Stay connected
Language and heritage
First languages are important. We feel very connected to them. Dementia can make it harder to operate in another language. We need to consider how to stay connected to our first language and the heritage which reminds us of our identity.
On this page you will:
- hear a discussion of how Welsh language and heritage can help people to live with dementia
- hear two perspectives on dementia in South Asian languages
- hear from museum officer Elen about writing a Welsh language book on dementia care
We speak in the same Mother Language so that we can express our feelings and opinion more easily.
A member of Chinese Wellbeing Liverpool's Dementia Network talking about speaking in Cantonese
Welsh language and heritage
We collaborated with Dr Catrin Hedd Jones from Bangor University and National Museums Wales to film at the National Slate Museum, Llanberis.
These two videos are in Welsh. The video has English and Welsh subtitles. To change the language of the subtitles, click the 'Settings' button. It looks like this:
In this first video, Glenda (who lives with dementia), Catrin and Elen (who works at the museum) are in the caban. They discuss:
- the importance of mining to Llanberis areas nearby
- Glenda's memories of her own mining family
- passing on history to Bangor University students
- how museum spaces and collections can help prompt memories
Click on the image below to watch the video. It is 9 minutes long.
In the second video, Glenda is in cottage at the museum which is decorated as it would have been in 1969. Among the things she discusses are:
- similarities between this house and ones she lived in as a girl and young woman
- the importance of children seeing how people used to live
- remembering watching Neil Armstrong landing on the moon!
Click on the image below to watch the video. It is 4 1/2 minutes long.
South Asian languages
People living with dementia from a South Asian background may find it easier to speak in their first language. According to Census 2021, Panjabi and Urdu are the third and fourth most commonly spoken languages after English in the UK.
With the help of Abdul Shakoor, Dementia Link Worker, Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind, we are delighted to bring you two perspectives on dementia in these languages. You can download English translations.
The first is a conversation in Panjabi with a British Pakistani woman living with dementia in Oldham. Click on the audio player below to listen. This clip is 6 minutes long.
Click below to download a PDF of the English translation of the conversation.
Below is a video of a conversation in Urdu with a British Pakistani man living with dementia in Oldham. He served in the British Army during World War II.
Click on the image below to watch the video. It is 6 minutes long.
A Welsh-language memory book
There are many resources out there to help document somebody's life, but Elen created something new: one in Welsh. In this video, she explains
- why she created the book
- which memories might be specific to Welsh culture and which are shared
- how readers have responded to the book
In this video Elen begins her story in Welsh, and then tells it in English afterwards. Start the video at 11:35 if you want the English. You can watch it with subtitles which change from Welsh to English, or which are English throughout.
Click on the image below to watch the video. It is 17 minutes long.
Sometimes I will say "Guten Morgen, Mutti" to trigger her back to her youth (she is Austrian), but this doesn’t always work.
A carer speaking to our researchers
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Language and heritage
You can print a paper version of this resource by clicking the button below.
