Stephen Rule Advocates Embracing Colloquial Welsh to Boost Speakers
Stephen Rule, known as the Doctor Cymraeg, has amassed tens of thousands of followers on social media by promoting the Welsh language.
An experienced secondary school teacher with a significant online presence, he emphasizes the need to place less focus on strict grammar and mutation rules and instead accept colloquial Welsh (bratiaith) to encourage more people to speak the language.
Rule states that the primary goal should be to increase the number of people communicating daily in Welsh.
He draws a parallel with English in England, where nearly everyone can speak the language, but the standard varies widely.
The secondary school teacher suggests that it is more feasible today to get more people speaking Welsh due to increasingly positive attitudes toward the language.
'Getting Everyone to Speak Welsh'
Stephen Rule is widely recognized as the Doctor Cymraeg on social media, where he has over 100,000 followers.
He posts videos aimed at making language learning enjoyable and providing encouragement and confidence to new speakers.
For 15 years, he has worked as a Welsh teacher at Ysgol Maelor, Llannerch Banna, located on the border between Wales and England near Wrexham.
Raised in a non-Welsh-speaking household in the area, he learned Welsh at school.
In an interview on BBC Radio Cymru's Beti a'i Phobol, he stated that the priority should be to raise the percentage of Welsh speakers from the current figure of about 20% of the population closer to 100%.
He was honored at the 2025 National Eisteddfod in Wrexham.
Rule believes the best way to achieve this is to adjust how Welsh is taught and to change attitudes toward language standards and correctness.
"What I'd like to do is, if we stop putting so much emphasis on grammar at the start - not ignoring mutations, just presenting them as something natural instead of making lessons about them," he said.
"I see a situation eventually where we can have everyone speaking the language - let's call it colloquial Welsh - but speaking a language good enough for everyday conversation on the street.
"If we can get that for everyone in Wales - 100% - then people who want to go on to respect the finer grammar and use the language fluently won't come from nowhere, where they're learning the language from scratch."
'Lowering Expectations'
He explained that this approach would lead to many more people speaking Welsh, with a proportion progressing to higher standards.
He added that while grammar, standard Welsh, and Welsh literature are important, the emphasis needs to shift to gaining more speakers first before raising standards.
"Sometimes there's room to lower expectations and relax them a bit, and accept something more like colloquial Welsh sometimes, in order to give people a foundation to have the ability to speak the language and the ability to improve in the future," he said.
"At the moment, we don't have fluent people."
Five Minutes with... the Doctor Cymraeg
Seren The Traitors to receive lessons to rejoin in Welsh
"You can be quite vulnerable speaking Welsh"
As a secondary school teacher on the border, Rule encounters many young people who do not speak Welsh.
He noted increased interest in the language nowadays, with pupils more willing to learn and having a positive attitude toward Welsh.
When he began teaching 15 years ago, Welsh A-Level was not offered, but now between eight and ten students take the exam annually.
"I was down in a school in mid-Wales today - right on the border in a fantastic school - and I didn't hear people groaning when going to classes saying 'why do I have to do this?' - and some of those children were from England as well," he said.
"I really think there's some change.
"They don't just accept the fact they have to do it - there's enjoyment there too.
"I think there's a national change in attitude."
You can listen to Stephen Rule, the Doctor Cymraeg, on Beti a'i Phobol at 18:00 on 1 March and on .
Follow Cymru Fyw on Facebook, X, Instagram, or TikTok.
Send any story ideas to cymrufyw@bbc.co.uk or contact via WhatsApp on 07709850033.
for the latest from Wales on your mobile device.
