Hello from Mexico!

Helo pawb! I would love to share with you all my story about how I accidentally stumbled upon Welsh one day and fell totally and utterly head over heels in love with the language like a cat falling out a plane and landing in a field of infinite catnip.

I was born and grew up in the medieval Kingdom of Mercia, or in the now apt if slightly less splendiferous parlance, the Midlands. Having left the land of hope and glory in search of sunlight and more palatable food I eventually found myself on the outskirts of the thriving, vibrant metropolis that is Mexico City, my own little rincón del paraíso. You’re all very welcome to visit, it’s lovely! (…and no, I don’t work for the tourist board.)

Though my father worked in Wrexham for decades and provided me with the most common surname in Wales, unfortunately, I’m 100% English, at least by a few generations. So sorry if that in itself causes offence, I feel a bizarre compulsion to apologise for my very existence among my fellow islanders.

For even the most casual globetrotters among you, you’ll know modern English could not be described as a secret tongue. While it’s true my outbursts of colourful and vulgar vernacular in the heavily-congested streets of this global city are lost on most natives, - no doubt quick to judge my spoutings as the speech of someone two sandwiches short of a picnic, - my mother tongue has never truly felt like my language. English is the world’s language, it belongs (if you’ll forgive my strange use of possession for a moment), not to one small minority but to pretty much everyone born on planet Earth.

I promptly decided that this simply wasn’t good enough and if people were to constantly introduce me as British, as they so often do after exiting UK borders, then I had better embrace this newfound national identity (for a patriot I was not), and start learning another language from our beloved British Isles. My eyes turned eagerly homeward.

Is there any member of my close family that speaks a language other than English? Of course not! However my grandfather was born on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Perfect, I’ll learn Cornish! I hesitantly entered “learn Cornish” into Google who returned just shy of 800,000 results in a timely if perhaps mocking manner, as if learning Cornish was as common as frying an egg. One of those results caught my eye for one reason and one reason only…the word “something”. I figured if I could say something, just one single thing in Cornish, then I would already be on the right path, my personal journey to true Britishness (whatever that means and I suspect there’s no such thing), and the inevitable mastery of a British tongue. I clicked on the link. So what happened next?

I started learning Welsh.

After clicking on the SSi icon in the top left-hand corner of the page a list of languages popped up with Welsh topping the bill. This peaked my interest. Curiosity, the great bringer of knowledge, is in a roundabout way, curious in itself, and this time curiosity lead me down a decidedly Welsh path. Perhaps in that fleeting moment I wondered how easy Welsh would be to learn, the similarities, if any, to English and if it would be easier than Cornish to learn given the higher number of speakers but truthfully, we don’t always know why we do what we do, sometimes we just do. We reach for the other brand of washing powder, we turn left, not right at the traffic lights (madness!), and this time, curiosity guided me defiantly Welshward.

I already found North Wales infinitely beautiful and spent many glorious holidays there in my youth so I proudly began “Course 1” in North Welsh and here I am feeling pretty accomplished already, only 14 completed challenges later. The system is so fresh and rewarding for me but in equal measure unfamiliar. I ashamedly repeated the first few sessions several times, paused more often than I would have liked, stopped entirely for a week after old master doubt smothered my belief in this completely alien method, then finally, after my ego had bludgeoned my skepticism to death, thought to hell with it, returned to lesson 5 with renewed vigour and have never looked back or repeated a lesson since.

In Mexico, there exists the philosophy of valemadrísmo which essentially is the state of being carefree. I strongly suggest and encourage this approach to all those starting their Welsh language journey, even if I am still very much on the bottom rung of a tall ladder myself. Be a valemadres or for the Pixar-lovers among you, just keep swimming!

Despite my brief foray into Cymraeg, I can’t express how much I have enjoyed diving into this fascinating and beautifully constructed language. It breathes a forgotten history, inspires the most delightful poetry one could ever find, and wraps around my tongue seemingly better than English ever has. How fortuitous that I did happen upon this website. I can’t thank Aran enough for founding this absolute joy, fostering such a pleasant, motivating community, and opening a door for which I hope many more stumble through as I did and end up staying for the long haul! Learning a decidedly complex language doesn’t have to be a bellyache and you have all proven this in spades.

I shall end with a quote from the late, great Douglas Adams which perfectly summarises my experience, "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

Viva Cymru! Hwyl am y tro!

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Helo a croeso! What a fascinating read. Welcome to the wonderful world of learning Welsh.

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Croeso ar y fforwm @Wendell_Jones and thank you for sharing your inspiring story with us. I’m happy you’re enjoying learning Cymraeg and even more I am happy you’ve joined our great community.

No doubt @aran will give you his say and welcome but, well, I just had to say my welcome before him because in all this Saturday rugby and “sgwrs” “madness” I might loose the track of time and forget to do that later on!

Hello to warm sunny Mecsico from cold snowy Slovenia … :slight_smile:

Hwyl!
Tatjana

:slight_smile:

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That’s got to be one of the best opening paragraphs we’ve ever had on the forum… :star: :star2:

What a fascinating story - thank you so much for sharing it with us - and thank you for your very kind words. I’m sure your journey will help inspire others, and it’s a pleasure to welcome you to this unusually lovely community… :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

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Croeso Wendell! I suspect that, far enough back, you have some Welsh blood! That ‘Jones’ might be a clue! I apologise in advance for any rampant nationalism I display. I assure you I am not anti English, just mindful of past history and the beginnings of the colonialist tendencies which led to English becoming so ubiquitous! Your story is glorious and you will certainly find more Welsh speakers than Cornish! Also, I’m not sure if S4C reaches Mexico, but S4C International may be available to you on line, I doubt there is any Cornish TV.
On this forum you will find a lot of helpful people and hints. If you have a question, try the big Q on the top line, a search tool which may show you similar questions answered. If no luck, there is ‘Tiny questions with short answers’, or just start a new thread! I presume you have looked at FAQ. Have you put yourself on the map? ‘Please add me to the SSiW map thread’ will take you to @Sionned, who will add you! I haven’t looked to see if anyone else is in Mexico!
Edit: @nanaku is marked as in or near Mexico City! By typing the name like that, starting with @ and then clicking on the name when it came up as an option, I will have brought you to his or her attention, if he or she is on the Forum still!

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Diolch Olwen! It most certainly is a wonderful world and already a pleasure to be a part of, thanks to this community.

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Diolch tatjana and helo to Slovenia! It is an absolute pleasure to be here.

For the first time ever I can watch rugby and feel passion in equal parts for both sides.

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Diolch yn fawr @aran! You are responsible for my latest obsession like some sort of language Cupid happily dividing your arrows between Welsh and I. It was my pleasure to be struck by one of those arrows and I greatly appreciate all you have done and continue to do. Long may it continue!

Diolch @henddraig! I think on today of all days I can forgive a little rampant nationalism and given my current infatuation with all things Welsh, I expect I’ll be joining you very soon. Allow me to candidly share with you that I have no great love for England and wear my English badge around the world somewhat embarrassingly at times, albeit deliberately hidden behind a veneer of colonial apologism. S4C does not perhaps reach these sunny shores I dare say but I shall certainly give it a whirl. Thank you for the advice, I’ll be overjoyed to place myself on the map with the high hope of connecting with @nanaku and others.

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And on your first rugby watching my dear Wales looses … I was wearing my “Grand Slam Victory 2012” T-Shirt and obviously that was too presumptuous … :slight_smile:

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Perhaps! Regardless, a well-fought and immensely enjoyable game.

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Croeso, Wendell! I’m in Canada, and I can get S4C online here: http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_index.shtml Hopefully, you can access that as well.

I also spend much of my working day listening to BBC Radio Cymru (again, online): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiocymru Which is great for just falling into the rhythm of the language, even if you don’t understand every word. It will also introduce you to modern Welsh music (which, I suspect, may be new and surprising to you).

Hope this helps you start off on your journey. Dal ati!

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Diolch yn fawr for the links and words of encouragement Margaret! Fortunately I can listen to Radio Cymru but sadly I’m still having no luck with S4C. I shall try different browsers and plug-ins, I haven’t given up yet. If anyone has had success with S4C in Mexico please let me know.

As a professional musician, I am forever on the lookout for new and interesting music so I look forward to finding many there. Of course, Sŵnami, Yws Gwynedd and Anweledig are already staples on my gramophone!

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As to proffessional musician here’s something for you - endlessly continuing thread of divine sounds - WELSH MUSIC.

Enjoy!

Hwyl!
Tatjana
:slight_smile:

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Wow! An interminable thread of music which demonstrates why I should use the search bar more. Diolch Tatjana!

I already have a new favourite in Gwena by Gwibdaith Hen Frân; my cheery Welsh equivalent to “Enjoy Yourself”.

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Yes! I’m still alive! :sweat_smile: Definitely, valemadrismo is a good approach to the challenges, haha. I was wondering if you were a writer, but I read you are a musician. Your story was really amusing! it’s great you enjoy living in Mexico :slight_smile: I’d like to visit so many places, but I doubt I will ever leave my country for good. I’d miss it so much!

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Wonderful, a pleasure to meet you Nanaku! I share the exact same sentiment; now I am here, I can’t ever imagine returning to my fatherland. I hope very much we can connect further in a verbal exchange in the not too distant future, once my Welsh can be worn as a comfortable, well-fitted suit rather than a flimsy tank top that leaves me rather self-aware and ever-so slightly ashamed, as it currently presents itself.

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