Booking is open for the June 2016 bootcamp, which runs from 4pm Saturday 25th June to 10am Saturday 2nd July
Cost is £260. We are not certain of running until there are 6
people signed up (to cover our costs), but we shall keep a close eye,
and keep you updated on how many places there are left.
There are currently 9 places available on this bootcamp.
Please remember the following bootcamp conditions:
Bootcamp payments are, generally speaking, not refundable. Your
money will, of course be refunded in full if we cancel the bootcamp, but
if you pull out, we reserve the right not to return anything. This is
especially true if you pull out close to the date, making it difficult
to fill your place. Please make sure that you are definitely wanting to
come on bootcamp, and please take out holiday insurance (yes, this is a
holiday!) to cover your costs in the event of a change of circumstance.
No language except Welsh is allowed during bootcamp. There is a
time for orientation at the start and an introduction in English, so
that we all start on the same page, but after that you will not speak
English (or any language other than Welsh) until the following Saturday.
Bootcamp is for people who have completed the material in course
1, including the vocab lessons. If you are a non-SSiWer, then please do
lesson 25 (south) or 26 (north), and vocab unit 10, and if you can’t
keep up, then fly through the course to give yourself a chance at
bootcamp.
Bootcamp is one of the most frightening, rewarding, tiring,
exhilirating experiences you will ever take part in. If you throw
yourself in, you will end the week as a Welsh speaker. If you are half
hearted, you will probably not enjoy the experience, and you certainly
won’t get the most out of it. Please be committed!!!
That’s all sounded a bit serious… Bootcamp is a holiday in one
of the most beautiful parts of Wales (and thus, the world). You will
spend a week with lovely people, visiting lovely places, and doing
interesting things. You will have fun, and go home with beautiful
memories that will last you a life time, and firm friendships that will
take your Welsh to a new level. Come on holiday, and go home a Welsh
speaker - how’s that for a bargain?!!!
Let us know below when you book, and if you have any questions.
I have booked for the bootcamp in july by filling in the online form. Did you recive this nfo? And how and when can i pay I may be missing something and am concerned i didn’t do the digital stuff accurately
Just tagging @iestyn for this - if he doesn’t get a chance to get back to you this week, Elkie, just drop an email to the admin@ saysomethingin.com address and I’ll make sure he gets it…
Hiya Iestyn a Aran!
Ga i 'ofyn am boot camps dros yr haf so gwelwch yn dda?!
i am a teacher in Cardiff and may be allowed to take some time off in term time to attend a boot camp, could you therefore let me know the dates of the camps across the summer this year?
Diolch,
Pat
There’s this one, from the 25th of June to the 2nd of July, and there’s one from the 23rd of July to the 30th of July. Assuming, of course, that enough people sign up. They usually do though.
This thread has all the bootcamps in it Bootcamps 2016 and links to the different booking pages.
As hectorgrey says, there is this one at the end of June, one in July (the week before the National Eisteddfod), then another in September. I hope that helps.
I am really very sorry that I will not be able to attend the Bootcamp as hoped. I have work commitments which are preventing me from doing this. I hope to make it to a future event.
Hi, I’m really tempted to take the plunge and go on this bootcamp, but although I’ve completed course 1 and vocab units, I have no confidence when actually trying to speak to people. Has anyone else faced/overcome this problem? Should I leave it til next year?
I would say this actually depends on your personality. You have completed the prerequisites, BUT you could be faced with the situation where everyone else has completed the whole course plus attended a few ‘traditional’ classes as well. OR there could be others who have been learning with SSiW for quite some time but for one reason or another never actually had a real live conversation in Welsh. It’s a lottery. We never know quite who will be there until they show up.
If you are the kind of person that can say - Right, well, everyone else is probably going to be miles ahead of me and I could find it very frustrating being unable to understand or contribute much, but I’m willing to accept that and push myself way beyond my comfort zone, and I will NOT under any circumstances try to revert to English - then you would get more out of bootcamp than anyone else in the end as you would have so much more to learn.
But if you find that scenario terrifying (and that’s quite a normal reaction for a lot of people), then it would be good if you could try to set up some Skype conversations or push yourself a little more when you have the chance, and aim for a bootcamp later on - September maybe?
Thanks guys, useful to know. Will try and pin down some local speakers and get some chat time - though feel I may run out of vocab long before an hour is up. Anyone in the Llandaff North area willing to exchange free coffee for Welsh conversation please get in touch
Hi Peter. I’ve signed up for this one, so if you’d like a Skype chat with someone who will actually be there - either to practice your (and my) Welsh or to see if you could stand to be in the same space as me for a week - I’d be happy to oblige. Just message me if you want to try it out. No pressure at all if you don’t.
(Also, going through Level 1 might help you feel more confident in speaking if you’ve got the time - it just flows better and gives you more verbal resources.)
You could get in touch with @ali and the others that meet up regularly at the Mochyn Du. Have you tried that? Ali is a very early bootcamp survivor so will be able to ease you in gently.
We are meeting tomorrow night - Monday, 2nd May, 7 pm at the Mochyn Du., so come along and join us. You can spend more time listening than talking if that is easier to begin, but you will want to join in at some point and we are a very patient and forgiving group with beginners. We were all in that place ourselves at some point. Most of us have been to at least one Bootcamp too, so recommend it as a good, if frightening at times, experience to accelerate your Welsh learning.
We look forward to you coming. If you can’t make tomorrow, our next meeting should be Monday, 6 June, although we might make it a week later as it is a bank holiday. We are carrying on with tomorrow as we have Sarah-Jayne visiting us from the Cheshire area.
I’ve just had an email from someone who attended April Bootcamp having completed only course 1 and vocabs, and had never spoken Welsh to a living person before arriving in Tresaith.
In fairness, she struggled during the first weekend, and then blossomed!
Whether you get a good resutl from bootcamp at your level is nothing to do with whether you’ve learnt enough Welsh, or how much experience you’ve had. It’s all about your personality, and whether you can a) have fun without understanding everything and b) whether you can get over not being to communicate everything that you want to.
You’re welcome to contact me by personal message if you want to discuss your feelings privately (it can get a bit soul-searchy sometimes!), but if you think you could enjoy a week in France, amongst understanding, non English-speaking French people, seeing interesting things and doing interesting stuff, with as much French as you have Welsh, then you are ready for bootcamp.
Bootcamp is transforming, and if you want to take the plunge, you won’t find a more supportive plac to do the plunging.
Personally, I would say go for it. I am so certain that you will get benefit, that I will give you a money back guarantee if you want (your Welsh is far more important than your money!).
First of all – I have told everyone what a great time I had. I learnt so much – not just Welsh but about myself too. It’s > a weird thing going off for a week with complete strangers sharing cooking and sleeping and all in another language, but it all worked out fine.
Found myself still thinking in Welsh for a good part of the start of the week, and really missed being in Tresaith.
Thanks so much to you and Cat for a wonderful week, keep in touch and am looking forward to next year already.
Thanks for the info. I took your advice and have hunted down a Welsh speaker and I’m forcing them to do 40 minutes conversation with me each week. First session was really tough, found I could say plenty, and can make myself understood (mostly) but my listen/understanding ability was embarrassingly woeful . Lots of practice needed! Think i’ll see how the sessions go, start on the intermediate material and attend the next course when I’m feeling a little more confident.
The listening / understanding bit is, honestly, the hardest. Have you used the SSIW listening practices? I found them completely invaluable – and super super super hard for quite a while. It’s sobering to know that you know ALL the words and structures being used, but you can’t understand them as they speed by. But you know what happens? Gradually they . . . slow . . . down. Your brain starts hearing chunks and being able to anticipate how bits of sentences fit together.
And, in fact, I would say that the biggest impact that two Bootcamps had on my Welsh was in my understanding of other peoples’ speaking. It got much easier to hear what was being said, even if I didn’t know the words being used.
Anyhow, sounds like you are on the right course. Dal ati! Ymlaen!
Thanks, I’ve been meaning to start them, but foolishly assumed that if I could say something, then obviously I could understand someone else saying it (ha!!). Just downloaded a pile and will start alternating with my speaking lessons. Thanks for the advice!
I may be missing something and am concerned i didn’t do the digital stuff accurately 
- I’d be happy to oblige. Just message me if you want to try it out. No pressure at all if you don’t.
. Lots of practice needed! Think i’ll see how the sessions go, start on the intermediate material and attend the next course when I’m feeling a little more confident.