I was looking through my fb feed a few days ago and I saw a photo of someone familiar talking to a group of people at Cardigan Castle. @gruntius is going to be on S4C (again) this Sunday. Here’s the blurb:
"On Sunday 1st October at 10am, a programme on S4C will follow a Welsh learner, Geraint Scourfield, as he does work experience / ‘Profiad Gwaith’ at Cardigan Castle. The programme was made in June, and local people were involved in the filming. Geraint, who comes from Wrexham, was given whirlwind training at the Castle, learning how to help in Reception, to wait on customers in the 1176 Restaurant, and to provide a guided tour of the Castle. The customers who were the guinea pigs for Geraint’s newly acquired skills were students from the Welsh classes held at the Castle and some of the Welsh speakers who regularly help by coming into the classes for half-hour chatting sessions. All enjoyed the filming experience, and all were very impressed by Geraint’s professional approach - and by his magnificent beard, which he hasn’t cut for 10 years!".
What.a morning! BBC. breakfast includes The Travel Show touring through @tatjana’s lovely Slovenia on the River Sava! Later, into my sitting room, turn on TV and who do I see but @gruntius beard resplendent showing us all that confidence and guts give fluent Welsh with practice! Da iawn Geraint! I suspect there is more to see that I have recorded! SSiW got a plug from our bearded friend! (I suspect fertiliser as it seems to grow very fast!)
I hope you can because Geraint was very good, not just at speaking Welsh but at all the different tasks he undertook, including as a guide at the Castle.
I don’t know if any BBC stuff is on line outside UK. If you can get BBC.co.uk or something like that, look for The Travel Show and find the Sava episode!
Thanks for putting this up @Deborah-SSi. All I’ve got to say about it is that it was a whole lot of fun and would highly recommend anyone who has half the chance to dive in, go for it. The editors are excellent and will make you sound like a real fluent speaker as you can see.
@gruntius you are real star! I’ve just watched your ˇadventure" and not just you did extreamly well, but you speak excellent Cymraeg. All in all I more or less understood all.
Gerat job in deed! It made me want to take one of such tours around the Castell whouch would be lead by you.
I am thick as two short planks, Ger! Do you mean it was all organised by the TV people, it was not a work experience organised by Visit Wales or the Castle? I honestly thought it was something you had done to see if you could work through the medium of Cymraeg - the obvious answer being “Yes!”
Yes. Back in 2013 on the last saturday of the Eisteddfod I spoke at length with a lady called Ffion from Hwb and S4C (back then they shared a stand in maes D with SSiW) and she took my name and number (as well as several others’ details) and later phoned me about going on dysgwr yr wythnos. Llyncu Geiriau and Profiad Gwaith were the same and I’m guessing the same for most other people that have been on such things. Once they get your number and have been on something it’s just a matter of time before you get another call. It isn’t Hwb anymore btw, it’s Boom Cymru so if anyone wants to get on something like Llyncu Geiriau you just need to send them an email I guess. They are always looking for more victi, I mean, volunteers.
The programme was really inspiring, seeing you speak Welsh in front of the cameras so naturally, even though you said you were nervous leading the tour.
I have real admiration for you doing that, particularly after my very brief appearance on S4C, when I had a panic attack and couldn’t breathe - not my sort of thing at all. You have restored (some of my) confidence and I can aspire to speaking as naturally as you at some point in the future (but not on camera - byth eto!)
Thanks Helen, that means a lot. To be honest you don’t even notice the camera after a while, you’re just talking to the person standing next to it. Talking in front of strangers is much more difficult.
