I joined the Welsh Speaking Practice group in March 2018. During the first heady week, I talked to 12 people in 6 countries, and I was hooked.
It’s been a blast. I’ve chatted to a novelist, a rock star, a magician, a stonemason, a midwife and a sheep farmer, to name just a few. I’ve been serenaded on the flugelhorn, the mandolin and the harp, and an opera singer reduced me to tears with her Welsh singing. People have shown me their (or other people’s, which was cheating) home-made things - a greenwood chair, voodoo dolls, plums in red wine, and even a bike.
I’ve chatted to people in their living rooms, kitchens, offices, garages, garden, swimming pool and a wooden box. And sometimes in the early hours, I’ve switched off my camera and had a chat from the comfort of my bed. I’ve said hello to curious partners and kids, and been interrupted by boisterous dogs and hungry cats.
100 different people in 23 different countries (by my eccentric definition) have chatted to me in Welsh. It’s been a particular thrill to chat with absolute beginners, stumbling over, ‘X dw i. Dw i’n byw yn Y’, and, a few short months later, have to ask them to slow down a bit because their Welsh is now better than mine.
Many of these 100 are people I’ve spoken to only once; I hope you’re still enjoying learning Welsh, and it would be great to catch up with you at some point. Others have become regular conversation partners and friends, and a few of us have had the chance to meet up in Wales.
SSiW, and its open chat group, WSP, remains the kindest and most encouraging place on the internet. If you haven’t yet had a Welsh conversation with another human being, you can’t do better than joining the group and asking who’s available to chat. A reminder that to join, you simply send an e-mail to: admin@saysomethingin.com with WSP in the heading.
There are more than 700 people in the group now, so my weekly Chatathon is no longer necessary. But I’ll be popping in regularly to see who’s around, and hope to talk to old and new friends very soon.
P.S. For those who prefer group hangouts to one-to-one chats, there’s Siaron’s Show and Tell on Mondays, Film Club on Tuesdays, and Singing Session on Thursdays… or you can open your own hangout and invite people in!
Oh, and your post card mailed days ago…