I had forgotten the details of the PanCeltic Tours entry, but I've just re-read it now.
Most syllables in the written form of Scottish and Irish Gaelic seem to be surplus to requirements and have, presumably, been added simply to foil non-native speakers. :)
The more or less phonetic way of writing Welsh leads to other pitfalls though. Firstly, unless you're going to impose the same dialect and accent on the whole country, it's not possible to have both a standardised spelling and a phonetic orthography. Secondly, it makes it possible to be able to read a passage perfectly fluently, and yet have not the faintest idea of what you just said!
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Most syllables in the written form of Scottish and Irish Gaelic seem to be surplus to requirements and have, presumably, been added simply to foil non-native speakers. :)
The more or less phonetic way of writing Welsh leads to other pitfalls though. Firstly, unless you're going to impose the same dialect and accent on the whole country, it's not possible to have both a standardised spelling and a phonetic orthography. Secondly, it makes it possible to be able to read a passage perfectly fluently, and yet have not the faintest idea of what you just said!