Arrived at work tonight to find I just had three patients, all of whom.spoke Welsh, and one of whom knows @Iestyn. We were all having a whale of a time, relatives included, until the powers that be decided I wasn’t working hard enough and moved me elsewhere. But it was 100% Cymraeg while it lasted.
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Thanks for this thread. My tiny little win was last night. I was in a hangout on slack and, for the first time, I found that I understood most of what was being talked about. (a month ago, when i had my first chat, I had almost no clue what was happening and, although I enjoyed it, I thought this was going to be slow going). Now, a month later I realised that I’m understanding a lot more. Reading is still hard going (I just need to improve my vocab) but I’m watching whatever S4C content I can find available from australia and finding I’m starting to get the gist of the programs. SSiW is brilliant! Thanks to the SSi team and everyone that puts up with me on Slack!
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Not a speaking win, but when I last went to pick my step daughter up from university in Cardiff on Tuesday night, I was able to read the Welsh version of a poster that was up in their halls of residence and that felt very much like a win.
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Wow - how absolutely fascinating - what a brilliant idea!
How about - as your next challenge - a day spent on Welsh Speaking Practice (www.saysomethingin.com/wsp) going from conversation to conversation for as long as you can manage? I think one day of conversation would show you that you really have broken through… 
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Um, excuse me, multilingual people should know that is NOT a tiny little win, that is a HUGE MONSTROUS HAIRY win… 
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You’re dreaming in another language. Of course that’s plain wierd! But what a breakthrough as well…
“There is no almost correct”.
If it was close enough to understand - and I’m guessing that “almost correct” is way closer than that - then it’s perfectly good Welsh.
And remember - innovative Welsh (what some people might call “imperfect”) is always good even when it doesn’t pass the understandable test. Making stuff up that does pass the test is just a bonus. But hey - aren’t bonuses exciting? 
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Perfect, I’ll give it a go—with a tub of ice cream in the fridge to fortify me and a bottle of bubbles to help celebrate each win 
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I think a lot of people forget that we don’t always (rarely, even) use correct English when speaking to friends. Particularly where I am in Somerset, you’ll hear a lot of people say things like “I seen him” or “Where’s it to?”
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I always revert back into my Dorset when on the phone to home or had a few too many ziders. “come 'ere will ye”; “I caaaaaaan’t do 'at” haha.
On one of my regular visits to Prestatyn I was in Tesco and about to pay at the automated “self checkouts”, which are, of course, ddwyieithog (bilingual). Then I departed from my usual conventions and decided to use a human-staffed checkout as the checkout operators seemed under-occupied and I didn’t want to think of them being replaced by robots.
I decided, pretty much impulsively, to make a brief comment about the situation in Cymraeg:
“_Well i mi ddefnyddio’_checkout dynol, i gadw chi mewn gwaith” (“Best if I use a human checkout to keep you in work”).
Remembering that I was in Prestatyn, I was expecting the usual “sorry, I don’t speak Welsh” - and ready to explain the opportunities for fixing that potential issue. But, to my most pleasant surprise, the checkout lady replied in good Welsh, but a bit self-dismissively, explaining that her Welsh was a bit rusty these days. I obviously commended her on both her good Welsh and the fact that she was speaking Cymraeg to me as a customer, and told her about the local conversation group I was on my way to.
Finally, I explained that I currently live in England (Lancashire) but my Grandad came from Wrecsam. Some people at that point might realise or guess that I was a recent learner, but I don’t think that she did. It did feel like I came across simply as a guy who speaks Welsh, even when he is in Prestatyn.
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I went to Wales at Easter, and ordered in Welsh at Cafe Alys in Machynlleth ! And understood her questions!
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If I visited Cymru more often, I think I would have to invent a Welsh Grandad or something. I don’t think the Welsh are unique in wanting to establish connections, but given the still somewhat uniquely precarious state of the language, it gives one an easily understandable reason to be learning it.
And in my case, I like to think it would only be a very white lie, since I’m convinced my remote ancestors spoke something like Cymraeg, even if it might have had something like a Lancashire accent (i.e. they probably spoke Cumbric).
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Brilliant! This is what it’s all about! Well done to you both!
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Cumbric and Gogleddol were probably incredibly close dialects of the same language - ditto the dialects of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, so perfectly legitimate to feel a link to the language, because its based on real genuine historic connections - if you had ancestors in Lancashire or Cumbria in the 10th or 11th century there’s a fair chance they could have been understood by a Welsh Speaker in present day Caernarfon, without the need for any English.
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Well, to be fair my mam-gu died when my dad was a kid, so I,never met her. Her family were cut off at that point. They never knew I existed. My ,mam’s nain was already cut off by my taid who was anglicised… she and his sisters knew my mother existed but not me. A sister of my taid left my mam something… I forget what!
I still feel Cymraes!
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I spoke Welsh outside my home for the first time!!! 
A patient’s granddaughter mentioned she went to a Welsh medium school and I asked ‘Wyt ti’n siarad Cymraeg?’ (a very silly question I know… you’d hope she did!) We continued the conversation in English though, so I didn’t really have a chance to practice, but I surprised myself by being so eager to say something in Welsh and was so happy I’d had the nerve to say a few words!!
Who needs more motivation than to be able to say for the very first time ‘I spoke Welsh at work today’!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Aran, Catrin and the team! 
Onwards and upwards!!! 
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How fantastic - and well done you for NOTICING such an important first step - usually, learners are far too quick to play down their own achievements…
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In the swim of things…
I spoke Welsh in the ‘pwll nofio’ this morning because another SSiW-er swam over and introduced herself, having recognized me from my picture on the Forum. What are the chances of that, given that we both live in Vancouver, thousands of miles from Wales? Amazing eh! But it speaks volumes for the friendliness SSiW cultivates.
Diolch yn fawr,
Marilyn
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So I was on the night bus last night after having a few too many beverages and doing a couple of challenges in Level 2. I caught myself saying the first thing that came to my mind and not overly thinking about it; I got more that usual correct! Even the new stuff. I guess it shows that it’s all in there and that you just need to let go and not think too much. I’m going to try this tonight when I do some more 
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What a fantastic story!