In a message to members at the beginning of Cymdeithas yr Iaith's half centenary year, the Society's Chair Bethan Williams has warned that the Census results - to be released in 2012 - will highlight the crisis facing our Welsh-speaking communities.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith's official half centenary celebrations will begin in February, exactly 50 years since Saunders Lewis gave his radio lecture 'Tynged yr Iaith' (Fate of the Language).

In recent months Cymdeithas have published 'Tynged yr Iaith 2' (Fate of the Language 2) which sets out the next steps of the campaign.

Bethan Williams explained:

"Because of all the work and campaigning of the last half century we can say with certainty that the Welsh language will survive. The question now is what sort of future is facing the language? Will the Welsh language be a minority culture in its own country or the everyday language of our communities and be used in every walk of life? In essence 'A minority culture or the true language of our nation?'"

"The Census results to be released in 2012 will highlight the scale of the crisis facing our Welsh-speaking communities. Over the next year we will be setting out our action plans to try to ensure the future of these communities and to help other communities to fulfil their potential of becoming Welsh-speaking communities."