Welsh Journals

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Welshwomen and the Study of Spanish. By Ellen A. C. Lloyd Williams. THERE was a pleasant legend in the days of my youth, which claimed that there lay no spot on the habitable globe where sooner or later a Welshman did not pitch his tent. The tale was told of a Welshman at a huge public gathering in Rome. Speak Welsh," said his companion as they talked together, then we are safe not to be understood." Never be sure," said he, and raising his voice shouted a greeting in his native tongue, to be answered by a roar and a forest of waving hands. It seems that times have changed since those legendary days; or else, for Welshmen at least, Spain still lies undiscovered behind the Pyrenees. Speaking from personal experience, in more than five years' residence in this country I have met three compatriots only, and those three birds of passage who very soon took wing. St. David, indeed, has received due homage of leek and daffodil, but the votaries at this year's feast were a truly international gathering, she who sub- scribes being the one humble representative of the Saint's native land. In Madrid, at least, the smallness of the British community makes it almost safe to say that Wales is practically unrepresented. Appa- rently the study of Spanish, so strongly advo- cated for some years past in the United Kingdom generally, has roused no interest at all in our own country. It is not the aim of this article to expatiate on the long line of Spanish masters of literature, whose study might justly claim a place in our University curriculum, and of whom perhaps Cervantes, Benavente, and that champion of best- sellers Blasco Ibafiez alone are familiar to the vast majority of British readers. To other more learned pens, also, may be left certain curiosities of language or of temperament, which hint at sympathy and kinship between the Spanish people and our own. Where Spanish makes most prac- tical appeal in these days is in the commercial world; and this aspect of its study is worth a good deal of serious attention. Since the accession of the Directorate to power, there has undoubtedly been a greater influx of foreign enterprise into this country. Confidence has been subject to the natural fluctuation attendant on an autocratic government, but on the whole there has been a greater sense of stability; and certainly a larger number of foreign-owned firms, many of them American, is established in Spain to-day than was the case five or even three years ago. These firms are in several cases rapidly extending their operations, and the demand for British shorthand-typists and secretaries, with an adequate knowledge of Spanish, is increasing in proportion. The demand is intermittent, but has recently exceeded the local supply, and considerable difficulty has been experienced in obtaining suitable candidates. To my knowledge, four vacancies lately occurred simultaneously in a large and growing Company, and were only filled after considerable delay, with practically no choice of qualified applicants. The point of the difficulty is that the majority of these foreign firms are staffed by monoglot technical experts, requiring the assistance of a trained British secretary who is also an adequate Spanish scholar and correspondent. Capable British shorthand-typists could, of course, be recruited in myriads from any large city in the United Kingdom, but they usually speak no language but their own. Spanish shorthand- typists with a knowledge of English can be, and are, employed; but, apart from the fact that English has come into vogue in Spain only within the last two or three years, it must be allowed that the Spanish standard of feminine education is generally much below our own. Moreover, until very recently (the prejudice indeed still exists in many quarters), well-bred Spanish families con- sidered it unsuitable for their daughters even to walk out unattended, and degrading for them to take any form of employment, no matter what the state of the household exchequer. The normal rate of payment, also (150 pesetas, or about £ 5 per month), is not such as to entice many well- educated Spanish girls into business. The scale for foreigners differs considerably: an English shorthand-tvpist can demand anything from Pts. 500-600 per month upwards, according to capacity. Opportunities are peculiarly open to women, since in several offices a restriction is imposed on the percentage of foreign male em- ployees; and, moreover, there is a larger pro- portion of Spanish men who speak English, than of Spanish women. This is the present situation; and it seems a pity that Welshwomen, with their reputed facility for languages, should not take advantage of it. The very large interests concerned in Spain make prospects reasonably permanent. Further, certain of the foreign-owned firms have allied and asso- ciated houses throughout the world, and conse- quently present wide possibilities. Experience in Spain would be invaluable, not only in the Latin- American countries, where considerable salaries are to be obtained, but also in London, where, I was assured some time ago by the appointments officer of a very large Company, Spanish-English shorthand-typists and secretaries are at a premium in offices dealing with Spain or South America. The subject, at any rate, deserves considera- tion; and it would be interesting to know what is being done in this direction by Welsh educa- tional bodies, and how far this outlet would provide a useful relief for clerical unemployment in our own country.