The good people at Fflic (who make Hwb) say that they’ve loved your company on the Hwb stall in Maes D in the Eisteddfod these last couple of years, and it would be great to see you again in Llanelli - for what I presume is, very sadly, going to be the last time we’ll see Hwb at the Eisteddfod…
I’ve stuck up a Doodle for you to choose times if you’d like to volunteer - with a maximum 4 people per time slot so that it doesn’t all get too lop-sided…
For anyone who’s thinking about this but hasn’t done it before, don’t worry about the level of your Welsh - Maes D is the one place in the Eisteddfod where people who happen to speak more Welsh than you do will mostly just be genuinely relieved, and grateful to you for making them feel good about themselves…
Sadly, I can’t go this year but have done the stand a few times and it’s a lot of fun. As Aran says it’s a great place to use your Welsh and the Fflic crew are really nice people.
All set, see you there, 2pm Wednesday and from 11am all day Thursday, bring flags, banners and yourselves.----------hope you noticed ma’e hen Ddraig Coch a’r fford Tour de France dros y sul.
Sp glad to hear there’ll be a stond to staff this year, and I’d encourage anyone to give it a go - lots of fun, and makes you feel truly part of the Eisteddfod!
Hanging out at the stand and being friendly – that’s really about it. The two years I did it (2011 & 2012), I generally started conversations (sometimes with people who looked too tentative to open a conversation) with ‘Wyt ti’n dysgu Cymraeg?’ and then went from there in Welsh or in English depending on their response and my own capabilities. Often it would go into a discussion of SSIW and/or Hwb, but just as often in all sorts of other directions – where to practice, what their family history with the language had been, all sorts of stuff.
Aran - I have signed-up for a couple of sessions on Saturday and Tuesday. Any further directions necessary or need we only show up at the stand at the designated time(s)?
Just bumping this up! It really is lots of fun on the stand - you just hang out and chat with people, no more strenuous than that. Plus you get a lovely bonus when people come up to you out of the blue and state that they are learning with SSiW and tell you how much it means to them and how it has helped them. Then they ask if any of the Fab Four are actually present and go all star-struck when they first see them. Honestly!! I’ve seen it every year!!
I’ll be around but dressed as a Viking and with my nephew in trail on the Dyfed Archaeological Trust stand Wednesday and Thursday. So if anyone fancies turning their hand to tablet weaving, chainmail making or a game of tawlbwrdd do come over!
To everyone who’s going to the Eisteddfod, have a great week!
I hope the HWB stand and Maes D are a big success and become a warm and welcoming hive of social activity for learners of all stages.
Ifan (kinetic) is leaving us in Mynytho today to travel down to Llanelli for a week of camping. We are ‘treating’ ourselves to a week off this year and won’t be attending the Eisteddfod. It can be quite an expedition with small kids - costly and tiring, so we’re taking a break for the first time in about 10 years!
I see that yet again this year, rain is promised, so don’t forget your waterproofs!
I was disappointed with Maes D this year. A friend and I went Sunday and it was dead. Just a few very bored looking folks manning some of the stands. No attempt by anyone to engage us in conversation. Any potential learners would have been put off big style. And the only Cymraeg i Odelion info was for the local area. Nothing for anywhere else.
Not a patch on the Maes D’s of 2010 & 2012.
Sorry to be so negative. We enjoyed the rest of the Eisteddfod and the location was the best I’ve been to.
That sounds like a real pity. Mind you, Sunday is often a particularly quiet day - the Eisteddfod has had to twist arms heavily to get people even to think in terms of opening their stalls on Sunday in the past…
