Noticed today that in my local ASDA, theres a Welsh language option on the self checkout - I live in Leicester!
This got me thinking about where else I had come across the Welsh language unexpectedly.
The only time that springs to mind is many years ago I bumped into a group of Welsh speakers in the suburbs of Tallinn.
Anybody else got an interesting or amusing occasion where they’ve come across the language when or where they didn’t expect to?
Kochi city, Shikoku island in Japan, 2017. Although it was planned. A young woman who happened to grow up about 4 miles from where I live. I met her twice on my trip when she looked after some belongings for a few weeks before and after my pilgrimage around the island.
Wow thats really cool. A bit more exciting than the local supermarket!
I’d met Hannah at a book signing in Cardiff the previous year. She spent a couple of years teaching English in Japan before going to S Korea, and then back to the UK. All our conversation in Japan was in Welsh which she was kind enough to say was very good.
In the south east of England I used a McDonalds self-service till in Welsh the other day to order… it did help the it has pictures of the food too 
Fun practise tho!
Mac Fawr diolch?
One Christmas, a few years ago when I was staying in London, I was walking through a park and there were two gents sitting on a seat talking to each other. Out of the blue I said to them “Nadolig Llawen”. Both of them replied “Nadolig Llawen”. I was taken aback and we had a bit of a conversation and they had both come from Swansea originally, but now living in London.
It’s a small world!
An exciting update on this! I say exciting, I was in an ASDA on a Friday evening…
Not only do the self checkouts in Leicester display in Welsh, they’ve started to talk - rather loudly.
Got a bit of a shock when it shouted CROESO at me. And yes its just as impatient as the English version. “Cymryd eich eitemau” eto, ac eto, ac eto.
Ap fawr, Shirley? 
Haha, that took me a moment to get!
One of my favourite places in the little village of Uralla, where I live, is the brewery.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be ordering beers in Welsh until one day just before Christmas I met the new barkeeper, a young man named Carwyn, from Cricieth. A fair bit of Welsh ensued, and the locals even wanted us to speak Welsh for them so they could hear what spoken Welsh sounds like. Unfortunately, Carwyn has moved on now.
Thats amazing!
Anybody happen to see the use of Welsh on Taskmaster on Channel 4 last night? For one of the tasks the contestants had to avoid “the terrible tie” (has to be seen to be understood I think!). There were dozens of ties many of which had Welsh sentences on, with one of course being “Dyma’r tei ofnadwy”.
Whenever I see Welsh language being represented or discussed on mainstream TV I quite often hold my breath waiting for someone to say something unfortunate - but no one batted an eyelid despite not understanding the words. Quite refreshing really
Yes, I’m a huge fan of Taskmaster (never missed an episode!), so when Steve Pemberton got that one I knew it was all over for him before that fact was revealed in the scoring. And it was nice that they recognised that it was Welsh during the task, too.
I was in the UK in the last two weeks, visiting Scotland and Oxford - so not very Welsh. However, I was amazed (and delighted) to see a narrowboat moored in Oxford called “Cariad Cyntaf”. Since I’m still very much a beginner in Welsh, I took a picture for my wife, saying that there was a boat with a Welsh name that I actually understood (*insert semi-proud face)
I was then even more amazed that a passer-by stopped to look at the boat’s name - saying he was from Oxford but was brought up in North Wales. When he said that there aren’t that many Welsh speakers in Oxford, I said that I actually am from Belgium, where Welsh speakers are even rarer. Turns out that the guy used to work in my home city for a couple of years 
In short: what are the Welsh words for “unexpected places” and “huge coincidence”? 
That’s a lovely story - and proves mae’n byd bach (it’s a small world!)
unexpected places = llefydd annisgwyl
huge coincidence = cyd-ddigwyddiad enfawr
As I mentioned in another thread, managed to find this atlas, partially in Welsh, in a museum in Antwerp!
I went to the local hospital just outside Abingdon, Oxfordshire, for an X ray. On the door was a notice telling people to warn the radiographer if they might be pregnant. This was in English and then in a variety of other languages, of which the first was Welsh. It’s probably standard all over the UK, but I had never seen it before.
@CalonGoch-Felen , if you are ever visiting Oxford again and free on a Friday at midday, try visiting the Weston Library in Broad Street. We meet in the area with sofas, to the right as you go in.
Sue
That’s rather annoying, because it means I just walked by there during a meeting. Ah well, always a next opportunity 
The narrowboat doesn’t belong to one of you, does it? 
Hello @CalonGoch-Felen
You can follow us here Oxford Welsh learners group - Welsh / Meetups/Events - SSi Forum (saysomethingin.com)
What a shame that you walked right past. Do let us know if you are coming our way again.
As far as I know, none of us own the narrow boat.
Sue
