A group for Welsh learners and speakers in Hampshire/ Dorset, centred roughly on Winchester.
We’ll be meeting for informal chats, a chance to practice our Welsh and, most likely, some form of refreshments.
The plan is is to rotate our meeting locations so everyone has a chance to attend (and to show off their knowledge of the local cafés and bars). Given the Impossibility of finding a group of people with the same spare hour every week, we’ll also be flexible with times and days.
Details of meetings will be posted below. Speakers of all levels are welcome, with focus on giving new learners and speakers the confidence to practice their Welsh in a friendly and informal environment.
Who called this topic “Welsh in Wessex” and not “Cymraeg yng Nghaerwynt”?
I’m fond of Welsh exonyms for places in England, especially when they go all the way back to the Romano-British names. Caerwynt comes from Venta (Belgarum) just like Wintan-ceaster does
That would be me. I couldn’t find a Welsh word for Wessex and didn’t go with Caerwynt as it’s not a Winchester group, that’s just where we’re having the first meetup.
If we get enough people together for long enough, I’m sure we’ll get around to choosing a more suitable name.
Yeah, humour isn’t always obvious in online interactions… that wasn’t a genuine criticism, so much as a meme or a snowclone (“Who called it X when Y was right there?” - with Y usually being an excruciating pun… For example, “Who called it The Great Vowel Shift when The Great Vowel Movement was right there?” Believe me, it’s a thing…)
Yeah, humour is hard when it’s text only and all the nuance is stripped away. I’ve spent my fair share of time writing and rewriting texts and comments only to still have them taken the wrong way.
The Vowel thing is both terrible and amusing at the same time - as are most puns.
Still bummed that I couldn’t find a Welsh word for Wessex, though.
I did my usual trick of looking for it on Wikipedia, then swapping the language to Welsh, but all I got was “Wessex”. Makes sense, though: our earliest surviving Welsh manuscripts are well post-conquest, by which time Wessex as distinct from England was a distant memory.
I did like the regnal list at the end of the article, though, with Harold Godwinson listed as Harold mab Cadfan mab Wulfnot mab Ithelmor mab Ithelweard mab Idric mab Iddonfrith mab Ithelhelm mab Ithelred mab Ithelbald. (If you’ve ever seen The 13th Warrior, it reminds me of the vikings insisting that Antonio Banderas is called “Ibn”.)
I absolutely adore the idea of a Welsh group in the old capital of Wessex (partly because I’m not entirely sure Alfred would have approved ). We’ll have to try and make sure that one of our marketing team visits to Devizes overlap with the timings!
Only five miles from me but I had to look at the map to find the place. I hadn’t registered the “new” name; I still call it Lotts Tea Rooms! I would have been free and able to join you on Monday were it not for being on holiday.
I’m in Gosport and was wondering if there were any other Welsh learners (or Welsh speakers) in the area interested in meeting up to practice? I noticed a few other posts from learners in Hampshire but they haven’t been updated in a while, so I thought I’d start a new one.
I’m just reaching the end of Level 1, so can string a few sentences together but still have a long way to go before I’m fluent. If you’re interested, let me know and hopefully we can get a group together.
Hey Anthony - I’m in the same boat, loving learning the beautiful language but sadly never actually used it yet,…though I did go to Tafwyl and sang my heart out with the kids at the front! - Spent a while trying to learn by myself then found ssiw.
I’m useless with tech so haven’t even sorted the slack business out me be you could help me with that?
Sounds like we in a similar stage with ssiw…
I’m in Bournemouth which isn’t all that far away me be we could meet Halfway?
Pob lwc efo popeth
Cariad mawr
I can’t believe I’d never heard of the Tafwyl - I actually had to look it up. Sounds like you had a great time. I went to my first National Eisteddfod this year - it was in Ponty, so I had to.
I was delighted to finally use some Welsh - it’s taken long enough, considering I was in a Welsh speaking hall of residence at university and had a Welsh-speaking housemate in my final year.
I might be able to help with Slack but I’m no expert. I’ve only just signed up myself and haven’t really used it yet. There doesn’t appear to be much activity on there from what I can see.
I guess halfway would be somewhere in the New Forest. There are definitely worse places to meet. Hopefully we can catch up sometime soon.
It depends which Slack group you’re looking at. The Welsh Speaking Practice (WSP) Slack group is open to anyone and run by the participants rather than anyone from SSi. We just administer the invitations to make sure people join by request and try to keep scammers out.
The other Slack group is SSiW Community Chat and anyone paying a subscription is entitled to join it. If you register in the structured 6 Minutes a Day course you automatically get sent an invitation, but currently anyone else needs to request one. They can do that by emailing admin@saysomethingin.com
That group is much more active and it’s where you can take part in group chats lead by a tutor over Zoom.
Hi Anthony
I’ve just seen your message after not visiting this website for a while.
I live in Hampshire and am at Beginners level of the Learn Welsh courses.
It would be great to meet up with someone else and try using my small amount of Welsh in conversation. I am in Winchester, so not too far from Gosport. As you suggest above, maybe there is a convenient halfway point to meet up, or even try to put together a small group.
Hope to hear from you,
Best regards
Peter
). We’ll have to try and make sure that one of our marketing team visits to Devizes overlap with the timings!