I should have been here a long time ago, because I’ve been learning Welsh for nearly 3 years now, but my job kept me busy enough that I … just never made it on. But these days I have a new job, and though it keeps me plenty busy, I’ve mostly kept it down to 40 hours a week, and doing so has been lovely for my Welsh.
Anyway, hi! I’ve been using a combo of SSiW and Duolingo (there were times when I just couldn’t manage the intense concentration of SSiW, and Duolingo was a life-saver at those points), but also reading Lingo Newydd, and the easy books from Y Lolfa. Really, though, one of the unusual backbones of my learning has been listening to Radio Cymru for about 2 hours almost every morning and every night – so, a lot of Bore Cothi and Y Shifft Hwyr gyda Geraint Lloyd. Radio is not a magic/easy way to learn, by any means, but I got really fond of listening, in part because I discovered that I like Welsh folk/pop; and because I could do little bits of reading practice by seeing if I could understand the short descriptions for the programs, or put them together by looking up some of the words in the dictionary. And over time, it’s really helped – I can’t understand every puzzle on the Late Shift, but I can understand some of them well enough to solve them relatively early in the show. And though the radio broadcasters speak slowly, both shows have regular call-in guests who speak quite fast, and are from different regions, so I’ve gotten more used to a mix of North and South pronunciations.
Anyhow, last November was really exciting because my work sent me to a conference in Rosario, Argentina, and I managed to tack on 3 days down in Gaiman, and that was my first time speaking Welsh with other people. I was terrified, but I did alright, I think; connected with the two women working in the Gaiman Welsh school, and happened to be in town for the monthly Welsh-language church service, and attended a couple of choir practices (and thanks to Radio Cymru, I knew every song we were singing).
I’m living in Delaware now, outside of Philadelphia, and I’m hoping to connect with some of the local Welsh speaking practices and do more speaking practice with other people, instead of chattering at my cat, or just talking back to the radio.
Anyhow, glad to be hear, and huge thanks to Aran, Iestyn, and Catrin and everyone else for making this such a wonderful resource.
