Diolch yn Fawr Tahl. Like Louis, I remember you as one of the voices when I was starting out - calm, kind, knowledgeable. The community wouldn’t be the same without you.
3 Likes
Dw i’n falch iawn dy weld ti yma, Diane / I’m so glad to see you get your richly deserved recognition. 
Having got to know you at an early bootcamp and spent some time with you later in the Talbot Hotel (*) Tregaron I know what an accomplished Welsh Speaker and honorary ambassador you have become. I also know a little of your other work and achievements. Despite your not appreciating “jocs bach Huw,” I recognise you as a real woman of substance and like to think of you as a good SSiW friend.
(*) Another almost equally eminent visitor to the Talbot from USA was President Jimmy Carter on his regular fishing trips. 
3 Likes
There was a little backroom forum where in the early days, the style of SSiW forums was formed. Diane was one of those who brought her experience of forums and how to moderate, and was the super-calm head that allow us to resolve small problems before they became bigger problems.
There are a wider group of us who have kept in touch via Facebook - and I have the joy of Diane’s company most days with her observations on Washington life. Some of my best friends seem to be people I have rarely met yet know very well and I’m grateful to SSiW for that.
Learning Welsh isn’t just about learning a language for the sake of it, but also for the gaining the community spirit that comes with it. I know my life is richer because of that community, even if my Welsh is a bit of a parked project at the moment.
5 Likes
Well done Diane, very well deserved. Like some others have already said, you were one of the group here before me and were always one of the first to jump to the aid of this struggling learner. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
2 Likes
Diolch @tahl! You were one of the first people I noticed on the old forum, and the first SSIWer I heard on Radio Cymru. I was really impressed, and hardly understood anything! Then you made some comment on the forum about enjoying novels in Welsh, and I remember thinking how incredibly nice it would be to be able to get to that level!
3 Likes
Diolch @tahl , a Massive thank you for everything, I believe you were the first person to Welcome me on the original forum, you have been there from the start providing encouragement and help. Diolch yn Fawr iawn i ti! 
3 Likes
Diolch yn fawr iawn i ti, Tahl (For a long time, I didn’t know your name Diane). When I first came to the old forum, you were the person to help everyone, especially to find old threads, questions and discussions. When I read and heard that you were interviewed by BBC or S4C I really admired you. And I always loved to read your posts on the forum.
3 Likes
I’ve known you through SSiW pretty much since I started learning Welsh. I remember you telling me that you only started learning a little Welsh as you wanted to be able to pronounce the place names correctly when visiting, but the language hooked you in and now you’re perfectly at home chatting in Welsh on live radio! I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you in person as well as on the forum - the time we spent sharing an SSiW house during a National Eisteddfod, and that incredible day we got soaked to the skin in Parc Dinefwr but still had a great time and did it all in Welsh. You’re a wonderful ambassador for Welsh language and culture in the US, and I look forward to your next visit to your Welsh homeland.
Llongyfarchiadau @tahl
4 Likes
Goodnes, Aran and all, diolch yn fawr iawn! I am hugely flattered to be included in the “galaxy” of Ser yr Wythnos.
@Deborah-SSi has my story exactly right: Back in 2009, I had no intention of learning to speak Welsh, only of learning enough to pronounce place names correctly. I stumbled on this then-new site, and the forum, and well, here we are. I couldn’t have imagined how much SSIW would change my life. It’s given me so many great new friends – @Deborah-SSi, @hewrop, @Kinetic, @robbruce among those I’ve spent the most time with, in body and in Skype, but many others whom I know only from cyberspace, like @louis (whom I can hardly believe I’ve never met). I’ve learned from every single one and benefited from every kindness.
Because of SSIW, I return to Wales as often as I can. Because of SSIW, I’m VP of my local Welsh Society here in Washington DC (which I hadn’t even joined pre-SSIW) and run a monthly language meetup. Because of SSIW, I have chatted in Welsh in a sauna in Helsinki with @tygerc .
I don’t spend as much time on the Forum as I used to, for sure. That’s because, well, I’m no longer a Welsh learner. I’m a Welsh speaker. (Say it loud and proud!)
It’s a funny thing about learning outside of Wales: I think it can be an advantage to have few obvious opportunities to practice, because any Welsh speakers or learners you find are likely to be desperate to speak with you. There was no group here when I started in 2009, but I found two other speakers (one native, one learner), we met over a beer, and we just went from there.
Community – there it is again. For me, SSIW has and always will be about community and mutual support. Diolch yn fawr iawn iawn to ALL of you for making that community.
By the way . . . I too tend to think of myself as @tahl in the SSIW context. 
So when we meet, I promise to answer to either name!
7 Likes
I’m a bit late, but diolch, @tahl! You started out like me - I’m in the US, too (wish I was closer to DC so I could come to the meetups!) and I started out just wanting to know how to pronounce names and place names in a book I was reading. And then I found SSiW, and two years later I am a fledgling Welsh speaker and I’m still learning I’ve done a bunch of reading over on the old forum, and I always enjoyed and learned from your posts there. Diolch am bopeth! 
1 Like
Since I’ve read quite often how you were the one helping people to find things and giving members “how to” help, I feel a bit guilty, as if I’d violently take this “job” from you.
I’ve read some of your posts but we never really interacted would it be on the forum or otherwise, so this time I don’t have much more to say, than just humble
@tahl for everything you’ve done and you’re still doing for SSi.
2 Likes
Aaack! @tatjana, no feeling guilty necessary, at all, at all! I’m very grateful that you’ve taken on helping newer learners, and showing them the mysteries and riches of the Forum, and answering questions about the lessons. You definitely didn’t take anything violently – you give!!
5 Likes
Seren yr Wythnos #14
Leia Fee
Leia has been part and parcel (took me three goes to spell that properly, I think I’m beginning to lose my English!) of SSiW for so long I can’t even begin to imagine the place without her.
It was with no small sense of shock and embarrassment that I noticed, just a few weeks ago, that she wasn’t on the list of Angels (our moderators) - so I rushed to correct that as quickly as possible, hoping that I could gaslight her into thinking that she’d always been one… 
Like many of the very best SSiWers, Leia has not only learnt Welsh to an excellent standard herself, but also been hugely supportive of other learners, and hugely supportive of the project as a whole - in her work and in her social life.
She’s also, of course, the only SSiWer I’m aware of who spends most of her free time flying around in a plane (which Beuno is very keen to have a go in, now he knows about it!).
But more than that… and hard to qualify… Leia is just downright reliably lovely. She’s always positive, always thoughtful, always kind, always curious about how things work - she’s presented the SSiW state of play to Haciaith on what, at least two occasions? - and she is a rock-solid calm and supportive voice on the forum.
She was also kind enough to test run the chalet for us when we were genuinely uncertain as to whether or not it could support human life (it didn’t exactly surprise me, though, that someone who spends so much time flying through the air wrapped up in a large piece of metal would be willing to take unreasonable risks).
She’s been a hugely valuable part of making the forum the friendly and welcoming place it is, so if you’ve, er, ever used the forum (!) now would be a good time to doff your hat and say thank you to Leia… 
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
Leia Fee
7 Likes
Diolch @leiafee! I enjoy your posts on the forum, and I really like when you post photos of Wales taken from your airplane!
3 Likes
Diolch yn fawr @leiafee (which I have always read as Free, I am sorry!) I’ve had some really interesting chats with Leia on here and Facebook. Leia really helped shape my thinking on a post Aran shared once. I won’t bore with the details but it has really resonated with me since.
Leia is also a very active member of the YesAbertawe group, which is wonderful to see!
Leia was also kind enough to post me two Cymraeg badges which Emma and I wear very proudly
Diolch am bopeth Leia!
3 Likes
Diolch a llongyfarchiadau, @leiafee
I’ve enjoyed our too infrequent meetings and chats. I also enjoyed seeing you on a Welsh TV quiz show (did you win? - I can’t remember)
I’m delighted your contribution to the forum and Welsh is being acknowledged and celebrated here.
It seems to me that you have a unique qualification - you are the only one of the angels who can actually fly! 
3 Likes
Yes, yes, yes. Leia is easily one of the kindest, most willingest to assist, helpiest people you will ever meet. Whether it’s sending books through the post or patiently showing kids how to make chainmail Leia is a true ledge.
As well as having the same name as one of the biggest female role models (and one of my all time favourite movie characters) ever.
3 Likes
My face now matches the colour of Rhubarb the Microlight but with smiles as well. Thankyou!
It’s not remotely an exagaration to say life is just better with SSIW in it. I know so many good people, have done so many things, been so many places I would not otherwise have.
It’s awesome!
11 Likes