Shwmae, i’m hosting a radio program on language and culture for a local radio station in Antwerp, Flanders/Belgium, i’d like to do an episode on Welsh, could you help us get in touch with Welsh speakers in Belgium, or someone in Wales that we could talk to by phone? With regards, Kevin Radio Centraal, Antwerp
You can contact Kevin on babelonie@radiocentraal.be
We usually talk about the language, culture, history, current situation, movements, and play some music too. I have plenty of Welsh music already (various styles old and new), but of course any recommendations would be great. Flemish audience is generally aware that there is such a thing as Wales and Welsh, but do not know much about it. Diolch yn fawr! Kevin
I have e-mailed Kevin with the contact details of WHEB (Wales Higher Education Brussels). (I used to work with its various predecessors before I retired,)
Here is the latest on this radio project - the programme has gone to air and can be heard on SoundCloud. Kevin says
“First part was with Guto Rhys, who lives in Brussels, and is in English, the second part is with a Flemish lady who lived in Wales for a long time and is in Dutch.
SSiW was mentioned several times”
I posted on this topic a while ago, but I can’t see my comment any more, how odd! Anyway, thank you so much for posting an update with the link to the show @Deborah-SSi I was lucky enough to receive a reply from the co-presenter iez inviting me to the studio after getting in touch with them (it’s a shame @HuwJones didn’t hear back from them, not good). Unfortunately I couldn’t make it, nor listen to the live broadcast, so it’s great to have been able to hear it at last!
In my original message to them I had included a link to the Braw media map of Welsh speakers that crops up periodically. Iez mentioned that they had found it very helpful for their research so I was able to contribute in some small way after all …and I learned that there is quite an active Welsh community in Brussels which I may want to investigate further
With regards to the content, Guto Rhys, a first-language speaker who studied and taught/teaches Welsh, provided a very nice overview of Welsh as a living language, the positive developments to encourage its revival in schools and the challenges it faces due to changing demographics in predominantly Welsh-speaking agricultural areas. The second interview was with a Flemish lady who had lived in Wales for many years. She was full of praise for ssiw and in particular the supportive team/forum, as well as the Welsh people who had welcomed and supported her language learning journey
All in all it was a very nice show and an extra boost for the Welsh language in Belgium!
sorry Huw, you were very nice to give those details, we thank you for it, probably the presenter was really very busy he’s such a nice man, and Inez a lovely woman, we all make mistakes just forgive him, he will kick himself now he forgot to respond, and a thousand thank you’s to you for helping him out.
Hello Huw Jones, sorry to hear that, apparently your message never reached me at all. We did have some issues with our mail server and a too enthousiastic spam filter, maybe it got stuck there. Thank you any way for your contribution then.
We may come back to Welsh in a future program (because i have still plenty of Welsh music i’d like to play ).
And again diolch yn fawr iawn to the others who have contributed, Louise and Frida here, and Guto in Brussels! And of course the SSiW team who got us in contact with them!
I have translated the sound-cloud from 9 March in English, in case you’re interested in it I will send it to you but perhaps someone has done this already;
Hwyl. Frida.
Way too late an answer to be helpful of course, but I was wondering if there still are people from Belgium (especially Antwerp) who are active here? I am becoming ever more eager to actually try out the Welsh i have been learning here, and would like to try it out mewn tafarn
(Also, @aran : I seem to vaguely remember a video of you learning Dutch. Have you been able to listen to the final result ?)
…and I learned that there is quite an active Welsh community in Brussels which I may want to investigate further 
).
?)