I’ve been learning Welsh for a while now, but struggle to listen to Welsh radio or TV, especially if there’s any music in the background on the programme. I do have a problem with distinguishing voice and other sound, so even when I watch programmes in English I usually need subtitles, and following rapidly spoken Welsh is a problem for me too at the moment - I’m not quite there in terms of understanding yet. The problem was, if I watch an S4C programme on BBC iPlayer, I can only get English subtitles. I know you can get Welsh subtitles on S4Clic, but I hate watching programmes on a desktop computer - it’s much cosier sat on the sofa in front of a big screen!
Yesterday, though, I remembered my partner had an Amazon Fire Stick, so I plugged that in, and discovered to my joy that their app store has S4Clic. So I tried it out, and it worked perfectly with Welsh subtitles, and I watched both episodes of Gwilym Bowen Rhys’s Gwlad y Basg, with Welsh subtitles. And found I could follow it, to my very pleasant surprise!
It was also lovely to see @Deborah-SSi on the programme, as I met her and @nia.llywelyn on the SSiW bŵtcamp in 2023, and it was that bŵtcamp that gave me the confidence to speak Welsh in the first place - so I have both Deborah and Nia to thank for my journey!
That’s brilliant, @chris-mitchell! It will make such a difference if you can watch more of S4C and I’m glad you enjoyed the programmes. I know so many of the places that Gwilym has visited so far, and Begotxu that pops up frequently in the series is a good friend of mine. I’ll be meeting her in Donostia on Sunday to get together with Bob - who you’ll see in another episode, maybe next week - and a Welsh learner who lives in Baiona, who we didn’t know about until his tutor saw the first episode and managed to contact Begotxu. Our little band of Welsh speakers in the Basque Country is growing!
What a lovely post - so glad that has worked for you!
Just a bit of a note for anyone else wondering if they can also get at S4C Clic another way - if you’d like help finding it on your plug-in device, or smart TV, or Sky service, or whatever else, the Gwifren (viewer’s helpline) are really knowledgeable and helpful, and generally lovely people. You can phone them or email them: Contact S4C | About us | S4C
And you are welcome to speak English or Welsh, or a mixture with them - they’re very used to that!
I have an Apple TV, so what I can do is open Clic on my laptop and throw it to the TV to watch on the big(ger) screen. Then I have my choice of Welsh or English subtitles (when available).
If I’m feeling particularly studious, I’ll watch first with English subtitles, then again with Welsh subtitles, then with no subtitles. Though I have to admit, I don’t always feel that dedicated…
When I’m feeling dedicated, I watch three times. But I do it in exactly the opposite order! It means I may start off very confused, and get less so each time I rewatch.
I sometimes just put S4C on in the background whilst I’m doing something manual like tidying up, just to see how much of it actually makes sense. Sometimes I surprise myself!
