• mushroommunk@lemmy.today
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    8 hours ago

    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to follow your heritage.

    I do have Welsh ancestry it’s helped me dig into, but I mostly did it because of my love for Arthurian legend. Wanted to learn more about it and in the process came across stuff in Welsh and just went down a rabbit hole and never stopped.

    • lokalhorst@feddit.org
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      1 hour ago

      Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely respect following your interests for whatever reason. It’s nice you found something that inspires you! It’s just that as a European it’s kind of a stereotype that US Americans try to find their roots via DNA genealogy tests to find out they are 15% Irish and claim they have a deep connection to Guiness beer. These tests are mostly bullshit, but somehow it’s kind of a trend in the US for whatever reason. Again, I appreciate people being enthusiastic about things, sorry if I came over too harsh.

      • mushroommunk@lemmy.today
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        57 minutes ago

        Yeah, the topic comes up quite often in the Welsh learners server I’m in (obviously full of Irish, Scottish, and Welsh people). It gets pretty heated going both ways, some annoyed by “culture thieves”, others glad people are learning.

        I wouldn’t say the tests are bullshit. Some of the marketing for sure but the science behind them is sound. The problem is most people don’t really take the time to understand it at all and what it really means.

        The reasons behind it being a trend are quite complex, probably beyond the scope of a Lemmy comment lol.