As I said earlier in the thread, a number of people have missed out on the booking of previous bwtcamps, because of the rush to book - if you’ve got a slow internet connection, or the Avon lady calls at the wrong time, it’s very easy to miss out on bwtcamp.
So, for all those who’ve missed out on booking before (and told me about it), please check your personal messages.
For those ‘in the scrum’ for the first time, booking will open at 9 tomorrow evening (BST) on a first come first serve basis. More details to follow…!
You will all receive emails today which includes a couple of questions to start us off. Here are my answers:
My name is Iestyn, and I live with my wife Cat and our 4 (is it only 4?) children in Llandysul, Ceredigion. I was brought up in Gilfach Fargod, in the Rhymney Valley.
I want to speak Welsh because it is my first and native language, the language of my Welsh ancestors, and because my kids would find it a bit weird if I started speaking English with them…
I love singing. I’ve always sung to the kids since they were babies, and I was in a choir before the pressures of being a dad ate into that too much and I decided to give it a miss for a while.
One of my favourite things to do is to get up early (before 6 most mornings) and do an hour or more of stuff before anyone else turns up in my life. The world is particularly beautiful first thing in the morning, and when everyone else is asleep you can get so much done!
I’m looking forward to meeting you all - on the forum to start with, and “in the (Welsh speaking) flesh” very very soon!
I’m Colin and I’m originally from Birmingham, although my parents came from Merthyr and Llanrwst, and I now live in the greatest capital city on earth (Caerdydd). I have wanted to speak Welsh since childhood, Mam was a Welsh speaker but decided not to bring me up in it. Sadly she has passed now so I’ll never get to chat with her in her first language, but I kinda hope she would be a bit proud of me.
Aside from learning Welsh, which has become a bit of an obsession lately, I enjoy walking, cycling, running and rugby. I pretty much enjoy most things and am looking forward again to the Bẃtcamp activities. I was on the September 2018 one and absolutely loved it, this though will definitely be my last.
I am Clare and I live in Llanddulas which is a small village on the north Wales coast, a few miles east of Conwy. I grew up in Flintshire and regret not learning to speak Welsh as a child (despite my school’s best efforts) before work took me away. That is my principle reason for wanting to learn to speak Welsh now that I am retired and back in Wales.
I have a small boat (a RIB) that I keep at Conwy marina and this is my favourite hobby. I got into RIBing because I was an avid scuba diver, mainly in the UK but I have sadly not dived for 2 years now due to various reasons. I do miss it. I’m not much of an indoor person. I enjoy walking and outdoor photography but really love a coffee and cake in little cafes!
I am looking forwards to the Bwtcamp so much and the chance to meet everybody
Hi,
My name is Joanne, and I’m from Coventry although I’m in the process of moving to Denbigh.
My parents were from Pontypridd and Pontypool. Welsh was originally my mum’s first language, but she moved to England when she was still youngish and lost her confidence in being able to remember/speak it as an adult. Mum and dad would have both been so happy that I’m learning Welsh now and moving back to the beautiful land.
In my spare time I really enjoy arts and crafts, and spending time with my cats, dog and ferrets. This is my first bwtcamp and I’m really excited, but conscious that I’ll have only just completed the first course so will have the least ability - but of course the most to gain
Helo everyone! I’m Deborah and I help out with running the bwtcamps
I grew up in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and lived many years in Australia, but after a few visits to Wales in my early 20s I always wanted to live here, so I came in 2008 and immediately launched myself into learning Welsh as I couldn’t imagine living here and not speaking the language.
I love singing, though I can’t do it very well, so I recently joined a choir in order to improve.
I’m not really an early riser, though I love it when I wake up early enough in the winter to see Venus shining in through my bedroom window, or to hear the dawn chorus in the spring.
Really looking forward to meeting you all in Tresaith - great place and lots of fun!
I’m Lea and I live in Germany. I started learning with SSiW a little over a year ago - for no other reason than curiosity - and immediately fell in love with the language. I went to my first Bwtcamp in September last year - and I enjoyed every second of it!
Other than learning Welsh I like acting and sports (mainly cycling, badminton and dancing), which together with finishing my degree, working part time and trying to have a social life takes up my entire time. At the moment I can’t even fit a lot of speaking practice on slack into my schedule, but I do listen to the advanced content and radio Cymru.
I love nature and I enjoy being outside since it helps me relax and to escape from everything else for a bit.
I’m Andy. I live in Toowoomba in South East Queensland. I’ve been to Wales a few times, most recently about 5 years ago. I started to learn Welsh because one of my patients, an Aboriginal elder, remarked about the importance of language to the understanding of one’s culture and people. My Dad is Welsh, from Blaengarw but says he doesn’t speak the language. We have had one or two short conversations in which he seems to hold his own, however.
I try not to be much of a doctor outside of working hours, so my interests include walking, playing the flute and flügelhorn and being involved in my Church.
Hello all, I’m Kathryn. I was born and bred to English parents on a farm in north Pembrokeshire (the very Welsh part of the West Wales coast) and still live there to this day. I attended the local Welsh medium school up to the age of 11. Sadly, I went into the English stream at secondary school after that, and lost all but a few basic aspects of my Welsh language skills. I have 4 bilingual children, 3 have grown up and moved away now, but I have one 10 year old son at home. My SSiW experience has been transformational, and now having just turned 50, my Welsh skills are finally back where I was all those years ago - still fairly basic but improving every day. I am very lucky, as I have plenty of opportunity to use my Welsh at work, home and in my Welsh speaking community - so NO excuses!! My favourite things in life are family time, walking, working and improving my Welsh. Looking forward to meeting you all soon.
Hello, I’m Cath and I’m from Bridgend in South Wales and still live in the same area. I did some Welsh in school but not enough to hold a conversation. I started learning again when my children were young as they both went to Welsh school and are bilingual but I never managed to stick with it. I’ve tried learning on and off for years but finally feel like I’m making progress with SSiW.
My grandmother and great grandmother spoke Welsh but my mother didn’t continue it. I now have a grand daughter who will be brought up Welsh speaking so it’s a good time for me to join in!
I love being outdoors and keeping fit by swimming, walking and running. I enjoy crafts and making things and I’m also in a choir which I think is good at keeping my brain active too.
This will be my first bwtcamp and I’m sure I’ll be apprehensive but reading about everyone here has definitely helped and I’m looking forward to it!
Hi my name is Rachael and I live in a small village not far from Bridgend too. I did Welsh at school and night classes but found we were just covering the sameness material all the time and it just seemed slow. I’ve been amazed with SSIW in how much phrases you can build in such a short amount of time.
I am lucky to work with fluent Welsh speakers so I get the chance to practice a little bit but my confidence does need a bit of work with them.
I’m hoping by throwing myself into bwtcamp it will be the step I need to be a bit braver with them.
Looking forward to it now, but I need to crack on with a few more lessons before then.
On Wednesday I saw there was one space left for the June course so I took the opportunity to come along sooner rather than later and paid for it.
I have lived in South Wales most of my life, currently near Bridgend, but very much want to move North so I want to learn Welsh to not feel like a tourist by the time I move there. Other than basic Welsh lessons in english speaking primary school I’ve not had any access to the language where I live or work.
So hopefully I am booked into the June bootcamp and will meet you soon.
Croeso, Mira! Welcome! How far have you got with the SaySomethinginWelsh course?
Also, for everyone - I’m sending out ‘joining instructions’ today by email. If you don;t get it, it may be in your spam box. If it’s not there,. oet me know, and I’ll try to send it in different ways until it comes through. We’ve had a bit of trouble recently with emails being rejected by over enthusiastic spam filters…
