I am going on holiday to Swansea for a week - 16th to 23rd March - and looking for places to practice my Welsh. I know of Tŷ Tawe’s coffee morning on Saturday mornings and Y Pantri cake and sandwich shop in Clydach.
I would be grateful for any other suggested places in Swansea that support Welsh speakers?
Update: from Menter Iaith Abertawe, I had a couple of pointers to Welsh-language gigs at Ty Tawe on Friday night 18th with Georgia Ruth + Gareth Bonello (they kindly made another ticket available after it was sold out because I am going on my own) and at Sin City (sincity.co.uk) on Tuesday 22nd with Horizons Tour of Wales. No idea what to expect, but that will add to the excitement!
Here is a summary of my Welsh language activities during my week in Swansea:
Met my partner from the mentoring scheme for lunch where we chatted in Welsh: Cynllyn Cefeillio, run by the National Centre for Teaching Welsh pairs early learners with someone learning at a higher level; my partner, Malcolm, is learning at Uwch (advanced) level and we chat weekly over WhatsApp
Visited the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea with Malcolm: man at the desk wore a ‘dysgwr’ lanyard so we all had a little chat in Welsh
Tŷ Tawe in Swansea (book shop downstairs and Menter Iaith offices behind): everyone here speaks Welsh; bought some books, chatted with Janet who runs the Cylch Clebran on-line chat which I attend, attended gig on Friday night featuring Georgia Ruth (harpist, guitarist, singer, predominately in Welsh), and attended Caffi Bore Sadwrn face-to-face chat behind the bookshop
Aroma cafe in Ammanford (in the arcade just down from the bus station): lady working there speaks Welsh and it says so on the menu (ordered and chatted a little in Welsh)
The Welsh Shop / Cyfoes Bookshop in Ammanford (just down from the Old Cross Inn): lady working there speaks Welsh, ordered and discussed the weather in Welsh (classic!)
Diod cafe in Llandeilo: unfortunately the waitress didn’t speak Welsh, but I was able to pay in Welsh because the guy behind the counter spoke Welsh
Siop Coffi in Llandeilo (next to Diod): again, the staff didn’t speak Welsh, but I did, and they seems to understand along with my gestures; luckily, I asked a lady to share her table and it transpired she was learning on DuoLingo, so we exchanged a few words in Welsh
Sin City in Swansea: Horizons Tour of Wales included Mari Mathias singing in Welsh
I look forward to my next excursion to Wales when I visit Wrexham in May. It was also suggested that there are many more Welsh speakers in Carmarthen and Llanelli, so I will also be considering them. Also, that Cardiff has many Welsh-language activities.
Prynhawn da Simon, Thanks for the review and kind words. As a business the Welsh language is very important to us with over 90% of our staff speaking Welsh. We have two members of staff currently who do not speak Welsh but they are learning, so hopefully we’ll be up to 100% very soon
Diolch eto
Thank you for this information, I am going to Mumbles in March and will certainly summon up the courage to check some of these places out. I am in the ver early stages of learning Welsh. Have reached level i lesson 10 so just need a little speaking practice