I want to be a Welsh Speaker to help connect with my families past, to find and understand the places and stories, and to tell some new ones.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I am Welsh, I love Wales and I believe it is important to help keep the language alive. Iāve tried and then not progressed in the past (because life gets in the way!) but now is my time to do this.
Andā¦ When I am a Welsh speaker I want to be able to share the knowledge and help others learn - and so it grows
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because itās something iāve always wanted to do since i was very young. Always thought it was something i would never do.
Once I am a welsh speaker I will be able to communicate with my partners family in their first language, without being asked if iām following the conversation.
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Dwiān moyn siarad Cymraeg acos dwi wedi bod yn bwy yn Gymru am 16 mlynedd ac dwi ddim yn siarad Cymraeg. Oniān trio dysgu 14 mlynedd yn ol ond allaāi ddim cofio unrhwybeth. Pryd dwi wedi gweld Dweud Rhwybeth yn Cymraeg on in moyn trio eto. Sorry about the rubbish spelling!
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I am so proud to be Welsh and being able to speak it as well has been an ambition of mine for many years. Iāve worked in England most of my life and i never stop telling people Iām Welsh and the first thng they say is can you speak it? Well now Iām on my way!!!
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because since moving to Wales five years ago Iāve really come to see it as home, as a place I feel love and pride towards. Living here, I see glimpses into the Welsh speaking culture, through TV, through the music scene, through the Urdd and the Eisteddfodd, through Tafwyl and the school Twmpath. Iād like to be able to really participate in all of this. I also strongly believe that Wales will do best if its culture and language is cherished and continues and as a Welsh resident Iād like to be a tiny part of that. More prosaically, I find myself in situations where Iām the only monoglot in a conversation and everybody politely speaks English to accommodate me. No more! Well i fi drio siarad Cymraeg!
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Iām on week seven of the six month ssiw course and being encouraged this week to pick a post that resonated with me particularly I chose yours. Iām also fascinated with place names, history, art and culture. What got me into learning Welsh however wasnāt place names initially but the fact that a Welsh friend of mine (sheās the fiddle player in a band Iām in) sings a couple of songs in Welsh with us although sheās forgotten most of the Welsh she learnt at school. I loved the sound of the language hearing it at first hand, so to speak, in song and we came up with the idea that sheād teach me Welsh using her old school books - thereby remembering it in the process. It didnāt quite work out that way but I found that as I got into it I was thinking differently, as you say the feel and tone in the mind and on the tongue is differentā¦ And this is what keeps me doing it principally. Sure I have the ambition to write songs in Welsh and to go down to South Wales where my friend comes from and try to speak a bit with people. But the principal reason is that it seems to be good for my mind when Iām doing it, listening to it, trying to speak it. And yes, all sorts of things are starting to open up with the learning. I wasnāt taught languages in school but managed to catch up a bit by learning Italian and German as an adult. I think Iāll go further and deeper into Welsh though, although Iāll keep my hand in with the other languages. Thanks for a very inspiring post which has helped clarify my thinking on my learning process.
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Thank you very much for your reply. Itās interesting what gets us started and what keeps us going. For me the initial interest is still there, but has been taken over by the sheer fascination that I might actually be able to communicate in another language. Itās true - it really does feel different and make a difference to the mind also.
Soon after I started learning Welsh I also started listening to Welsh music and that opened up a whole new world. Iād lived with the impression that there was only the male voice choir and some traditional folk tunes - how ignorant I was. There is such a variety of Welsh music that i think thereās something for everyone. The repetition is also helpful as you hear the same line over and over - and eventually the same words in conversation.
Itās a fascinating and probably endless journey.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because after leaening a few words and phrases from Grandfatherās notebook, I found it to be a lovely language and I just kept learning.
What I hope to do is be able to do is speak it to my son well enough that he learns some.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I am proud to be Welsh and I want to be the first Welsh speaker in my family. I also want to learn Welsh so I can converse with many of my bilingual colleagues. I have never worked with Welsh speakers so never had the opportunity to practice my Welsh and so I forgot it. I also want to pass this on to any children I have in the future, so need to be a speaker first!
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I let all my opportunities to learn Welsh when I was younger and living in Wales go and now I live in England and Iām retiring I realise how special Welsh is and how much I really want to learn it so that I can go home and siarad Cymraeg gyda pawb!
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Iām getting more and more into Welsh music. We sing a version of Cyfriār Geifr in the band, Jen used to sing it at school but like a lot of songs commonly known in Wales itās practically unknown in England, The fact that audiences here donāt understand the words seems to have no effect on itās popularity in a set however, it always goes down really well. I came across the lullaby Cysga di fy Mhlentyn Tlws used to (hauntingly) good effect in the recent S4C thriller Craith and this is the first song In Welsh Iāve learned myself. However as you point out folk tunes and so on are only the tip of the iceberg. Very excited about all the discoveries to come.
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I think it would be good if Welsh music were heard more often on āEnglishā radio. As you say, itās possible to appreciate music without understanding it. Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog do a wonderful version of Cysga di fy Mhlentyn Tlws . At the concert they gave at Acapela they sang this without instruments and then went into a much louder number. The contrast was most effective. Iāve included a couple of links below.
Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog - Cysga di fy Mhlentyn Tlws (Live at Acapela Studio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzgKC-VaqDE
Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog yn Fyw o Acapela https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0eEqowibFM
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Iāve chosen your reply to respond to as everything you say about loving being here,and wanting to be part of the language and culture, is how I feelā¦ Itās the thought of being able to join in with, and understand Cwmraeg, and feeling a tiny part of helping the language survive, that makes me keep going when Iām struggling with a lesson.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because being Welsh is who I am. I went to Welsh-speaking school and have had Welsh in my life for as long as I can remember. Speaking Welsh aligns with the person I am, I couldnāt be me without Welsh.
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I like this bandā¦ thanks for the links. I had seen the rendition of Cysga di before but was great to revisit and the longer vid with more songs from that gig and some of them talking was new to me (and good listening practice!). Starting to listen to Radio Cymru and picking up words and phrases here and there in songs. The sound and emotion is the thing though, all else follows.
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Absolutely. I think a really helpful thing is to find something youāre enthusiastic about doing and then doing it in Welsh (as far as possible).
I was taking a photo day and putting it on Blipfoto (https://www.blipfoto.com/community/about-us) and my tutor of the time said āwell, if youāre going to be writing a paragraph about your photos every day, why not write it in Welsh?ā ā¦ and Iāve been doing that ever since.
Itās helped my written Welsh but not so much the spoken or heard - which is where SSIW comes in!
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Iād like to be a Welsh speaker because I want the folk I know in Llan Ffestiniog to know their country, heritage and language are worth the effort to learn for me!
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Replying to myself for week 2 task - I imagine achieving this and going out with my Welsh speaking friends and joining in a conversation in Welsh with them, rather than them switching to English. I imagine them all complimenting my hard work!
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Sounds a great idea.
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