…and how did they get to be middle class? By oppressing the masses! Who voted for them!
Thank God for the anarcho-syndicalist commune that is the SSIW forum.
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I’m not sure how you can ever work out the cloudy line. I had wondered how the whole thing goes down in the valleys. Judging from my cousin - who goes into a paroxysm of guilt every time we talk about my Welsh language journey - an Aussie with too many frequent flyer points, an indulgent husband and an inability to work out exactly where she belongs, would not inspire the average would be Welsh learner. 
That’s if my Welsh was even near good enough. I thank you Dinas for saying I sounded as good as the Italian girl that on Bore Cothi. You are very kind. 
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I think one thing to remember for those intending to have a go in the future is that you really need to be aware of time and what you want to focus on in the interview. I got tripped up by Heini asking how I went about learning Welsh and I spent too much time answering that, so that when I thought ‘Right, now I’ll talk about my plans for the future and how I want to encourage other learners’ it was ‘Diolch yn fawr’ - end of interview. I didn’t get to talk about the things I felt were important, so left the room feeling disheartened but also very annoyed with myself.
I think it’s important that the person that gets the title is actually keen to encourage other learners. I noticed that there were some candidates (for want of a better word) that mingled, chatted with others and were open and friendly. Others - including two that made the final 5 - stuck to themselves or with a small group of family/friends and didn’t make much effort to mix. I know that they probably make a big contribution in other ways, but I just see it as part of the Dysgwr y Flwyddyn role to mix easily and be approachable.
But never mind the title - I hope I can put some of my ideas for encouraging Welsh learners into play anyway as that’s what is important to me.
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I agree Dee. The time flew and thinking about what I wanted to say would have helped. I also think it is important to think of what you can say in addition to your application rather than repeating it. In answer to the why did you learn Welsh question, I could have summed up what I’d written in my cais in one sentence and then focussed on not so much why I had started learning but why I’m still learning and intend to keep learning. But the time really was so short.
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Here’s a link to the contestants in front of the judges. Hav’nt had time to spot the SSiWers…
http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtml?programme_id=525806244
Spotted Dee and Elizabeth. I though it really bad that television people didn’t get you into full frame before starting the interview, Elizabeth.
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Ahhh, nothing from 2015 on YouTube. S4C on their site reports back to me that flash file was not found what usually means for me that geo-restriction is at work. I won’t cheat though … If someone finds our dear SSiWers from this year on YouTube, please let me know.
Also Hywel.
A couple of other people mentioned SSiW, but I didn’t catch their names.
I have been at the Coleg Gwent, Ysgol Haf this week (yet again very good value) and today we had a guest speaker, Gary Bevan one of the five finalists in Dysgwr y Flwyddyn in the Eisteddfod and he is the father of Jamie Bevan, the chairman of the Welsh Language Society.
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I dream of entering this one day…
Edit: I dream of participating in this one day. When I first posted I was hoping to win as well, but then I read this
I’m an introvert by nature…part of the difficulty I have with spoken Welsh is that it means speaking with others…which is not a good trait for the Learner of the Year. I am perfectly okay with this, as just the opportunity to participate would be fantastic.
That being said, provided there are no financial surprises this year, it’s looking like I’ll be able to attend Bootcamp at least in 2016. I know that will help me a lot.
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Gari was the winner! He was visibly shaken when his name was announced, as was his son, Jamie. The presentation dinner was excellent and we had an amazing view out across Llyn Fyrynwy from the dining room.
Now looking forward to tonight’s Parti! Hopefully will meet lots of friends, old and new.
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Well, it was worth scrolling ll the way down to find that out, but how come I’ve seen nothing on TV??? Clearly I’ve missed it! But all I can find is Dal ati next Sunday!! Anyone know if there is a link to something sooner?
p.s. 'Ddrwg gei i!! I found the presentation on S4C this morning! But I do feel that the competition seems a bit ‘downgraded’ this year. Also that they seem keen to encourage Cymraeg in the valleys, which helped Gary to win!!
Congrats to Gari!
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Da iawn Gari! I met Jamie Beven a month ago in the first Cymdaithas yr iaith meeting in Swansea!
We are now friends on Facebook and he is also a member of our public group - Abertawe Welsh group!
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Having just watched it, Gari Bevan, was the best choice as he’s doing a lot to encourage learners and does a lot to support his local community in Merthyr.
http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtml?programme_id=525806267
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Go for it! I tried it this year, starting from a similar position to the one you describe. It was brilliant. Lovely bunch of people helped me enormously and, while I may not have been the chatiest person on the bootcamp, I certainly learnt a huge amount and was very pleasantly surprised by the things that i DID know. Enjoy!
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Meifod - Gorau eto! am posting a few snaps on the Eistedddfod page of www.gilydd.com The music all round was just sensational, don’t know who else was fortunate enough to catch Calan in Ty Werin…wow!
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I saw Calan too, I agree they were fantastic! The Ty Gwerin was a great venue. As you say the music all round was excellent, over the last weekend I really enjoyed Geraint Jarman, Swnami, Yws Gwynedd and Yr Ods on the Llwyfan y Maes, lots more too!
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Ooh, happy to hear that Calan were so good, as they are a featured act at the North American Festival of Wales in a few weeks.
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They’re getting rave reviews all over. L’InterCeltique in L’Orient went absolutely mad for them, apparently.
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I had a nice surprise tonight - went to our monthly chat in the pub and Deiniol was there.
He was lovely and I even understood some of the conversation
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