I started learning Welsh with SSiW because my grandfather was a fluent speaker, but it was never passed down. I always felt like something was missing,that why i joined this forum.
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I come back to SSiW again and again. when I first found SSiW it was only a couple years old, and I was an adoptee who didn’t know much about my actual heritage other than it was probably largely celtic of some sort. While I’ve since found out my ancestry’s largely Irish, at the time I was declared by the SSiW forums (back in probably like 2011 or so) to be honorarily Welsh, and that’s meant the world to me since.
I’ve never managed to get particularly far into the course, but I’ve never fully given up, because this language is beautiful, and it means so much to me, because I really needed that acceptance and support (as small as it was) at the time I first found this course.
I will always come back. One day I’ll actually be able to hold a conversation! In the meantime, at least I’ve had a LOT of practice pronouncing “LL” over the years lol.
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Both my paternal grandparents were born in North Wales, and came to the US before my dad was born. Dad had no interest in learning the language, and by the time I had any interest, my grandmother had passed away (my grandfather died right around when my dad was born). I found some BBC class online a decade or more ago, but never got anywhere with it. Found out last year that Duolingo handled Welsh, so I’ve been doing that, but I can’t say it’s really been sticking. Friends came to visit us in New Hampshire who have a place in Caernarfon, and I asked them about learning the language. He doesn’t speak it, but she’s been learning through SSiW. He mentioned that she was able to have a discussion in Welsh with the roofing contractor working on their Caernarfon cottage, just based on what she was able to learn through SSiW, and that caught my attention!
I’m about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd challenge in level 1, so I have a long way to go! But I’m finding myself running through the phrases in the shower, which never happened with Duolingo, so I’m hopeful this will help me make progress.
My ultimate hope is that we’ll be able to travel to North Wales one of these years, and I’d like to be able to speak enough of the language to get by. I have visited family there twice, and the cousin we stayed with in Criccieth mentioned that, if you speak Welsh, the prices in the shops are often a bit cheaper. 
Now if I could only track down the family members from my generation… (the cousin we stayed with was my father’s generation, and she has long since passed.)
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Welcome aboard @faith-senie! There’s a small group of SSiW learners living in the US and Canada who chat online in the open Welsh Speaking Practice Slack group. I’ve sent you an invitation so you can join in if you’re interested.
With a subscription, you’re also entitled to join our SSiW Community Chat Slack group and participate in online partner and group chats led by a tutor. They are at various times, so some may be suitable for you. Let me know if you’d like an invitation to that.
Helo
Sut Wyt ti?
Loved your response
I’m looking to move to Wales.
Hopefully it’s more affordable?
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In June of 2025 my wife, two kids, and I made a trip to the UK. We are from Huntingdon Pennsylvania it is a very small town in Central Pennsylvania. We Started our trip in Lydney, England as that was where a friend was from. We rented a car spent a few days in that area exploring and then the next half of the trip was spent exploring northern Wales. We drove over a large area. We started in Betws y Coed and spent one night, then we made our way over to Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant. We used Llanrhaeadr as our base and made day trips to waterfalls, castles, Conwy, Red Wharf Bay and still felt as if we didnt get to see enough. We fell in love with Wales. We loved Llanrhaeadr and made every attempt to visit the pubs and local shops and interact with the residents. I wouldnt say we are your typical travelers we would much rather stay in a small town and visit the areas the locals frequent rather than get a tourist saturated feel. We strive for authentic. Wales felt like home and we loved everything about it. When we got back to the states I wanted to learn more I watched videos on History, Traditions, Culture whatever I could find. I was always aware I had Welsh ancestry but never knew how prevalent until I told people in the pub my last name was Evans and they replied you most certainly have Welsh ancestors. I started to research and found out that I can trace my family back to New Radnor, Wales. They came to Pennsylvania in the 1600’s. It was so interesting and I wanted more to understand my welsh heritage. Call it genealogical or just by circumstance but Wales made me so happy and it was fitting that I had a direct line family line to the country. I wanted to feel connected but it was very hard being so far away. In my research I came across so much information about the Welsh language and how it is making a comeback after campaigns of suppression. I decided the best way to pay tribute and learn about my ancestors culture if i couldnt be there would be to learn the language. I would love to live there but it just isnt currently in the cards so this will have to do. It has been a great experience and challenge the only other language i can speak is English. Say something in Welsh is great it allows me to practice on the go with the phone and you have access to so many people that are more than willing to help. I hope to get to know everyone better and utilize this forum to find other people to chat with and expand my fluency. Currently I am still in the beginning stages but what i can say to the whole team at SSIW and everyone that has been so helpful is Diolch yn fawr iawn!
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I’ve been learning Welsh on and off for ages. Bit I decided to accept a job offer in s bilingual organisation and now I have to use Welsh everyday. I’ve stopped learning for a hobby and now learning as a real need!
As a hobby it was easier. No pressure. Learn what I enjoy etc. Bit not I realise how much I don’t know, the accents I struggle with and the local dialects. But it’s full emersion and forcing me to take that brave step forward
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Well done indeed - that is a brave step, but getting thrown in at the deep end is absolutely one of the best ways to learn! (and I speak from experience, I went through a similar thing!)
Dal ati!
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Da iawn ti! Using the language every day is absolutely the key - I know my Welsh has come on so much since I first started working in a Welsh-essential job.
Don’t let it put too much pressure on you though! There’s always something you don’t know (just this morning I had to look up a word someone had used in an email to me), but that’s the same in English. If you learn one new thing every day, by the end of the year you’ll have learned 365 new things, and that’s loads!
Pob lwc! And come back to ask if you need any support
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I’ve been using SSIW for about a year now and supplement it with Duolingo. I started the whole Welsh learning process about 2 years ago.
I was brought up in Wales in the 60s and 70s but in my schooldays I found that Welsh was taught in English medium schools as an academic exercise rather than as a spoken colloquial language. Obviously some bits stuck but I was unable to understand or have a conversation with anyone.
So the trigger for me to learn the language after nearly 50 years of disinterest was that my 2 granddaughters started in Welsh medium education. I felt that this was the opportunity I needed to properly embrace the language. I felt that it was important to be able talk to them in their own (and my) language.
The good news is that with the help of SSIW and Duolingo, I can, albeit at a fairly basic level, hold a conversation with them. Even if it is at the level of “what did you do in school today?”, “what are you doing at the weekend?”, “did you enjoy the show at the Millennium Centre?” etc.
I also now take every opportunity to talk to Welsh speakers I meet. Little opportunity in Swansea but more further West. I can always find someone at the bird watching place in Penclacwydd to say " dylech chi fod wedi bod yma bum munud yn ôl"
It’s a continuing long journey, the greatest difficulty being extending my vocabulary. The key for me in getting this far is constant repetition as I find it difficult to retain words I come across infrequently. I’m hopeful that there will be extensions to the SSIW course to introduce newer vocabulary.
I sometimes confuse coffee shop people with my garbled requests (e.g. when I confused “hardd” with “hawdd” the other day) but I’ve now reached the point at my age where I’m beyond embarrassment.
Good luck everyone.
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Dw i ddim erioed wedi siarad am fy ‘Journey to Welsh’, achos does dim hanes teulu siarad Cymraeg, mae fy mam yn dod o Lloegr, ac mae fy nhad yn dod o’r Alban. Ach pan o’n plentyn, tuag unarddeg oed, Cymro oedd fy athro, ac dywedodd e wrtha fi mod fy enw yn enw Cymraeg.
Felly dechreuais ymddiddori yn y Cymraeg (ag enwau hefyd).
Roedd Coleg i ddynion gweithiol yn cynnig gwers Cymraeg, ond ers pan oeddwn i’n blentyn, dywedon nhw rhaid i mi gael caniatad oddi wrth fy mhrifathro. Ges i ganiatad, ac cerddais i yn gyffrous i gofrestru. Roedd 45 munydiad ar droed i’r Coleg, ond pan gyrhaeddais i meddan nhw allwn plant ddim yn ystudio gyda’r oedolion. Roeddwn i’n drist iawn. Yn yr 1980au, does dim ‘internet’ felly does dim opsiynau arall. Felly roedd rhaid i mi aros.
Yn yr ysgol, astudiais i Lladin a’r Iaith Groeg, a Ffrangeg, ag arosais i. Yn y pen draw, es i i’r Caergrawnt i astudio Eingl-Sacsonaidd, Norseg a Cheltaidd. Astudio yr iaith Cymraeg!. Cymraeg canol. O’r diwedd, ar ol i mi orffen astudio, es i i’r Llanbed i wneud Wlpan.
Ar y ffordd, darganfyddais i y gallai pobl eraill syrthio mewn cariad a phobl, ond rwy’n syrthio mewn cariad ag ieithoedd. Nawr, dw i’n trio dod o hyd i gyfle i ymarfer ond ar hyn o bryd dw i’n dysgu Tseineg (Taiwan), Coreeg, ac newydd dechrau Japaneeg.
I’m a little unsure of some of this Welsh, but it’s been nice to get to use it.
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I first experienced immersive learning by accident. In 1976 I supervised and trained 24 local surveyors in Algeria, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week .They all spoke Arabic or French but no English. I had a smattering of French from school which became our starting point. After lots of arm waving and pointing my vocabulary improved and after 3 months I could hold a rudimentary chat with them and others at work. This improved quickly with use and I considered myself quite good.
Several years later I was chatting with expats in a bar in Khartoum, following the conversation and chucking in my twopennorth, after a while one asked where I’d learnt French because it was disgusting that I swore so frequently. A consequence of learning on a men only construction site!
Fast forward to 2011 working in Libya, I was on leave when their revolution started but my employer eventually said my area of the desert was free of fighting and I should return.
All of my 4x4’s had been commandeered and no contractors had returned and with absolutely nothing to do started surfing the net , eventually finding the original SSi.
It saved my sanity over the following months. I continued studying when I returned home and made good progress for a while.
Various family illnesses and trauma interrupted and each time I return to studying I start from early stages but am enjoying it now.
I particularly like the new format of these pages.
Incidentally, between 1976 and 2011 I worked around Africa and the Middle East with various nationalities and can swear in Arabic, Swahili, Serbian and Polish (Maltese too but that’s mostly the same as Arabic).
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This is a particularly brilliant SSiW origin story! Learning Welsh in the desert in Libya in the middle of a revolution, wow. I’d love to hear the full story
Why Welsh? My story is far more simplistic than many.
After moving to Cardiff from Liverpool in the early 70’s, due to my dad’s work as a truck driver, I progressed through the entire Welsh school system from infants, through primary and secondary school and even went to technical college. All without learning Welsh.
In 1988 I became a truck driver myself in South Wales and worked through the last gaspings of the Welsh coal industry and more recently, Welsh steel.
All without learning Welsh. Or so I thought.
Recently, aged 60, I met a beautiful intelligent woman who’s entire life, both professional and personal, takes place in Welsh and I quickly realised if I wanted to play some small part in her life I had better pull my finger out and learn. And so, in the second week of June this year I started my learning journey. Armed with my lady friend as coach and mentor (and SSI on my phone).
Mainly because of Aran’s brilliant teaching method its fair to say. The ‘Lego’ method my girlfriend calls it. It all plugs into each other so beautifully, making the learning journey so much easier.
Dw i’n mynd
Dw i’n mynd dysgu
Dw i’m mynd dysgu siarad
Dw i’n mynd dysgu siarad Cymraeg
Dw i’n mynd dysgu siarad Cymraeg, heddiw, ac bob dydd.
I hadn’t realised how much Welsh had via osmosis, seeped into my very being over the years. The tricky Welsh pronunciations were picked up quickly and thanks to SSI I was after only a few weeks, practising short Welsh sentences out in the wilds of South Wales.
Fair to say I don’t understand most of the replies at this stage 
. But having changed my radio station to Radio Cymru 2, and becoming an avid viewer of Pobol y Cwm 
I’m slowly getting an ear for Welsh language.
All thanks to SSI. So thank you Aran and Catrin. For making the Welsh language seem so very much more in reach than I thought it would be for an old saes truck driver like me.
Hwyl 
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For all those people who say they can’t learn languages I’ve always thought that being in love is a powerful motivator!
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What a gorgeous story! And while people have many reasons for learning Welsh, all of which are interesting and valid, I find love (for one’s heritage and for a special person) is such a strong motivator.
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We often talk about it as lego! We even use ‘legos’ as one of our terms in the Popty (which is where we build courses) 
Thank you for this lovely story. 
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