Just one complaint, @eckhard. THIS IS NOT A SMALL SUCCESS! 
Itâs the Welsh-in-the-wild breakthrough of our dreams. Much respect for putting yourself out there, and look how it paid off! Congratulations!
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I loved your story, @eckhard, thanks for sharing! 
p.s. going around Wales as a foreigner, speaking Welsh sounds great by the way! 
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This, thsi, this.
@eckhard - that is an amazing story and such a boost for everyone involved - not just you. Congratulations and diolch yn fawr.
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What an amazing story! If I have even the slightest amount of conversations as you when I visit next month I will consider it a massive step. Yours is a mammoth leap!! Congratulations 
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Did you see what my mobile phone did there? Nasal mutation; even though it was wrong
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I had a small success for today. Friends of my daughter have opened a new Welsh themed Cafe in the next village to me, called Melys, and we went there for a coffee. They were so wecoming to learners and I stumbled through several sentances, was helped and encouraged, and I even started speaking to two customers who were so supportive The longer I was there, the more I felt able to try out my Welsh, even though I knew I should be able to say more than I did, it built my confidence. I hadnât spoken to strangers before and it was a great feeling, and I shall do it as often as I can. Thanks for getting me to thiis stage.
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Fantastic - well DONE! Huge congratulations! And DIOLCH for your lovely kind words
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Amazing! Itâs experiences like this which makes me wish I lived somewhere this could happen! Sadly Surrey is not the best place for it haha.
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Perhaps find a public space in a pub or cafe even in Surrey, or on a public transport journey, where you can openly read something in Welsh, or just place a book on a table, and you may find people of Welsh background and/or schooling approach you⌠.A ho ho ho to your ha ha! @Bleddyn I hope you find some of the Invisbles and the Shy Ones will come to youâŚ
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Iâm not so sure itâs a small success. I would call this rather largeâŚactually, probably closer to huge and totally amazing! 
I suspect it took a fair amount of courage to order in Cymraeg and converse with customers. Especially when itâs sooo much easier to say it in Saesneg.
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Diolch for your kind words. It felt easier than it could have been due to the friendliness of the people there rather than my Welsh ability or courage, but onwards and upwards.
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Get those in the right order and youâll see why we think it was a massive step:
You had the courage to try out your ability. That made the people friendly towards you. You caused that, your hard work and your determination gave a group of people the chance to be open and friendly and welcoming to a stranger. You should feel really proud of yourself! Dylet ti deimloân falch iawn ohonot ti dy hunanâŚ(sorry if you haven;t reached that challenge yet!)
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Llongyfarchiadau!
The trick with foreign money is to ignore everything after âpoundâ or the equivalent and then round up.
Iestyn said it more clearly than I didâŚâââĄâď¸âŹď¸â§âŞâĽŁâŚbut this is the truth. @bizzielizzie Imagine the opposite. Had you ordered in Saesneg, how would the visit turned out differently? Would the customers have said anything to you at all? What would the owners have said? It was your ability to show 20 seconds of insane courage that made the difference.
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Youâve convinced me - Iâm courageous!! 
Thank you.
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Hi, I live near Hamburg but Iâm not a native speaker
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I ADORE this story! 
Lovely to see so many posts after my original post!
My rather large breakthrough is that i have now moved to Abergwaun, Sir Benfro from Llundain, so spending most of the time here (still a bit near Llandeilo too).
So, opportunities to siarad cymraeg are growing still more!
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My locality (although i now live in Oxfordshire)! Croeso! Enjoy the sea air and the opportunities to practice your Welsh.
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Memory is a funny thing ⌠I am working my way through the new Southern challenges, and I literally laughed when Iestyn and Cat introduced the word âcamgymeriadauâ (âmistakesâ) because I was thinking âThere is absolutely no chance of me remembering thisâ ⌠which, of course, meant that it stuck very easily and I have never had to fish around for it like I do with a lot of new words. Wish there was an easy way to harness this feature of memory and put it to use elsewhere!
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