Hi @sarapeacock. A couple of years ago the Eisteddfod was in Llanelli, just down the road from me. A couple of days after the closing date for the competition I had a phone call from the county organisers of Welsh classes. Would I be willing to be nominated? I wonder if not enough people had entered, or been entered.
They asked me the questions that go into the nomination background information and sent off the form. I never actually saw what they wrote about me, but it must have formed the basis of the interview which is the first round of the competition. This interview took place at the National Botanic Gardens during a day of activities for learners (not just those who had entered the competition) at the start of May. I was asked by email to chose the best time of the day for the interview and I chose to go first. My friend chose to go last and thus arrived in the Gardens at about 3.30 or 4pm.
I was interviewed by Nia Parry just before the 15 minute interview with the panel (3 people, one of whom I knew, slightly) and then again afterwards. Everything was filmed, which wasn’t as scary as you might expect. There were papers to sign beforehand to give S4C the right to film me and broadcast the results. I think it was the year that @elizabeth_jane was interviewed by Skype. Four years ago the winner was someone from Patagonia whose initial interview was on Skype.
We, the local eisteddfod committee (I think), some musical entertainment, friends and family, and the cameras gathered together at about 4.30, to hear the results. These were delayed quite a long time until the interview panel made their decision.
As I wasn’t one of the four finalists I can’t really say what happens next, except there was more filming.
This time I’m nominating myself, a perfectly acceptable procedure. This means I can keep a copy of what I have written about myself so I can prepare a bit better for possible questions.
Somewhere I’ve also seen who the interviewers are, so I’m going to be able to do some research on them also, beforehand.
While being able to speak Welsh to a reasonable standard is of course a pre-requisite, it’s not a requirement to be “expert”. Someone in the area made the final four three or four years ago with a “sylfaen” level. I think they look as much for contributions to Welsh society and for how good an ambassador for the language the winner will be as how good any mutations or grammar may be. (Sorry Sara for that rather clumsy sentence.)