Wish I knew Leeds well enough to help! Hope you manage to track it down in the end… 
Hi, just thought I’d share my thoughts about today’s meeting. The first thing to say is that I felt it went really well and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The new structure was very helpful indeed in allowing everyone to contribute, whatever their level of Welsh, and the amount of Welsh being spoken was greatly increased as a result. I thought the animal game was particularly good practise as it was off-the-cuff rather than prepared Welsh and needed a little lateral thinking sometimes to get round not knowing all the right words to describe the creature on the card.
I also found it helpful that after someone had done their bit in Welsh, someone else would repeat as much as they’d understood in English as this allowed the Welsh speaker to know how much had been successfully conveyed as well as allowing the listeners to check their understanding and ensuring that those with less Welsh weren’t being left behind.
I hope very much that future meetings can continue in this format and look forward to the next time I’m able to come.
Diolch yn fawr iawn to all of you who were there today - your contributions were interesting and entertaining and meant that I came away having learned quite a few new words. 
5 Likes
The directions seem to have got rather lost at the top of this thread so I will repeat them here in updated form:
If you come out of the main entrance of Leeds railway station and
turn to the right, along the row of waiting taxis, then the Brewery Tap
is on the left opposite Evans Cycles.
We meet in the upstairs room from 12:00 noon onwards with most people
arriving by 1:00pm and leaving any time up to about 3:30pm.
PS I have replied to Danny to ensure that we don’t miss him next time.
1 Like
Well, the new structure seemed to work well so we have decided that we will be repeating it in February with some changes of topic as follows:
12:00 to 13:00 - meet, food, chatter.
13:00 to 13:30 - Say Something in Welsh about a hobby of your choice. You can prepare notes if you wish.
13:30 to 14:00 - Carys is bringing a new game for this meeting.
14:00 to 14:30 - Dim Saesneg - The same animal game that we used in January. This allows everyone to ask and answer questions.
If you are not yet able to say it all in Welsh then say as much as you can in Welsh and then fill in an odd gap with an English word or two. It is a bit on the scary side for many of us so don’t worry about it, just do what you can.
We can extend this time beyond the 30 minutes if the need arises.
See you on the 28th
Raymond
3 Likes
Totally agree with you Flora. It was a good meeting. Liked the new format. Thanks Raymond for organising it. Look forward to February.
Tuesday 24th special showing of ‘Hedd Wyn’ (Welsh with English subtitles) at Hyde Park Picture House Free admission as sponsored by Leeds University 6pm start
Hey guys. Just wondered whether there are any meetings in the near future in Leeds? I tend to be up there on an increasingly regular basis so a meeting might work for me in the near future - and get me a bit more involved with Welsh than I currently am having had the best part of a year away from the language. Thanks.
1 Like
Hi Welshspringbok! Croeso n’ôl!
Are you getting the weekly email? Have a look in the FAQ if you need to register again for it. The list of meetups at the end shows that the Leeds meetup happens on the 4th Saturday of the month, 12 noon, in the Brewery Tap. I’m sure they’ll welcome you along.
Dee
1 Like
Much appreciated Dee. Think I was receiving the email but to a long since defunct account - so I have updated it.
If you go back to message 20 in this thread you will find all the booked dates for 2015.
We now have a semi-formal structure to our meetings intended to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity at an appropriate level. Message 32 will give you an outline if you don’t want to read all the discussion.
We’ll be pleased to see you at Leeds. Will you be on your own? We use the upstairs room and there is no bar in there but I could check if children would be OK if you want.
Raymond
1 Like
There is a huge NHS Support Rally/March in Leeds on Saturday beginning 11.30 at the City Hall Why not support this prior to the meet-up?
Thanks. Having looked at the diary, it will be June before I can get to Leeds. Meeting up with folk in Sheffield this month, coaching at a football tournament in April and in Czech Republic in May. Looks relatively clear for the rest of the year from June onwards though.
My daughter has not done Welsh for a while but has been badgering me to get her started again, so there is a decent chance that she would like to come if regulations allow.
As a topic for Saturday’s meeting I would like to suggest that we describe what we saw of the eclipse last Friday whether live, on the TV or on-line. Does that sound OK?
Raymond
The topic for the April meeting is to be ‘what we have been doing in our Spring gardens’. Please take your turn to speak for one minute on this topic without hesitation or deviation but including lots of repetition!!
1 Like
I have been wondering whether we should consider finding another venue for the Leeds meeting, given the difficulty we had last time in hearing what was being said (whether in Welsh or English) which I think will only get worse during the warmer months. What does everyone else think? Does anyone know of somewhere quieter that we might go (a cafe perhaps?).
At the May meeting we would like everyone to say something in Welsh about the clothes they are wearing on the day.
I realise it offers opportunities for people to minimise the amount they need to say but I hope everyone will be fully dressed!
3 Likes
When are you meeting up in June? I would like to come. I will be travelling from Barnsley.
Next meeting is on 27 June and we will look forward to meeting you.
Some of us travel by bus and others by train. Message 20 in this thread has the dates for the rest of 2015. Also, message 1 has directions from the railway station.
It would probably be a good idea to read the discussion starting at message 21 as far as message 45 to explain how we now have some structure to each meeting. I will post the topic for June’s meeting on this thread. We have found it very helpful that we ensure everyone present gets to say something entirely in Welsh. It’s not onerous, the group is very supportive and there is the opportunity to prepare in advance. What it does, though, is change the emphasis of the meeting to speaking Welsh while maintaining an inclusive attitude.
1 Like
The topic to prepare for next meeting is to describe your journey to the meeting. It can be as exciting as the Queen’s arrival at the Olympics or completely mundane; just don’t let the truth get in the way of adding to our vocabulary!
3 Likes
Sorry. Wont be able to come on Saturday.