Welcome Gareth. I am originally from Newcastle as well and wish you well in your learning journey. You will be pleasantly surprised to come across some vowel sounds and even the odd word that will already make sense to you. Go for it.
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Hi mate. Just wondering how you got on? Iāve just finished 12 and not sure whether to go back and repeat past couple. Heck it seems harder than first 10.
I am finding the language fiendishly difficult, but fascinating. Dwi caru gysgu! Especially at youāre slow pace. I want to learn more to gain some respect from the lovely Welsh people (as a saesneg - is that right?) I do need some help though. I spent all day yesterday trying to pronounce thank you (Diolch) correctly. Can I, no I canāt!
Hello. My name is Natalia. I am from Poland but have lived in England since August 2018. I have just signed up here as realised I really would love to learn Welsh. It might be difficult -Iām not a youngster and have no connection to Cymru at all. Iām just in pure love with this beautiful country and absolutely amazing language which sounds like magic. My partner, whoās English, thinks itās not very wise to learn a language Iām not very likely to use. But heās more practical than me. I want to learn because itās a beauty.
I will be very happy to find some friends here. I donāt have many friends in England. To be honest living in UK has been a bit of struggle to me, job wise and friendship wise. I miss my family and friends etc. I also donāt have much time for myself (I wish I had found you in April when was sent on furlough leave and had two months for passions) working in a nursery . Iām btw a primary schoolteacher(early years) but canāt find work as one here. What else about me. Iām vegan. Love animals-have four rescued cats, and help horse sanctuary in my home country. Painting and photography are my passions. Love my garden , listening to the music. My favourite ever and forever band is Marillion.
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Welcome Natalia, youāll certainly find friends here 
and even though you live in England, youāll be surprised how much chance you will have to speak Welsh - lots of places have groups and meetings (once all the covid restrictions are eased), and there are always online conversations you can turn to too, on our Slack groups . Age and no-connection-to-Cymru are no barriers at all, and judging by your hobbies and interests, Iād say youāll fit in here very well!
Have a browse around the forum, and anytime you need to ask something, weāre here for you
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Hi Natalia
I went to Poland 2 years ago. Szczecin, I tried to hard with the language but could never get the pronouncation right. They were lovely people and helped us at every turn. I think your partner is like most English people donāt really see the point of speaking Welsh. But itās a wonderful challenge and Iām not sure if Polish isnāt more difficult? Iām not going to give up on Polish or Welsh until I am 80! I still need some help to pronounce āDiolchā.
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I donāt know if this will be any help to you, I found a book called Cwm Gwrachod by Colin Jones, itās not very long but fun for trying out reading. I
There are differences between North and South, in it but itās fun for learning
Gilly,
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Thank you for such a warm welcome. Good to know it is a friendly place. 
Nat
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Hello Michael.
Nice to know youāve visited Poland. At the seaside i recommend GdaÅsk, one of my favourite cities. And the seaside is beautiful.
On the other side thereās always KrakĆ³w with beautiful Jewish district called Kazimierz and WrocÅaw. Weāve got beautiful mountains like Tatras, Karkonosze, Pieniny etc. Lovely Lakes on North East side of Poland and many beautiful backwoods (Although current government want to destroy them so maybe not in the future.).
As far as I know Polish language is the most difficult in the world, we have got difficult pronouncing, grammar, ortography. Everything in Polish is difficult even for native speakers. 
but you can do it, I know a few foreigners speaking Polish fluently. 
It is also full of rustling and swishing sounds like i believe Welsh.
Thank you for another nice welcome. I already feel like in the right place here.
Nat
Edit : PS.i have forgotten to mention the capital city, my home, Warszawa. It is very modern as was destroyed almost completely during WWII, but itās very lively place, and has many places worth seeing.
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I just kept on keeping on and have just started level 2. Still donāt know if Iām any good as not been able to speak to anybody - Iām in the peak district but canāt find welsh speaker! Hope your making good progress
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Are you anywhere near Belper? Thereās a group that was meeting up there before the lockdown:
Belper, Derbyshire - Tues, 8 Jan, 7.00 ā 9.00 pm, The Hop Inn, Openwoodgate, Belper, DE56 0SD (Contact @jonathan_simcock_7 )
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@johnwilliams_6 has beaten me to it - Jonathan is the man - there are different groups so he is best to advise you. There is a also a walk and talk that he is planning on 22nd Aug which I have received an email about today - āi ddechrau o faes parcio Middleton Top Engine House, ger Cromford/Wirksworth am 11.00 oār gloch y bore.ā
Rich
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Hi @griff
Congrats on reaching Level 2 BTW! 
Iāve got to check if I can go on the 22nd - Iāll have to get up bright and early - to be sure to get down there for 11ā¦might see you there?!
Rich
Hi. I live in rhe Rhondda in South Wales. I learnt Welsh at school and loved the language but found all the grammatical rules boring!! I am proud of being Welsh and want to converse with other Welsh speaking friends I loved the 1 sentence in Welsh. I was amazed how much I enjoyed it. Diolch!
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Hi Nat
Thanks for replying to me. I have had a couple of days off learning. It seems to me youāre not the sort of person that would not be without friends for very long. You are obviously very good with words.
I have a neighbour who was a Welsh school teacher. She was ābowled overā by my effort learn a couple of lines of Welsh as she said she knows none!
Lots of the Polish we met said you must visit GdaÅsk so it will be our number one priority for the another visit to your country. Iād love to go back, we were only staying for two nights, and I stayed for another because we liked it so much. We also stoped at Swinoujscie as is near the ferry and by the seaside where we arrived. We went there early for breakfast. It was very quiet but it gave me the vibrant feeling how exciting a Polish seaside could be!
Still donāt know how to pronounce āDiolchā properly.
All the best
Mike
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Confidence griff! The peak district is no match for your welsh speaking ability. To put it another way youāre on top, the Welsh specking that is, not the district!
Just quickly Clare-29, is thatās pronounced āRhon th aā. Iām not surprised youāre proud of being Welsh. I still donāt pronounce āDiolchā!
First post. Iām an expat welshman living in Surrey (from Wrecsam originally) and as a linguist (degree in German and French and Berlitz Italian) Iāve been ashamed for a long time that I canāt speak the language of both my grandfathers. So I decided to do something about it.
Iāve done the Duolingo Welsh course and have almost finished revising the whole thing again using the extra practice lessons. But Duo doesnāt really teach you to speak Welsh, just to understand some of it, so I was looking for a way to fill that gap and continue learning.
I finished the 5 sentences in Welsh , which I found very interesting, and have been awaiting the next e-mail. Meanwhile Iāve been surfing the forum, trying to find out more about what SSIW offers. But, the more I look, the more confused I get: Structured courses, levels, challenges etc, and Iām sure I saw somewhere that the 6-month course has been withdrawn leaving just the 6 minutes a day, which is a lot less than I was doing on Duo. Also, what does the 10 pound per month cover? Anything and everything? I need info.
So, what do I do/what can I do now? Help!
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Welcome Terry
SSiW basically has 3 Levels which each consist of 25 challenges about 25/30 minutes long. There is a choice of working through these yourself with the standard subscription, or working through them with extra tasks and tutor support in the 6-minute-a-day structured course which will take you through Levels 1 & 2. With that course you get a weekly email with your ātaskā for the week, but the 6-minute-a-day is a guideline - the challenges are the same 25/30minute ones, but you donāt have to do them in one go, just 6 minutes at a time. Having said that, some people want to do more and listen to more of the challenge. Thatās fine - more revision when it comes up in the email! Others find the 6-minute a day pace is too much (especially as the challenges get harder), so ask for to pause the emails until they catch up. Thatās fine too.
The standard subscription gives you access to all the levels whereas the structured subscription (i.e. the 6-minute a day course) gives you access to all levels PLUS tailored tutor support and extra tasks to help speed up your learning.
Itās really very flexible ātime-wiseā (which is why it can seem confusing), but thatās because there is no āone-size-fits-allā and different approaches suit different people, even though the learning material itself is the same.
Hope that helps
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Itās pronounced Diolaclch not as in In loch but as in lochalch. Believe it or not I found a welsh speaking room in Kettering put me right!