . . unless they have linguistic ability." He has intro- duced capitals to emphasise the half-truth, a technique not unknown to modern propa- gandists.
In the previous paragraph he has a quotation which he must surely have failed to understand, despite the many years during which he has taught and been taught the English language. It reads: " There is little value in learning a language in order to have acquired it and indeed in such conditions there is little likelihood that the child will ever learn it." I agree, wholly and with enthu- siasm, but Mr. Lang, who has been teaching Latin and Greek for many years and upholds the teaching of French, German and Russian in his school and is opposed to the teaching of Welsh, can surely not place his hand on his heart and say that of all the hundreds of boys who have suffered under these disciplines, more than 5 per cent, or,perhaps at most 10 per cent., enjoyed what they were doing, appreciated it or found any conceivable use for it in after life. He was reminded, not so long ago that it was reasonable to D. HUGHES LENVIS Henc/re It New Road, Haverfordwest
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