'I want to be a Welsh speaker because...'

I think without the language so much of the culture is lost. Our folklore, songs, poetry etc are lost to me for now, and would be lost entirely if Welsh died out. So learning the language is a way to connect with all of that and be part of the necessary fight to keep it alive. It’s Welsh Nationalism of necessity, I suppose. I feel like all languages are worth something, and losing any would make humanity poorer for it. Welsh is my problem though, I definitely feel a sense of responsibility for it.

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@aran @Kinetic Is there ever going to be a way for us to double-heart something such as this?

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Apparently not… :wink:

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⇑↑⬆︎☝︎⇪⇞⤊↟⟰⥉⬆︎
This is fantastic and what I wanted to say but could not find the words. I would add, at least for me, a sense of belonging. I’m American with newly discovered Welsh ancestry and I find, through learning the language, a lost community of history, culture and a group of amazing and helpful people.

In the United States, our heritage is determined by ancestry. I do not know of anyone when asked of their heritage responds with “American.” HA!

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5 posts were split to a new topic: An off-topic discussion about nationalism and culture

Yes Fel Mwclis gan Mary Hughes

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I hope I will soon feel more confident in my ability to learn and speak our wonderful language. 2 months into the 6 month course and it does feel like a struggle at times.

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Keep at it @Kim-J - if you are two months in you are doing great :+1: :+1:

The course works and you will find your ability to speak creeping up on you.

The main thing is not to worry about it and to try and enjoy it!

Everyone has tricky patches - everyone! :wink: :sunny:

Rich :slight_smile:

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Diolch, @katherine-king. I’ve just ordered a copy from A****n. :grin:

Because I want to speak the language of my father to his surviving relatives!

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I thought A****n did start-up company software… Who knew :wink: :laughing:

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Er…I meant a certain large, online retailer! :wink:

I am a wag…fair warning

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I want to be a Welsh speaker because a minister once told me Welsh is the language of Heaven, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a head-start. Seriously, many of my family are Welsh speakers and I would like to be able to talk to them in Welsh, rather than they having to speak to me in English.

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Briefly confused there by football connotation (to my shame). Wag is good in terms of wit :rofl:

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:sunglasses:
Wag


Or maybe
coaching-8e41daae005044a8257cc4f3477f743f39dcdc4cbf9a467791545f92b7e89c09
:laughing:

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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I’ve been coming to Wales all my life, and I would love to go and be able to speak to and understand people

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I can really connect with that thought. And illustrate it via my daughter, who studied German… I gave her a set of The Brothers Grimm Tales in the original German - and she was so inspired by how much more was there, and the things she could connect with in the original language, that were lost or diluted in translation. Maybe a distant hope, but I’d love to be able to read The Mabinogion in Welsh one day. (Speaking to & chatting with others in Welsh is my more immediate target!)

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Ooh - how to narrow this down. Hoping an impending rugby match will keep me on task…

I’ve long felt drawn by Wales - and a desire to connect with her language and history… and dragons! One side of my family goes back to Wales, and with 2 daughters now studying in Wales, I feel ‘justified’ in my desire to learn. I want to be able to use Welsh when I visit them, not have to default to English. I want a deeper connection. I saw a 2 part play in Welsh In Edinburgh - which was just amazing, but I wished then I could have connected through the Welsh too…

A much more condensed version - I want to be able to speak Welsh - to know that I can - and to then actually use it when I’m in Wales!

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Reading the Mabinogion in Welsh - a great ambition! I once went to a beginners’ French class, and when asked why I wanted to learn French, I said I wanted to read Proust’s ‘La recherche du temps perdu’ in the original. That put me in Pseuds’ Corner for the rest of the course. And now I understand why, because I can’t get through it in English…

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