Helo bawb - if you’re new to this thread, whether a new learner, an old hand or even a first language speaker, do come and join our Oxford group meetups on Zoom - all welcome! 
(get in touch using this thread or via PM, i.e.personal message, for login details).
For the start of 2021 our meetups will be reverting to Tuesdays & Fridays.
- 12:00 Tuesday 5th January / dydd Mawrth 5ed Ionawr
- 12:00 Friday 8th January / dydd Gwener 8ed Ionawr
If you have any questions about meetups or anything else do get in touch
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
John
Last Christmas, @Betterlatethan posted that the cash machines in the Carfax branch of Santander offer the option of communicating in Welsh. I went there today to pay in a cheque and it turned out the machine had remembered my choice of language! I was a little daunted but persevered (fortunately there was no queue) and now I have the e-bost confirmation that I was successful in talu i mewn.
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yay llongyfarchiadau! That was pretty cool the machine remembered what you wanted.
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Excellent and amazing.
Sue
Helo bawb - for the time being we’re going to be continuing with the Tuesday/Friday pattern of lunchtime Zoom meetups (get in touch if you need login details):
- 12:00 Tuesday 12th January / dydd Mawrth 12ed Ionawr
- 12:00 Friday 15th January / dydd Gwener 15ed Ionawr
All welcome! If you’ve only just started learning Welsh and are still felling a bit nervous about joining us, there’d be no problem about just ‘sitting in’ for the time being on our Zoom meetups or using English if you find you can’t yet say what you want to say in Welsh
Hwyl a chadw’n iach
John
PS Don’t forget, too, there is also plenty of opportunity to practise your Welsh by chatting on WSP (Welsh Speaking Practice) via Slack
Helo bawb - as last week, the Oxford Zoom meetups will follow the Tuesday/Friday pattern.
As always, newcomers welcome (including, of course, brand new beginners ) - do please get in touch if you need the login details or have any questions
- 12:00 Tuesday 19th January / dydd Mawrth 19eg Ionawr
- 12:00 Friday 22nd January / dydd Gwener 22ain Ionawr
Hwyl a chadw’n saff
John
Helo bawb - it’ll be the same schedule again for this week’s Zoom meetups:
- 12:00 Tuesday 26th January / dydd Mawrth 26ain Ionawr
- 12:00 Friday 29th January / dydd Gwener 29ain Ionawr
Hwyl a chadw’n iach
John
This term’s student events from Y Dafydd, who are promising a week-long celebration of St David’s Day:
And at Jesus College, Rowan Williams (emeritus Archbishop of Canterbury) will be returning to give the sermon on St David’s Day, when the custom is to sing hymns in Welsh but preach in English:
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Gwych! Diolch yn fawr @owen-mcknight
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Helo pawb - February at last this week! And these are the week’s Zoom meetups:
-
12:00 Tuesday 2nd February / dydd Mawrth 2ed Chwefror (anniversary of deaths of Siwan wife of Llewelyn the Great (1237), & Owen Tudor, founder of Tudor dynasty (1461))
- 12:00 Friday 5th February / dydd Gwener 5ed Chwefror
Also, see previous post by Owen for details of the University Welsh Society Zoom events this term and the Dydd Dewi Sant/St David’s Day service in Jesus College Chapel
Hwyl a chadw’n saff
John
Sorry folks - I was going to join you today but my sleep is still upside down after my nights and I’ve just woken up with a woozy head after a snooze that got out of hand! Hope to see you next Friday…
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Helo bawb - this week’s Zoom meetups carry on with the usual twice a week pattern
- 12:00 Tuesday 9th February / dydd Mawrth 9ed Chwefror
- 12:00 Friday 12th February / dydd Gwener 12eg Chwefror
If you’d like to join us but haven’t yet done so, do send me a PM (Personal message) or post a message here and I’ll forward the login details to you - as always, all welcome!
Hwyl a chadw’n iach
John
Helo bawb - this week we also have pancake Tuesday/dydd Mawrth crempog to brighten our lives as well as our regular Zoom meetups!
- 12:00 Shrove Tuesday 16th February / dydd Mawrth Ynyd 16eg Chwefror
- 12:00 Friday 19th February / dydd Gwener 19eg Chwefror
Send me a PM (Personal message), or post a message here, if you’d like to join us and I’ll forward you the login details. All welcome, as always!
Hwyl a chadw’n saff
John
For a second or two, started to get quite excited about the Amdani - Learn Welsh Festival of Reading as it’s so near to Oxford … until it dawned that it wasn’t Reading, the town, but reading / darllen, so it’s the Amdani - Gŵyl Ddarllen Dysgu Cymraeg 
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What a pity. Back in the 1940s-1950s there were a lot of Welsh people in Reading, many of them teachers, and they had a flourishing Welsh society. My mother and aunt were members. I don’t think that much Welsh was spoken. My mother and her friend Carys Thomas always spoke English. It must have been the Welsh teachers who set up the Tilehurst Eisteddfod. I remember competing along with the rest of my class in the singing and reciting of poetry. As far as I recall, all the local primary schools took part and it was a lot of fun. I was not aware at the time that it was a Welsh tradition - it was just something that we did every year.
Going the other way, it was Rod Lewis from Carmarthen who told us that he was about to catch the train at Paddington when he saw the notice in the window. “Reading passengers only”. So he rushed to buy a newspaper.
Sue
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Helo bawb - this week’s virtually (
) your last chance to practise your Welsh before St David’s Day / Dydd Gŵyl Dewi in our regular Zoom meetups (or, of course, via WSP on Slack) !
- 12:00 Tuesday 23rd February / dydd Mawrth 23ain Chwefror
- 12:00 Friday 26th February / dydd Gwener 26ain Chwefror
If you haven’t yet joined us but would like to, send me a PM (Personal message), or post a message on this thread and I’ll forward you the login details you’ll need for our Zoom sgwrs/chat. As always, all welcome, no matter whether you’re a fluent speaker or have only just begun!
Hwyl a chadw’n iach
John
PS Amongst all the other online stuff for St David’s Day, don’t forget the Jesus College events Owen told us about above:
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Jesus College is actually holding two events on St David’s Day. As well as the chapel service with Rowan Williams, there is a double lecture at the same time, ‘Rhydychenese’ and ‘Which Welsh?’ See https://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/about-jesus-college/events/2021/celebrating-welsh-college -‘little-wales-beyond-england-welsh-and for full details. (The lectures are open to ‘friends of Jesus College’ and the details were posted on the College’s Twitter account today, so I’m sure all Oxford Welsh learners are welcome!)
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Thanks Owen - they both look yn ddiddorol iawn.
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Seem to have forgotten to advertise last week’s Zoom meetups 
- the pattern hasn’t changed though, so this week’s meetups will be:
- 12:00 Tuesday 9th March / dydd Mawrth 9ed Mawrth
- 12:00 Friday 12th March / dydd Gwener 12ed Mawrth
Get in touch here or via PM if you’d like the login details - or indeed if you have any other questions - all welcome!
Hwyl a chadw’n iach
John
This weeks’s Zoom meetups follow the regular schedule:
- 12:00 Tuesday 16th March / dydd Mawrth 16eg Mawrth
- 12:00 Friday 19th March / dydd Gwener 19eg Mawrth
All levels of Welsh welcome - do contact me if you’d like the Zoom login details
Hwyl a chadw’n saff
John