still interested and will await future opportunities 
Right. As a general comment on your ‘add me to the waiting list’ thread - it seems like we have 7 disappointed potential bwtcampers. Are there more?
That is far more than ever before, and makes me think that I agree that we appear to be outgrowing this method of selection.
So, I’m going to try a new approach for the June Bwtcamp (I’ll add a link when I’ve announced it properly) and number your expressions of interest, so the ‘first come first serve’ basisi for bwtcamps will be ‘first hand up gets first dibs’. That’s a bit more complicated than the current free-for all, but the free-for-all only really works when there are 12 people or so, some of whom are more enthusiastic than others, and the bwtcamp books over a few hours.
On Friday, the first ten people literally booked in the first second or so, which makes the process rather different, I think!
So, hold on to your keyboards while I put the June date up, then I’ll announce it here, probably tomorrow, on the general page the day after and it will be in the email next week. Once we have 12 or so expressions of interest, then I’ll open booking but in a way that gives people a chance in order of expression of interest.
Watch this space!
2 Likes
Thank you, Margaret, for the reassuring message. I have been lucky enough to book myself on the April Bwtcamp and I am looking forward to it a great deal. It is a scary prospect but, after all, the worst thing that can happen is that I say nothing for a week! I managed to spend three weeks, when I was 14, in the south of France, with a family whom I did not know and who spoke no English at all. I had a whale of a time! So many laughs and so many misunderstandings. I’ve never forgotten it. Courage, fellow bwtcampers!
Lisa V
1 Like
Hi Lestyn
Thanks for this - will watch out for it.
Best wishes
Julie
Will do! Was really disappointed I didn’t make it on the April bwtcamp
As promised - I have set up the June Bwtcamp announcement here: June Bwtcamp Mehefin 2020
If those disappointed during the April booking can get your expressions of interest in as soon as possible, then i shall announce the date prperly cia the 2020 Bwtcamps thread tomorrow or maybe Friday, and ask Catrin to include it in Tuesday’s email. This should give you ample time to get your feet in the door and be in the first batch of people to be offered booking. We’ll see how this goes as a booking system, and keep it / develop it / scrap it according to everyone’s experience.
See you on the June Thread!
Meanwhile, April Bwtcampers - watch your email inboxes today and tomorrow for your first Bwtcamp tasks!
1 Like
Hi Iestyn
Have you sent out any emails yet as I haven’t received any?
Andrew
2 Likes
Hiya I’ll be on the April bwtcamp (gulp) who else was lucky enough to book on? Looking forward to meeting you all. I wonder what our pre-bwtcamp task(s) will be?
1 Like
Well you already know me! I’ve not had any email yet?? I’m at the “what have I done?!” (Aka terrified!) Stage 
1 Like
Hi, am going to this bootcamp, no email as yet, feeling apprehensive, anxious, and as above ‘what have I done’ but also looking forward to improving my conversations in welsh.
1 Like
I’m going too. Excited but ‘bach o nerfus’ too!
1 Like
I’m also going, and feeling exactly the same. It’s perfectly normal when you’re in a strange environment.
Mind-numbing terror is all part of the process. It’ll get slightly easier with every sentence you speak, and before you know it you’ll be understanding a lot of what’s said to you.
Then, when you’re nice and comfortable, you’ll hear a sentence where you barely understand a word, and the fun cycle of terror begins all over again! The more you talk, the less frequent they’ll become.
Any language-learning journey should be punctuated with moments of feeling like you’re completely out of your depth. If it isn’t, you’re going too easy on yourself. 
2 Likes
Excellent way of looking at it DaveHedgehog, nerves will be part of the experience I guess until we all settle into it and get to know each other more. We’ll have fun I’m sure. With your ffugenw (pseudonym) are you a fan of Bottom?
That’s right! Not many people spot that…
1 Like
Emails not sent yet - don’t panic! - but I do feel the need to say one thing to you all:
There is absolutely no need to worry.
We’ve been running Bwtcamps for 8 years now, and they are a lot of fun. I estimate that between 200 and 300 people have taken part in Bwtcamps during that time, and most have gone on to lead normal lives.
Really, really, really - it’s a holiday where you see interesting things in the company of interesting people in an absolutely stunning part of the country. If you spend that week as a Trappist retreat in which you say nothing and (pretend to) hear nothing, you will still have a lovely experience. And you all have plenty of Welsh to be able to go beyond that, which is a huge bonus.
Now - off I go to write your emails… (sorry!)
Iestyn
3 Likes
Hi Iestyn
Not had an email as yet, when will you be sending one out, desperate to know what our first task is going to be !
Diolch
Sandra
1 Like
Sorry Iestyn , only just noticed your message, emails on way. Diolch
Bore da Bwtcampers!
As promised (Although you do have to be aware of the Welsh 'now in a minute), I have sent emails to you all today which include a couple of questions to start us off. Here are my answers:
My name is Iestyn, and I live with my wife Cat and our 4 (is it only 4?) children in Llandysul, Ceredigion. I was brought up in Gilfach Fargod, in the Rhymney Valley.
I want to speak Welsh because it is my first and native language, the language of my Welsh ancestors, and because my kids would find it a bit weird if I started speaking English with them…
I love singing. I’ve always sung to the kids since they were babies, and I was in a choir before the pressures of being a dad ate into that too much and I decided to give it a miss for a while.
One of my favourite things to do is to get up early (before 6 most mornings) and do an hour or more of stuff before anyone else turns up in my life. The world is particularly beautiful first thing in the morning, and when everyone else is asleep you can get so much done!
I’m looking forward to meeting you all - on the forum to start with, and “in the (Welsh speaking) flesh” very very soon!
Iestyn
3 Likes
Bore Da, Bootcampers !
Sandra dw i, dw i’n bwy yn Port Talbot, ond dw i’n bwy yn Penybont yn wreiddiol. I want to speak welsh as am welsh and pround and never had the opportunity when I was younger. My husband and his children and our grandchildren all speak welsh, so I desperately want to join in with them.
I am retired now, and spend some of my time researching family history, looking after my grandchildren, swimming, travelling, read a lot and learning welsh.
I am a coffee drinker and am fond of an occasional vodka and coke !
Really looking forward to meeting you all but am as they say ‘running scared ’ at the thought of no "Englaish’ for a whole week.
Sandra
5 Likes