…because a part of me has always felt missing without it, because I want the old language to continue and because it is a way of connecting with those in my family who have now passed away and whose Welsh voices always felt like ‘home’ as a child …
The best thing that happened to me so far as a new Welsh speaker, was so small and silly but was simply being able, on a recent trip to see my mother in Wales, to say ‘Diolch’ in shops and in passing as a matter of course instead of thank you - without feeling self conscious and feeling truly that it was a part of me to say it…
I want to be a Welsh speaker because since coming to university in Wales I’ve made lots of Welsh speaking friends and I’d like to be able to speak to them in their language
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I feel Welsh to my core and feel hiraeth to feel truly Welsh by being fluent in the language my family was 'discouraged ’ from using.
I want to be able to hold conversations with my Welsh speaking friends in my village and to feel even more part of the village that I love. It’s just one way that I can say ‘thank you’ to them for all the love and support I have been shown following the sudden death of my partner in late January this year.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I am a Cymro who has always felt incomplete with not being able to speak my native tongue. One thing it would change in my life is feeling increasingly part of Welsh cultural life such as sgwrs, singing, poetry, humour, drama, And reading all the Welsh books I’ve accumulated ( not least the Bible) as well as, hopefully, being able to follow church services in Welsh.
I have lived in wales for all of my adult life and have tried and failed to learn welsh. I recently researched my family tree and discovered that all my great grand parents were welsh speaking and ny great great uncle Isaac won the chair at an Eisteddfod. I hang my head in shame and I want to make my husband proud
I want to be Welsh speaker as my grandson attends Welsh school and would like to surprise him by speaking in Welsh. Really enjoying learning Welsh listen to Radio Cymru everyday. At first thought am I not going to be able to do this but have surprised myself
I want to be a Welsh speaker because…I started learning Welsh in January, as my dad’s health failed. He corrected my grammar and pronunciation (and took great delight in doing so!..)
Dad’s sadly not around any more, but I think he would be proud that I’m still carrying on what I started. It’s become a personal quest to get to a decent conversational level eventually and to keep these links with my Welsh family roots.
Plus I hope to move to Ynys Môn one day :).
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I’m Welsh but I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider because I don’t speak the language. The story goes that my parents tried to enrol me at the Welsh primary school in the village (this is the early 90’s) but they said that because my parents don’t speak Welsh they should send me to an English school as it would be less confusing! I know that would never happen today but it meant that I learned a bit of Welsh as a second language at primary school and then went to secondary school over the border. I’ve always called my lack of Cymraeg my “Welsh guilt”. But I’m loving this course and I’ve learned so much. Diolch yn fawr iawn!
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I love the sound and feel of the language, and I think it’s beautiful. I live in America (currently in Cartersville, Georgia), so there isn’t much chance to speak Welsh with anyone face to face. However, my wife and I have a dream of opening a coffee shop one day, and I would LOVE to have the chance to speak Cymraeg with any Welsh visitors who come our way.
