I appreciate this unexpected honour from the Eisteddfod and am proud of the privilege of being accepted here in Pontypridd where the Rhondda, Cynon and Taf valleys meet
This is the place where our national anthem was composed, an anthem that wishes life and prosperity for the Welsh language, ending with a request - "May old age continue".
This is also the wish of the National Eisteddfod and we should be proud of the fact that it is also the wish of the members of our Parliament. In fact, the Government has set a goal for us to ensure that there will be one million people speaking Welsh by the middle of the century.
Accepting the result of the last Census, this means that we must almost double the number of current speakers. It is a significant task, but every challenge is also an opportunity, and certainly, this is an opportunity to improve the fragile situation of the language.
You will remember that we had to face a similar challenge back in the sixties of the last century in the form of Saunders Lewis' lecture, 'Tynged yr Iaith' and by responding positively to it we saw all kinds of progress in the status of the Welsh language and its official use.
I am of the opinion that we should take the current challenge seriously and ensure that the members of our Senedd and the members of our county councils also take it seriously and fully understand the practical implications.
Other factors are going to be important when trying to restore a language such as ensuring a healthy economy that will provide jobs for our people to enable them to buy houses in their habitat, but fostering a constant stream of new speakers is going to be absolutely essential. Therefore, we must ask if there is demand among the non-Welsh speakers to reclaim the language.
I believe that. While running courses here and in the surrounding valleys, I saw that there is a warm place for the Welsh language in the hearts of the residents.
We saw the support of non-Welsh speaking families for Welsh medium education and their desire to extend and improve the provision in this town. And with new methods of learning languages appearing, we received the surprising news that three million people registered for Duolingo's Welsh course last year. And at this eisteddfod this year, more have competed for the Learner of the Year award than ever before.
Yes, there is plenty of interest, but do we have the ability to create a constant flow of new confident speakers? Educators all over the world are in agreement that the most effective way to learn a second language is by immersing children in it as early as possible.
Since the middle of the last century we have succeeded in doing this in Wales by developing a network of schools of nursery education through to primary and on to secondary and higher education levels. Through the efforts of the teachers, often under difficult circumstances, a sequence of education has been developed which has gained the trust of parents including a high percentage of non-Welsh speaking homes.
We owe a great deal of thanks and debt to our teachers for their constant efforts for the language, including those who succeed under more challenging circumstances in our English-medium schools and who tutor on Welsh for Adults courses.
That is the good news, but we must face the plain fact that there are not enough of these resources available at the moment to realise our government's ambition.
We need many more Welsh medium schools that are accessible, easy to get to without having to transport pupils for many miles at great cost to our councils and which is an obstacle for parents who are unwilling to risk sending young children alone to schools that are a long way from their homes.
This situation must be improved and it must start now. We must also look at those areas throughout Wales that currently have no provision which include some populated towns in this county such as Aberpennar and the northern part of Pontypridd, and try to see if it is possible to correct this obvious weakness.
We know that any increase in provision will call for more qualified teachers and ensuring this will mean careful planning and significant investment in training courses. As someone who found a lot of pleasure and satisfaction in the work, I can encourage our young people to consider a career in the field of education which is going to be key to ensuring a future and prosperity for the Welsh language.
But language acquisition is not just something that happens in class. The class is a preparation to join the society and we are fortunate in Wales that we have a host of organizations that offer activities of all kinds to meet our various interests, as you will see when wandering around the eisteddfod this week .
By promoting events to use Welsh in a practical and enjoyable way in our communities each of us has a part to play in expanding the use of the Welsh language.
Our broadcasters in both languages have a privileged place in promoting the Welsh language because they have access to every household in the country. Winning S4C was a victory that cost many dearly but it gives us the opportunity to present all the wealth of our heritage to Wales and beyond and nurture the diverse talents of our people.
The channel is at its best when it sees the world around us through our eyes, rather than through the borrowed glasses of the people next door, and interprets it from our point of view. And certainly, in my experience, people who are seriously learning the language do not appreciate chunks of English dialogue in the middle of Welsh plays and programmes.
Our English broadcasters also have an important role to play by presenting our country and our people to the world as it is, rather than through the stereotypical images we see so often. We managed to do this very successfully recently with the 'Lost Boys and Fairies' series.
In summary, we have a big job to do but the challenge given to us by our government is also an opportunity and a work program for the next quarter of a century. We have the means and ability to achieve it but we will need much more material and human resources to take the stone to the wall.
The first national eisteddfod I went to was Caerphilly in 1950. I competed on the folk song but I didn't get a stage. According to one person, I got it wrong, but since that was my mother, maybe she was, possibly, a little bit biased.
But it was in Caerphilly that the Welsh rule came into force for the first time and since then, during the first week of August we have had the opportunity to come together to enjoy, learn and socialize through the medium of Welsh and welcome others among us to participating in our culture I hope we have a week to remember here in Pontypridd and receive inspiration to go back to our habitat to realise the dream we have.
But before leaving the town, go and have a look at the beautiful William Edwards bridge. Edwards received a commission to build a bridge across the River Taff.
His first attempt, a three-arch bridge, was swept away by the flow of the river and his next two attempts, single-arch bridges, met the same fate. Three offers to Wales were not enough in his case. But he persevered and learned important lessons from his mistakes.
He realised that too much pressure was pressing on the top of the arch and managed to overcome the problem by creating the three round holes you see at each end of the bridge and eventually succeeded in raising the largest single arch bridge in Europe in his period.
I hope that when we strive to bring the language back we will be able to show the same faith and perseverance, that our leaders will learn from the mistakes of the past and that we will be as resourceful as William Edwards when facing the problems will arise, so that the next generations can feel completely confident about the future of the Welsh language when singing 'O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau'.