Siaradwyr Cymraeg yn dod ynghyd i ddathlu eu hiaith

ITV News' Wales Reporter Rhys Williams meets Welsh speakers at Urdd National Eisteddfod

Mae’n bosib mai hon ydy’r ŵyl fwyaf nad ydych chi erioed wedi clywed amdani.

Bob mis Mai mae Cymry Cymraeg ifanc o Fôn i Fynwy yn dod at ei gilydd ar faes Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd. Mae'r wythnos yn cynnwys canu cystadleuol, llefaru, celf, cyfansoddi, dawns a llawer mwy. Mae tua 100,000 o ymwelwyr yn mynychu’r ŵyl bob blwyddyn, sydd yn cael ei chynnal eleni yn Llanymddyfri, Sir Gaerfyrddin.

Tra bod y Gymraeg yn ffynnu mewn cymaint o ffyrdd mae yna bryderon o hyd. Yn ôl adroddiad diweddar gan un o bwyllgorau trawsbleidiol y Senedd, mae "perygl difrifol" na fydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn cyrraedd ei tharged i greu miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050. Prinder athrawon yw’r rheswm meddai’r adroddiad, gydag amcangyfrifon bod angen o leiaf 15,000 newydd i gyrraedd y nod.

Fe ddywedodd gweinidog y Gymraeg ac Addysg, Jeremy Miles wrtha i heddiw bod recriwtio athrawon yn broblem ledled y byd. Er mae’n cydnabod bod y Llywodraeth wedi methu eu targedau yn barod, mae’n hyderus bod y targed o filiwn o siaradwyr yn bosib.

Mae yna  bryder hefyd, er gwaethaf ymdrechion y llywodraeth, fod data’r cyfrifiad diweddaraf yn dangos bod nifer y siaradwyr Cymraeg wedi gostwng i’r nifer isaf a gofnodwyd erioed (538,000). Sir Gaerfyrddin, lle mae Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd yn cael ei chynnal eleni, a welodd y dirywiad cyflymaf.

Mae’n glir bod ceisio dyblu’r nifer y siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050 yn parhau yn her enfawr.

It might be the biggest festival you’ve never heard of.

Every May young Welsh speakers from across Wales gather at the Urdd National Eisteddfod.

The 6 day festival consists of competitive singing, recitation, art, composition, dance and instrumental events.

Around 100,000 visitors attend the Urdd Eisteddfod every year making it one of the biggest youth festivals in Europe.

Around 100,000 visitors attend the festival every year, which for 2023 is being held in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. It is one of the biggest youth festivals in all of Europe.

While Welsh remains a thriving language in so many ways, there are concerns over its future.

A recent Senedd report warned the Welsh government plans for a million Welsh speakers by 2050 will fail, unless more than 15,000 new teachers are recruited.

The government's minister responsible for the language, Jeremy Miles, told me today that while the government had missed its targets, recruiting new teachers was a problem the world over.

He remains confident the main ambition of a million speakers is achievable.

There's been concern too, that despite a string of government initiatives, the most recent census data revealed the number of residents across the country able to speak Welsh had dropped to its lowest number ever recorded (538,000).

Carmarthenshire, where this year's Urdd National Eisteddfod is being held, experienced the most rapid decline.

It's clear that doubling the number of speakers throughout Wales by 2050 will be no mean feat.

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