I was born in St Asaph to a Welsh dad (from Penrhyndeudraeth) & English mum. Growing up in North East Wales in the late 60s & 70s, we were taught Welsh a few hours a week in a very regimented way by rote. I didn’t know anyone who spoke Welsh outside of those lessons (teachers would speak in Welsh to each other so we couldn’t understand what they were saying) so never really had the opportunity to put anything into practice. My father died when I was 5 and by the time I was 14, and taking options, I there seemed no point in taking Welsh.
It’s bothered me for a long time that can’t speak my native language, to the extent I would say I am embarrassed. I have had a few false starts over the years, and remember some from school, but living in SW London has always made finding other Welsh speakers difficult, or so I thought. I have now joined the London Welsh Centre where I can meet fellow Cymru and intend to finally learn the language of my fathers.
What a powerful story, thank you for sharing it with us, and best wishes for your health. I’ll look forward to hearing how your learning journey goes with Welsh!
I remember the embarrassment, I felt that myself for a long time - I’d strongly urge you to work on letting go of it, since it wasn’t your fault you were deprived of the language growing up - try and replace it with pride that you’re doing something about it now 🙂
I have no idea whether or not I am on the right page for this, but this is why I have subscribed to SSiW.
I had a posting to Swansea in the late 50s and spent four wonderful years there. Although my work colleagues all spoke Welsh, I never tried to learn the language seriously. There was a very dear live-in caretaker in the building and she would get me to read from Y Bibel or Y Testament Newydd, so my Welsh was rather liturgical. I could say pob bendith i chi before I knew what Bore da meant.
I met someone back then - he was Welsh - and that resulted in a 65-year long friendship, which ended with his death recently. Thinking back to that time has made me want to learn the language properly.
Considering I’m such a technophobe and am now in my mid-eighties, my chances are slim, but I will persevere.
If you need any help, just ask and there will always be someone to help you. And age is no barrier, you can definitely still become a Welsh speaker.
We’ve had people learning in their eighties before, and sometimes they needed to go a little more slowly, but they got there with a great sense of satisfaction. I look forward to the day that we can congratulate you on your progress as well.
One way to boost your progress is to come into the online group sessions in Slack. If you need a hand with getting into those, just let me know.
I haven’t yet started SSIW but have been trying to learn Welsh on and off since I was a child, being born in Wrecsam and being Welsh! I feel ashamed that I cannot speak my native language and I want to be able to fix that. I actually became more interested in learning Welsh after moving to England in 2015, but have been struggling to learn it as I feel that I am not good with languages.
Well you’ve come to the right place, because it’s more than likely that you’ve not been taught well rather than you’re not good. I see you’ve just joined SSIW. I hope you have a great time.
Hi all , I want to learn Welsh as I was born in Llandrindod but I was adopted by English parents and brought up in England so I always thought of myself as English (supported England football team and everything but that’s not case now🤪) but I always felt pulled to wales and Welsh people if that makes sense .
My adoptive parents always encouraged me to explore my Welsh ancestry but I didn’t , felt like I was betraying them . I always wanted to learn the language and when I started working for transport for wales , I’d go Cardiff and Holyhead and hear people speaking Welsh and wish I could.
Anyway couple years ago my adoptive parents passed away so I did dna test and results were 80% Welsh .
This encouraged me to learn it , discovered SSIW and really enjoying it currently on week 18 level 1.
Thanks .
I was born and brought up in north Wales and got an O level in Welsh at school, but haven’t really used it since. My family was welsh-speaking but never spoke it at home in Colwyn Bay (which was mainly English speaking) and for this I’m annoyed and frustrated!! The welsh I learned at school wasn’t conversational with a mixture of north walian and south walian teachers. This has confused me and is making some of the things difficult to learn. I’ve always tried to speak a little with colleagues over the years but feel I now need to spend more time and a concerted effort to to more.
I never learnt Gest ti, Nest ti or ddudodd etc. so I’m guessing these topics were taught in the south walian forms? I also cannot remember all the different words for Yes and No depending on the tense etc and am looking forward to getting to know them.
On a positive note I can’t wait to be able to speak Welsh and am determined to stick with it. Very exciting
Hey everyone, so I can’t claim any Welsh ancestry (double nationality French-Chilean here) but I started to learn Cymraeg since the 1st of January this year out of love for the region and the sound of its language. I’m now on a 209ish streak on duolingo and at lesson 21 of level 1 on SSiW, or about 1h/day of study with both combined. So it’s all good, it’s so good I moved to Gwynedd last weekend and I now live between Caernarfon and Llanberis. Man it’s beautiful there.
BUT the big issue is that in spite of 7 months of consistent study I feel lost and quite intimidated when I listen to ppl talking in Cymraeg. I was probably very naive but I thought I’d be able to understand more somehow? I can only catch the occasional word here and there, if that. I’m a bit at a low point. Any feedback on how long it took to stop being terrified of Welsh speakers would be great
Welcome to this lovely part of Cymru, Mathias!
The thing to remember when you’re ‘out in the wild’ is that people will speak faster, they’ll have different accents, and they’ll use much more informal words and constructions than you’ll get on Duolingo (and on occasion even in SSiW!).
Some tips include -
Always start in Welsh (to encourage replies in Welsh)
Don’t be afraid to ask people to slow down or repeat things
Don’t be discouraged if they move to speaking English (many do this because they think they are being helpful, but try to keep the conversation in Welsh if you can)
Don’t worry about having to throw in English words, but do get back to Welsh as soon as you can.
Remember your first few sentences: Dwi’n dysgu Cymraeg. Siaradwch yn arafwch os gwelwch yn dda (and so on) - people will be very understanding and (hopefully) slow down for you.
This might sound a bit counterintuitive, but my advice would be to listen to as much as possible without purposely trying to understand it. (My way of doing this was to have Radio Cymru on in the background in the kitchen, in the car, etc.) That way you get used to the sounds and the cadences, and pretty soon bits & pieces that you know start to jump out at you.
Also (and I would say this, because it’s my job…) try to watch some programmes on S4C - you can use English subtitles if you want! If you don’t know where to start, PM me with some idea of the sort of programmes you usually like to watch and I’ll make some suggestions for you.
Thanks Sara and Siaron that’s very helpful and appreciated. I used to listen to Dros Brecwast on Radio Cymru but understood so little I was getting frustrated. I’ll give it another go though . I like some programs on S4C like Iaith am Daith and Am dro and find I understand a lot more when I can have Welsh subtitles. With English subtitles I end up cheating and just reading the English However I might be wrong but I’ve noticed the digital versions have Welsh subtitles less often than when watching through aerial?
The best way to get Welsh subtitles is to watch through Clic - they should all be available there. We’ve managed to get them onto the vast majority of our programmes now. Live programmes are still a problem, because the technology doesn’t really exist yet, but we’re rolling out Welsh subtitles on the evening news and on Heno from September - actual real people in the studio, typing really fast…
I never had the chance to learn Welsh in school. I really want to be more in touch with Welsh language and culture. I’m on week 10 and sticking with it.
I’m a Yorkshire man, I don’t live in Cymru but I do spend a lot of time in the north recreationally. I’ve always had a fascination with the language and wanted to learn more but the real catalyst for me came a few months back when I went mountain biking from Barmouth up into the national park.
I remember cycling up a very steep hill in the baking hot sun and meeting a smiling, happy farmer at the top who shouted “Creoso!” to me. I had no clue what that meant so I waved, said hello, and continued on my merry way. For some reason, the word stuck in my head and when I got home I googled what it meant and immediately felt a huge sense of regret knowing that the farmer was saying “Welcome”, how rude was I?
So there you go, a bit of an oddball story I know but that encounter led me to SSiW and here I am, 7 challenges in and I’ve never been as confused in my life, but I’m absolutely loving it. Mission number 1 is to learn enough to go back and thank the farmer properly for being so kind and also the reason for me learning Cymraeg. From there I would love it if I can learn enough to have real conversations with Welsh speakers when I’m out on my various adventures.
What a lovely story! So wonderful to hear that you felt welcomed (as did I up on Pen Llŷn last week driving along to the Eisteddfod - so many fabulous signs of welcome all the way along the road to the Maes). Pob lwc!
🙂
However I might be wrong but I’ve noticed the digital versions have Welsh subtitles less often than when watching through aerial?