We don't have to tell you that family relations can be complicated; everyone knows that. Whether from their own experiences or from the stories we share here on Bored Panda, it doesn't matter – the fact is that they do.
They can be complicated for various reasons, from different characters clashing to money problems to even languages... The latter is exactly what complicated the family's journey in today's story. So the question stands – will they be able to recover?
All families are complicated; the only difference is in the reasons behind their complications
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Today's family suffered a rather dramatic situation because of language differences
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The daughter was being raised in an English/Welsh household
Image credits: SnooMacaroons7686
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Since she went to a Welsh school, she started speaking that language more than English, which annoyed her father
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He tried forbidding her from doing so, but that backfired
Image credits: SnooMacaroons7686
After some time, he saw the flaw in his actions and managed to fix his wrongdoings
The OP is English, while his wife is Welsh, which makes their daughter part Welsh too. What bugged this man was that his wife was very adamant about identifying this way and not British, even though, in his mind, they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, he identified her views as “extreme nationalism.”
She named their daughter with a Welsh name, which makes it difficult for the man’s family to pronounce or spell it. The girl is also attending a Welsh school, where she gets to use the language, and she keeps talking in it with her mom, her mom’s family, and school friends. That kind of annoyed the dad, and that’s why he asked her to stop, but the mom put an end to it – why should the girl stop speaking one of her native languages?
Apparently, when the man agreed to raise their daughter bilingually, he expected her to opt for English, because that seemed like the “logical” choice, as it’s all around them. But since she chose Welsh, he couldn't help but feel confused. His wife suggested a solution for this – Welsh lessons, but he didn't really see a point in it.
And that’s where he’s wrong. You see, learning a new language is always a good choice, as it gives so many benefits. It stimulates a person's brain, as while learning a new language, gray matter grows. This matter is responsible for processing information, controlling memory, emotions, and movement. Basically, your brain is just like any other muscle – the more you put it to use, the stronger it gets.
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It also helps to stave off cognitive decline and mental aging. Studies show that multilingual folks tend to show signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia at a later age compared to monolinguals. Besides that, learning languages also improves one’s attention span, opens more career opportunities, boosts creativity, and helps build more meaningful connections.
The latter part is probably the most important for the OP. If his daughter is speaking another language, wouldn’t he like to connect with her by learning it? Plus, the Welsh language itself is an interesting one. And even though it’s not the most popular in the world, it still can be worth learning it for all the previously mentioned benefits, as well as just for the sole fact that it can be a rather thrilling (and a bit confusing) experience too.
Well, after some time, the man seemingly came to his senses and realized that lashing out at his daughter for speaking her native tongue was an unreasonable thing to do. And not only that – he made an effort to fix his ways. Now, he’s learning the language and moving away from this family drama, which netizens thought was a very wholesome resolution.
Netizens thought that the story couldn't have ended in a more wholesome way
