The parkrun is held a little further along the coast, between Pwll & Porth Tywyn (Burry Port), but I walk or run daily through Sandy Water Park where the steelworks were. I first visited Llanelli in 1987, so the works had closed down years before,but that whole stretch of coastline was still a wasteland of post-industrial dereliction. I remember standing in the pebbles and mud of Llanelli ‘beach’ looking across towards Burry Port power station. The transformation since then has been amazing, and I find it fascinating watching the constant tension between natural coastal processes, and the civil engineering works that have sought to tame them with varying degrees of success.
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I don’t think I can make any big claims on my part anymore for making routine enquiries with Estate Agents in Welsh - I am fortunate in that such things have now become pretty routine for me.
But today I had a surreal and gratifying experience when I received a call from a Welsh speaking Estate Agent about a house I am trying to buy (whilst in a clothes shop with my daughter - I always seem to get these calls when out in public). This time, I needed to conduct price negotiations and I am delighted to be able to report that I conducted the whole dialogue essentially in Welsh (with the odd borrowed term being used in context).
Whilst negotiations are still ongoing (I will keep details confidential of course for obvious diplomatic reasons) I can confirm that I talked about both price matters themselves and underlying background reasons for my position without departing, except for the odd incidental word and phrase, from Siarad Cymraeg. If and when I get to exchanging contracts on this (or a different) house, I will be happy to report the same in due course.
I think I have to throw modesty out of the window and openly acknowledge that I am a Welsh Speaker these days, if I can conduct house purchase negotiations in Welsh whilst out shopping (currently in England), with my mental focus most definitely on the delicacies of the negotiation process itself rather than on language issues.
A few months back, it was hard enough to arrange viewings on the phone in Welsh with local, fluent, speakers. I guess this is another case history that proves that exposure to real language usage really does pay dividends, both in general and in any specialist context (like dealing with Estate Agents).
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Ia wir… 
Wow, there are lots of impressive breakthroughs in this forum. They are quite inspirational. Dw i’n siarad Cymraeg yn ofnadwy achos introvert ydw i. I always feel like a stunned rabbit in headlights pan dwi’n trio siarad. Yn anfoddus dwi’n bwy ger Cheshire Oaks ar y Wirral Chester boarder felly dw i ddim yn gwybod bobl i ymarfer any Cymraeg. The only break throughs I get is when I watch S4C and I realise I have understood something without subtitles and it was nice recently when i manage to write an email completely in Welsh. I just wish i didn’t get so tongue tied when trying to speak as my brain knows so much more than my mouth is willing to let out
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I volunteered to be a running steward in the Ras yr Iaith which started in Wrexham this morning (4th July). The email I received from Menter Iaith was totally in Welsh, the briefing was totally in Welsh, the conversations I had with people this morning were all in Welsh and I even did a short interview for TV in Welsh! Gwych!
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This is me, exactly, so you are not alone. I well understand the stunned rabbit in headlights feeling and it makes me crazy. I’m an introvert too, and not the best at making conversation in English, so it just makes it harder in Welsh. Let’s just keep trying and doing the best we can
And yes, this is a really inspirational thread! Thanks to all of you that post your breakthroughs, because I enjoy reading each and every one. 
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Thanks I-jay.
By the way I’m not so far from Cheshire Oaks/ Wirral so if you want to meet up at some point to chat in Welsh let me know - I’m often out cycling in Cheshire so Iam happy to ride out.
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I’ve started dreaming in Welsh and even woke my husband up rabbiting on this morning. He says it’s an improvement on my snoring and can take a hint when he hears ‘Hoffwn i goffi’. Ah, the sheer magic of the language—it never worked in English.
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Im working in Ceredigion today so talking Welsh. So far the only replies Ive had have been knowing nods and grunts. Thats how it goes on site. Its a sort of acknowledgement of the fellowship of the road 
Im not too sure which language the grunts were in though .
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We had a weekend staying in (even further) West Wales, and in Llangrannog yesterday I conducted my first shop and cafe transactions wholly in Cymraeg.
Admittedly, in the shop I did no more than hand over the paracetamol I was buying with a cheery, “Pnawn da”, but the shop assistant gave the price in Welsh and I handed over the cash and took the change with a triumphant ‘Diolch yn fawr’.
Buoyed by this success, I went across to the cafe and successfully ordered four Americanos, three with milk, to take out. I had a moment of panic when I thought she was asking if I wanted them to take out when I’d already told her that (I thought) but then realised I was mentally confusing ‘arall’ and ‘allan’ and that she was actually asking if I wanted anything else.
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Isn’t it great going into a shop and getting what you hoped you asked for?
Come to think of it, the first time I ever said something in Welsh was back in the 1970s, on holiday somewhere in North Wales. I had no thought at the time of learning Welsh, and I had married into a family who thought that Welsh was spoken merely to annoy them. I had learned a handful of words from my mother when I was small. Anyway, I bought something in a shop. The transaction was in English, but as I turned to go the shopkeeper said “Diolch yn fawr”. Was there just a hint of challenge in her voice? Anyway, I turned, gave her my widest grin, and said “Diolch yn fawr” back to her without pausing for thought. I caught sight of her startled face as I made a hasty exit. Was she surprised that I knew even that much, or merely horrified at my accent? I shall never know.
Sue
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I managed to understand most of a section on Radio Cymru this morning: the bit about kids and teachers talking about learning welsh and trying to raise (codi) the level of speaking and understanding. What I was really pleased about was that I managed to infer that “gobaithio” means something similar to hope/hoping without actually knowing the word beforehand; working out from context only 
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That’s a huge success, not a small one…
Well done!
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Last week I was working on our charity’s website, and I went to look at one of the few pages in Welsh, and I could understand quite a lot, but what really excited me is that I spotted and corrected a typo!
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That’s the sound of someone turning into a native speaker’s worst nightmare…
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Thanks Aran! More and more is making sense on the radio. Still a long way to go, but listening to a couple hours a day really helps a lot.
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It was very obvious (weedi instead of wedi), don’t worry I won’t be turning into the grammar police any time soon!
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