And when two Welsh people (certainly in the south) get talking, they trace every connection between them in their first conversation! Hiraeth is real and I’m feeling it now!
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3 stories that make my heart burst with pride - the kind that a parent feels for his children - at your achievements. I’m not sure why any of these are in the “small successes / breakthrough” section, because they are MASSIVE achievements. Then again, there’s no such thing as a small breakthrough in something as huge as learning a second language…
And Sam - I’m not aware of any family members that look like me and are in Llangrannog at the moment. Although I do have a doppelganger with a criminal record in Italy (as the Carrabinieri explained to me after they tried to arrest me there some years ago), and I always used to be accused of looking like Paul Thorburn, and later, Neil Jenkins (Where would Wales be without me?!!), so there are lookalikes around!
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One step back and two steps forward. 
After a week enjoying @Karla 's company culminating in a “hand-over” lunch with @Deborah-SSi, I acquired a more realistic and limited view of my competence in Welsh.
However, my (probably exaggerated) confidence has been restored this week as I found that I could communicate in Welsh with the builders who are currently doing some complicated drainage work in our garden. I found that I could request, for instance, that they use some left over mortar to block up a disused pipe. The fact that they did exactly as I asked means that “bloco lan” is perfect Welsh.
There’s proud I am. 
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so there are lookalikes around!
Tell me about it - the number of times people have asked me “can I take a selfie with you, Mr Clooney” is getting embarassing.
You may be less unwilling to believe that, while on holiday a few years ago in Rome (in the Coliseum itself), an American family asked me if I was George Lucas (Star Wars / Indiana Jones) and were unwilling to accept that I was not. 
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Didn’t your accent give a tiny hint that they might be wrong? 
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My Dad, also a bearded wonder, makes this exact same joke.
When he got his bus pass he said “you may hear of an increase in Clooney sightings on West Devon buses”.
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I’ve been doing a bit of duolingo and, yesterday, I suddenly realised I knew a lot more vocabulary than I had quite realised. Diolch yn fawr to Octonots, R&R and much else on S4C!!
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Two major breakthroughs today. Firstly, I had to call my equivalent at one of the Councils in South Wales today (who I know doesn’t speak Welsh), to discuss some information of theirs that we have in our files. They do, however, have a Welsh speaking operator on their switchboard. I successfully managed to get through to my equivalent entirely through the medium of Welsh (some fibbing may have been involved, as pretended I couldn’t find her number so that I could speak to the operator 
).
Buoyed by the success of the above, I then went one step further. I’d also spoken to my equivalent in the local Welsh Police Force this morning, as we have some of their information in our files too. I had a reply from her at 4pm, with an email signature saying she was happy to receive correspondence in English or Welsh. She may have received an email in Welsh, thanking her for her prompt reply, explaining that I’m a Welsh learner and asking if she’d be able to help me with some specific technical vocabulary I’ll need if I want to start having the conversations I’m currently having in English in Welsh. It was the first ever email I’ve sent in Welsh, so fingers crossed for a reply!
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Da iawn!!! As Iestyn often says - no such thing as small breakthroughs and this is a bulldozer of a breakthrough
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I’ve just watched an episode of my beloved Sbridiri, which I haven’t done in a while. Instead of the usual, ‘ooh I understand that bit’ type thing i understood 90% of it in Welsh, which was amazing. Including what the children in the classroom were saying in reaction to Twm, which was usually a bit of a mystery.
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Last night I took the plunge and went to the first practice session of the côr meibion. My Welsh held up, I’m not sure about my singing…
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Success in Japanese not Welsh today, but I assure you that the feeling is the same. My mother and I took 2 trains from central Kobe out to Rokki Island to see the fashion museum. We wanted to come back by bus but didn’t know where the bus stop was. Look for a friendly face. Take a deep breath.
Smile.
Sumemasen (Excuse me).
Kobe ni, basu de, ikitaides. (To Kobe, by bus, we want to go.)
And it works. The lovely young ladies go out of their way to help us. Mother is impressed. I’m over the moon
.
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Oh Da Iawn ti! And a lovely example of what I had just been typing in another thread! When you don’t have any choice but to battle on in the local language, then you succeed! I’m going to link your experience back to that thread!
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That moment when you learn a new word in a SSIW challenge on the way home and the next morning listening to Radio Cymru someone actually uses it. you realize that you actually understand that little but more than the day before
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It’s true that you learn to speak much quicker if you don’t have another choice…you just have to! I’m experiencing something similar, but with the pause button. At work, I wear gloves all the time and when cleaning and disinfecting, I’m not allowed to touch anything. My mobile is in my pocket and the earphones plugged in - and everything is packed safely in a hazmat suit. Tonight, I will listen to 4 lessons in a row, without having a chance to use the pause button (speaking out loud at work is difficult, as colleagues already think I’m a little loony…) 
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That is so impressive, @margaretnock. Brilliant!
This doesn’t compare with speaking to a real person, but I am surprised to find myself starting Level 2. I may have rushed on quickly while Level 1 is still very shaky, but, as Iestyn said on the subject when introducing one of the early Level 1 challenges, “Exciting, isn’t it?”. It is even more surprising to me, because I never seriously intended to learn Welsh at all. There is something very infectious about the enthusiasm on this forum. (Edited to correct typo.)
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You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve heard say that, and they were generally chatting away in Welsh at the time. I don’t know if it’s the language itself, or if it’s the addictive SSi way of learning, but something hooks people in!
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Sittting hidden in the broom closet at work, totally flabbergasted. I wanted to revise some Challenges during work, but do you think I could actually enjoy being able to keep up more or less, for a (rare) change? - No, for crying out loud, I felt bored! I mean, what right do I have to feel bored! I seem to miss the feeling of being completely lost, of being in over my head…of my brain hurting even though it’s not possible. Well, okay…Challenge 20 it is 
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Well, had a bad letter from the HMRC a couple of days ago - telling me I’d paid too little tax last year and that they were going to change my Tax Code accordingly!
Noticed a “Welsh Language” number on the letter - so gave it a go!
Managed to sort out my problem and get everything resolved (I worked too much overtime last year, so my earnings were higher than what they were expecting them to be).
I’d really recommend giving HMRC a call in Welsh, no queue at all, nice, friendly staff - they called me back within 5 minutes saying they’d fixed it.
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I was chatting to the Omaloma guy last night (the Welsh band and he’s a 1st language Welsh speaker from Snowdonia) and I got my first ‘You sound fluent’! 
I’m sure he was humouring me as I am far from ‘fluent’ yet, but a sign I am definitely still making progress.
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