I have always wanted to be a welsh speaker. I just thought that I couldn’t do it and fell into the trap of believing other languages would be more useful. Duo Lingo reignighted my passion again and SSIW has really made me believe I can do this.
My friend of 33 years is learning too and the thought of us speaking welsh properly together makes me smile. I hope we both make it.
As John said, just get the time under your belt - ideally in one-on-one conversations, where there’s nowhere to hide. Notch up an hour of one-on-one every week, and it won’t be long before you’re flying… 
because…I was born in Wales and then moved away, so despite actually having an A level in Welsh, I never really felt confident enough to use it in day to day conversations. I am moving back to Wales this summer for early retirement and really want to be able to use it purposefully and enjoy using this beautiful language.
I’m immensely proud of being Welsh and can’t shut up about how wonderful Wales is. Now that I live in England it’s wonderful to have another connection to home by learning something I’ve always wanted to learn.
In the future I hope to be able to watch S4C without the subtitles and actually understand the lyrics of the wonderful Welsh music I listen to.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because it is important to me and I hope it will help me find a better job and stronger connections to my community.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because ever since I was a little girl I have loved the sound of the language - all those holidays in Wales. Now I’ve been living in Wales for many years, I thought it was about time I gave learning Welsh a proper go!!
I want to be a Welsh speaker because it is part of my Welsh heritage and in the future I want to be able to converse with my children in Welsh
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I have been to Wales all my life and I would like to be able to speak to people there in their own language, and be part of keeping the language alive
I would love to speak to my husband, his relations and my Welsh speaking customers in Welsh.
I want to speak Welsh to improve job prospects and understand Calan when I next see them at a gig.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because it’s such a beautiful language and I missed the opportunity to learn it when I was young!
I would like to be able to speak Welsh whenever I meet Welsh speakers in Cemaes, a lovely village in Anglesey with a fantastic community. 
I am moving to Wales in the near future and I want to participate fully in community life. Have you ever got on a train on a Saturday evening in Porthmadog? It’s at those times that you really wish you could speak Welsh to understand the fun times that are going on all around.
This is a loaded question and the answer becomes more surprising to me as this journey unfolds. My reasons are unusual and complicated. I’ve wanted to learn Welsh for 28 years. I’ll keep this original reason short. I wanted to learn how to sing in Welsh because I’m a singer and the music is beautiful to my ears. Sounds silly to many, but to sing Calon Lan or Cwm Rhondda flawlessly was a goal. I can now sing Calon Lan and Cariad Cyntaf. Rhondda is a little more difficult, but it’s coming, as is Coffi Du (thanks a lot, Aran, that song is a real ear worm😁). I live in America, but my ancestry is French Candian Mohawk. As with many indigenous languages, my ancestral language was wiped out by the Jesuits who forced natives to learn French and forbade the speaking of Mohawk. Now it’s gone. So now, part of my reason includes helping a language stay alive and thriving. Finally, I just recently found out that among all those Indians, my 2nd great grandmother was Welsh. Who knew! BTW, I’ve found a linguistics professor at my church and she helps me practice speaking in conversation. It’s slow, but coming.
Great! Welsh or Mohawk?
I am a GP and would dearly love to be able to speak to my Welsh-speaking patients yn Gymraeg.
I hope to be able to go the National or Urdd Eisteddfod and be brave enough to speak Welsh there too.
Thank you for sharing this. There’s something moving about what you say about this ‘thrillingly secret society’ which feels true on levels about the history and mythology around Wales and it really feeling like a thrilling part of our history in the UK and Europe -especially of the old celtic kind 
I love the synchronicity of your story, and many others (including mine) that start to unfold a mystery of truths after intuitively making the decision to learn Welsh!
… it’s my language. It disappeared from my family with my grandparents and I’m determined to get it back.
I also sometimes feel that I’m the only person in Cardiff that doesn’t speak Welsh! I live right next to 2 welsh language schools and hear it spoken every single day. I want to join in 
I live in the United States, but several of my paternal great grandparents were born in Ponty-Prydd and Merthyr Tydfil. My father gave me a photograph of him sitting with his mother’s mother (Margaret Jane Phillips Edwards) He remembered her speaking to him in Welsh when he was a boy. I want learn Welsh to be one member in the family that continues the language. It is beautiful to speak and sing (and very challenging to learn.)
I moved to a wonderful village in Wales about 16months ago and love it here. I live in a wonderful community of English and Welsh speakers and felt it would be respectful and brilliant to be able to converse in both languages. Really enjoying the challenge (and some days it really is) and have stunned a few people with my progress. Thank you SSiW