Ti’n caredig iawn. You’re very kind @tatjana. It was and remains a pleasure to meet all sorts and kinds of passionate learners of Cymraeg wherever and whenever!
Ah, what a week! I think of it often. Thanks to you too, Tatjana. Anthony’s right - it wouldn’t have been the same without you. And I’m honoured to have met you in the real world!
Diolch i bawb.
The honour is at both sides then. I think often about that week aswell.
It was so great to finally meet you after getting to know you on the forum. I hope it’s not too long until we see you again.
Polyglot conference in Ljubljana, maybe?
I was certainly very happy to see you for verious reasons. Your call of my name was like a miracle. The first thought was: “Oh, well, who could know me here?”
Everyone at SSIW, especially Aran, for just being there, and supporting learners - especially those of us who have picked up and put down the learning over a longer period of time, for various reasons, and are still so willing to help.
I am determined to get there !
Well, there’s one in Bratislava at the end of May, but I don’t have definite plans to go to it … would be nice though. How far is Bratislava from Ljubljana?
They say there’s one in Ljubljana in the Autumn (if I remember correctly) so that’s why I’ve asked.
the distance from Bratislava to Ljubljana is about 450 km so about 4,5 hours with the car.
You do remember correctly. The Gathering is in May in Bratislava and the Conference is in Ljubljana in October. I went to both last year and intend to do the same this year. Both are lots of fun but if I had to choose I would go with the Gathering, mostly because it’s longer.
@anon86454181, @Iestyn and their two girls were the hosts of that magnificent bootcamp I’ve talked in my previous diolch post, the family which has the song always on their mouth no matter what strikes them. It was magnificent to hear them literally waking up with the song and with the song going to bed late at night. This was surely one of those happy things which kept us, bootcampers, going on even when we thought we’d stop, not being able to move on. At least I was the one who felt that way and for this I’m endlssly grateful. How they live with the bootcamp and bootcampers is the wonder of this World.
Not they just spread the love toward this magnificent language called Cymraeg but there’s love toward Welsh music and songs spreading all around. I don’t sing particularly well even in Slovene what in Welsh but all that singing made me want to sing more and more. I have to admit that nowdays I don’t sing very often and unfortunatelly I forgot most of the lyrics of any Welsh song but the love for Welsh music remained. From the days of Bootacmp in 2016, where there was a lot of singing but never enough though, I’ve bought quite some Welsh albums or single songs which I surely wouldn’t if there wouldn’t be that most happy activity on the bootacmp - singing - and you Cat, Iestyn and girls were our (well at least my though) inspiration. So, this twenty-second diolch goes to you!
Music is universal language of life and love, they say and you surely are living proof of this.
Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi bawb.
Hwyl!
Tatjana
Wednesday evening I came home from Wales, having spent two weeks without Bootcamp or SSiW party, but speaking nothing but Welsh.
A big, big Thank you to
Dee, who made me feel like a part of her family
Iestyn, Cat and their children, who invited me not only to tea and chat, but also to Ioan’s birthday party
Bronwen, who did not only host me, but arranged a little party
Isata and Helen, who came to this party
Siaron, who came over from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, just for a paned a sgwrs
and last but not least John, friend and guide to secret jewels around Y Bala.
These days are unforgetable and I still dream and think in Welsh.
I had to wait to write this, because my ability to speak or write English had gone towards zero.
Diolch o’r waelod fy nghalon.
No, I didn’t forget this topic so after a while, let’s continue my Diolch journey with my twenty-third diolch post.
You already know that my Diolch posts are rather crhonically ordered than by who I’d like to thank the most. All of you, no matter, mentioned here or not, deserve equally special thanks for whatever you’ve done for this forum, SSi and for me with that because if each and every one of you wouldn’t be here, it wouldn’t be SSi either in the form and as great as it is. However some people just need more exposure as they had the chance and opportunity to reach out to me in order to help even more but not all of such people are on here or they don’t even learn Welsh or any other language for that matter but I still owe them my deepest gratitude as they enabled me to go the learning path I am walking and I hopefully will walk in the future.
One of such people is one of my two dearest people in my life who I say and show my gratitude in person every day however I still feel the need to express my gratitude to him on here too as he made many things on my learning path possible including my visit to Wales and happy staying there for almost two weeks two years ago. Many of you probably have already figured out who this person might be but for all the rest … He is my husband Toni. All my life with him he supported me no matter what my inventive projects were and with my learning Welsh there was no exception. Besides all of you here, he encouraged me every time when I was down for who knows what reason. He was there every time when I tend to beat myself about not getting the things right or when I thought I just can’t learn the language as fast and efficient as I (so I thought) should. There are of course many other occassions besides learning Welsh when he always came to my aid (and he still does of course) but I won’t spread the word here about that.
So, thank you my dear husband for every single minute you’ve encouraged me, when you were here for me on and off my Welsh learning path. Without you I never would acheaved as much as I did and I would never see this wide white world (read so desired Wales) and had such a great time there and elswhere where we went together. Thank you also for your endless help with @margarettnock’s visit also two years ago, and @brigitte’s last year’s visit, which both wouldn’t be so great without you being involved in any way possible.
And of course … thank you for that occassional “hoffi coffi” exclamation when you bring it for both of us or when you’re eager to drink one and I just am not aware of that desire at the time.
Despite you don’t learn Welsh, I’ll say Diolch yn fawr iawn am y popeth caru fy ngwr fi!
Thank you for “speaking” Welsh if only just “bore da” and “hoffi coffi”.
I’ve met your lovely husband. You are both lucky with each other.
Yes. we are. Diolch.
And we’re both very happy we’ve met you. We often remember those days.
From TN to OK…before heading south of the equator to where the summer never dies (it’s 39c or 102.2f today) I last lived in Broken Arrow, Tulsa Oklahoma.
Our plumber was an awesome Apache man who could sit on the bottom of the pool for close to five minutes. Native Americans also know the value and the pain of denial of language and history as well as land-clearances and transportation
A big thank-you to the hundreds of people who have posted on the ‘Why I want to be a Welsh speaker’ thread on this forum. When I’m feeling despondent about my snail-like progress in Welsh, I catch up on these heartfelt stories from all over the world. And I’m reminded that I’m not in a race, but in a community of some of the loveliest people on the planet.
Pff baw, pish and piffle! There’s nothing wrong with your progress, you just keep learning enough to judge yourself more and more harshly.
One of the most beautiful posts we’ve had on here in a long while…
And deeply, deeply true.
I include tough love in my definition of ‘loveliest’…
I was just saying this myself to fyn gariad yesterday. Part of a community spread across the world.