Ydw wi’n diddordeb, diolch
3 Likes
gwych! dw i isio i ymuno.
2 Likes
I’m interested, depending on the format, ie can you come along for just a day or two or does it need to be the whole week?
It needs to be the whole week, I’m afraid, Caroline - you just wouldn’t get the same results in a shorter period of time.
2 Likes
Zut! That rules me out, te. Yours, disappointed and snowed-in of Nantmel.
Might be worth you looking for what short courses are available from your local provider - like https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/learn-welsh/courses/short-courses/ 
1 Like
Right - there seems to be plenty of interest in an April bootcamp, so I’m going to start the count-down to booking.
With Christmas right in the way (my Scrooge instincts come into play now…!) I’m goign to set a date in January, and give you morenotice than usual.
So, I will be opening booking on Friday evening, the 12th of January 2018, at 21.00hrs, or 9pm.
I will publish the booking reference at 9 on the 12th of January here, so you will need to be able to get to a computer then.
Important
The price this year will be marginally higher, I’m afraid, because everything else is going up, so running the bootcamp is also getting more and more expensive. However, I am keeping the rise as low as possible, so bootcamps in 2018 will cost £285, plus a £10 booking fee (they’ve been £250+£10 for a while).
After the April event, we will also be having to charge VAT, which will make bootcamps from June (if it runs) onwards approximately £340 + £10 booking fee
4 Likes
Do we pay at the time we sign up? By credit card I assume?
(Clearly I’m a greenhorn at this!)
I’m your fellow Ebenezer (before he was turned)!
Yes Sionned - the booking system includes a payment through PayPal, which means either by your personal PayPal account if you have one, or via a Credit or Debit card. The advantage of the PayPal system is that they accept most payment cards, whereas our own in-house system is a bit more restricted.
For clarity, the booking payment is not refundable, so if you cancel, you won’t get a refund unless someone else takes your place, which usually happens if the cancelation is early enough. So please take out holiday insurance to cover unexpected circumstances! If someone does take your place, then we will refund the booking minus the £10 fee (which PayPal will have taken from us). Of course, if we cancel for some reason, then we will refund everything in full, although I realise that won’t help people who have booked flights from abroad etc.
We have only ever cancelled for a lack of numbers though, and there is no lack of numbers here!
2 Likes
Hi Iestyn
The Bishop of St Davids would love to do this but for that particular week is unable to due to it being Holy Week. Would you kindly keep me informed when the next boot camp is being run please? Diolch
1 Like
Yes certainly. I’ve pencilled in dates for the end of June, the end of July and the end of September - we choose which weeks to run by how many people show an interest when we announce the date.
If you subscribe to the 2018 bwtcamp thread (which I have just opened) here, then you will get notifications when new dates are announced.
2 Likes
Hi. I’m interested but Ive only been learning for a very short time. As a complete beginner will I be disadvantaged? What’s the format? Is it Welsh speaking only for the whole week?
Hi @nevilleeden.
Bootcamps aren’t for complete beginners, but if you have done course one or level one with SSIW you have learned enough Welsh for a bootcamp to be a great boost to you. You aren’t ‘taught’ new stuff, but you may pick it up during the week. What you will do is learn to use the stuff you do already know and surprise yourself in the process.
I’ve been to several and in one I met a young woman (not @Novem) who had worked her way through the required material in under a month. While she was pretty exceptional and it certainly isn’t required that you go through the material at that pace, it does indicate that if you put the work in now you could attend and benefit from any one of the bootcamps in 2018. Go for it.
2 Likes
Thanks @margaretnock - so you mean all 25 lessons for Level 1? Ive done 3 so far and attended 4 x 2.5 hour “taster classes” with https://www.popethcymraeg.cymru/
Perhaps I’ll attend one later or really go for it and study hard before April.
1 Like
Please keep me posted 
Ange
All of level 1. Anything else is additional. All of level 1 is essential. Anything else is a bonus. Gives you something to aim for.
2 Likes
It’s certainly possible for you to complete level 1, and even most of level 2, before the April bootcamp, which would then put the cherry onto a particularly impressive cake, and make you a Welsh speaker after only about 6 months of learning. You’d need to do 2 challenges a week between now and the start of bwtcamp, you’d be about half way through level 2, and have plenty of Welsh, and a huge momentum, to really enjoy yourself.
The best thing to do if you are considering that is to try it between now and the 12th of January (4 weeks), and if you have done at least 8 more lessons in 4 weeks time than you have now (preferrably a couple more than that), then you might seriously consider paying your money and coming on bwtcamp. After all, if you’re going to become a Welsh speaker, you might as well become one in April rather than wait til later!
The counter-argument (and the contra-indication) is that you will find yourself under quite a bit of pressure if things don’t go to plan, which will cause you problems if you don’t react well to the pressure. you could end up hating the process, which isn;t a good way to start a bwtcamp! Have a look at the last point of the FAQs that I put up on the 2018 Bwtcamp page earlier - it will give you a better idea of what level of Welsh you will need, and whether you are confident that you can reach it.
I know that you can reach it, is whether you will enjoy the process, and whether you will get the most out of bwtcamp that concerns us here!
Just to add, there will be more bwtcamps over the year, but I’m not 100% as to when at the moment.
3 Likes
Shw mea, Angela!
There’s booking information at the top of the page - this bwtcamp will be booking on the 12th of January, and the link will be posted here that evening. if you want to know about any other bwtcamps, you’ll need to keep an eye on the 2018 Bwtcamp page.
1 Like
Diolch Iestyn, interested :).