It was great to finally meet you at the party Huw. All these people working behind the scenes are an inspiration!
Cheers, Huw! It was a huge pleasure working with you in the good old days of āThe Importing Team.ā I look forward to someday actually meeting in person!
It is indeed, a revelation to discover just how many have started to learn Welsh and ended up volunteering to use their various talents to set the whole thing on a solid base and are still working behind the scenes! I have discovered to just how many I owe thanks, Huw being just the latest whose light has been languishing beneath a bushel all this time!
Diolch Huw! Diolch Pawb! x llawer!
Diolch, Huw!
Hi Huw. I remember very well the Bootcamp where I met you first and I remember very well your famous ancestry.
Diolch yn fawr iawn for being such a nice person, an always helping member of SSiW and thank you for everything you did in the background.
Huw, diolch o galon am bopeth tiān ei wneud ar gyfer y Gymraeg. You were great company at Bootcamp, and it was delightful to meet your lovely wife at the Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, too long ago now. If it were up to me, I would appoint you as the gentleman-in-residence at SSi
Diolch, hyperwhelmed @hewrop!
Dear @hewrop, Huw! Always courteous, I have always appreciated your posts here, like Rob last week, you have been an ever present support in so many peopleās learning adventure (sorry canāt bring myself to use the ājourneyā word) :-S Thank you for all you have done for SSIW, and also for being such a supportive forum member!
Diolch @hewrop and llongyfarchiadau on getting Seren yr Wythnos . Was great to meet you at the SSIW party
That first ever bootcamp when we had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for was an experience Iāll never forget, but the thing that made it really special was the people. @hewrop played a huge part in making it such an enjoyable time. With his warm smile, relaxed manner, and infinite patience, no one could worry about whether their Welsh was āgood enoughā. We were all just too busy having fun.
@hewrop - itās been such a pleasure getting to know you over the years. Diolch yn fawr iawn for always being there behind the scenes giving a helping hand. I hope we will celebrate many more Magnificent Saith reunions and SSiW parties in the future.
Yes, many thanks Huw, for your help on the Forum and also for all the behind-the-scenes work that you have carried out for SSi.
Thanks also to all serenau of previous weeks for your kind input.
Twister! Somewhat scary!
Ah yes, there was THAT game of Twister
Iād like to say how grateful I am for all the kind comments even from people Iāve not yet had the pleasure of meeting in person.
I am genuinely honoured to be included in such a constellation of stars and supernovae and shall twinkle dimly there until I collapse into a Twll Du.
Diolch yn fawr iawn, cyfeillion - diolch o galon.
Thank you so much @hewrop for all the work behind the scenes, all the help and humour on the forum, and for your great company before and during the party this year. Itās all been an absolute pleasure.
Now that all is quiet and the party is long over, I came here to sit and ponder my thoughts ā¦ thereās so much to thank for and I surely am not able to remember everything, but ā¦ my diolch to one more shiny star of the week is (again) from my heart and soul. So, here I am, to say my Diolch and appriciation to this weeks Seren y wythnos ā¦
@hewrop
One of those who tried to encourage and cheer me at the very beginning of my learning (moaning) path. You always have kind word, not just for me but for everyone else here on the forum. Althogh I donāt know you that well as some other members here do, I know youāre warmhearted and kind and always willing to help and Iām extreamly glad youāre still on here and I hope youāll be for as long as SSi exists and beyond ā¦
I had the priviledge to meet Huw at the Eisteddfod last year and it was my delight and pleasure to stroll around the maes with him. We talked, entirely in Welsh from my part too (umm, all of a sudden Iām not sure was all entirely in Welsh, but I think it was though) and I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you for the chance to meet you and walk around the Eisteddfod with you. And thank you for mentioning meeting me as one of the highlights of that day in your lovely and kind Eisteddfod report.
Here are all the stars of the past and those yet to come but the brightest this week is Huw!
Diolch o galon am y popeth. Hope to meet you again at some point of (SSi) time.
Tatjana
@tatjana, cariad. I am deeply moved by your exceptionally kind words. Like so many of your admirers on the forum, I was privileged and delighted to meet you in person in Y Fenni. I really do hope that we meet again before too long and, specifically, that you find time to visit me and Maureen in Ystrad Meurig next time you are in Wales.
Diolch yn fawr iawn, fy ffrind.
Ahem - you may have noticed that we flew under the radar last week! My mother was staying with us in the new chalet for the first time, and it was all a bit hecticā¦ And then every time I got close to catching up at the start of this week, something came flying out of nowhereā¦ but now, time to get saddled up again, and introduce:
Seren yr Wythnos #13
Diane Owen
Or, as you might recognise her more easily, @tahlā¦
Diane (who I find it very hard not to call Tahl even in ārealā life!) was one of our earliest learners - and one of the first learners from the USA to make real, serious headway, at a time when it still seemed incredibly difficult to imagine people using the course outside of Wales.
Sheās been a hugely generous supporter of SSiW - both financially and in terms of time. She was one of the guiding voices on the first forum, and became a valuable and reliable Angel (which is what we call our moderators).
I can still remember the surprise (Iām not sure if it was after her first Bootcamp, or her second?) when she visited us in Mynytho, and we ended up having a fairly serious conversation about economics and theories of growth - back then, it still seemed pretty startling when we met SSiW learners who were already capable of that kind of conversation!
It got less startling, though, as we got used to Diane becoming a go-to āWelsh-speaking voice from Americaā for Radio Cymru - I remember her saying once that she was looking forward to getting a call that didnāt involve a āhow amazing that youāve learntā angle - but Iām not sure if Welsh media are ever going to be quite as used to USA speakers as weāve becomeā¦
She has also been a tireless promoter of SSiW in the US, most particularly with her extremely generous work with NAFOW (the North American Festival of Wales) where she has run an SSiW stall (very kindly provided for free by NAFOW) and worked her fingers off following up with people who expressed an interest in the course.
And Iām fairly sure (unless my memory is failing me) that sheās even badgered Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, about SSiW when he was on a trip to the States - which is a rather lovely thoughtā¦
And, of course, she continues to arrange the Welsh conversation group in Washington D.C. - because even 8 years down the line, there really is no stopping herā¦
Diane, diolch o galon am bopeth ti wedi gwneudā¦
Even if Dianeās contributions havenāt directly affected you, now would still be a lovely time to thank her for all her huge support for SSiWā¦
Iestyn ap Dafydd
Catrin Lliar Jones
Cat Dafydd
Dee McCarney
Spenny
Jeff Lewis
Ifan Baines
Kev Smith
James Mahoney
Louis van Ekert
Rob Bruce
Huw Jones
Diane Owen
Loongyfarchiadau mawrion mawr i ti, Diane! You were there hen I first started learning Welsh with SSiW, and you were always very willing to help anyone, particularly if anyone needed to know if something had been discussed before - I concluded then that your are a genius, even before I knew about all the other things you do.
Da iawn Diane , it gives me peace of mind knowing that there are people such as yourself doing so much for the Welsh language with such enthusiasm . And diolch for doing so much for SSIW