'I want to be a Welsh speaker because...'

I want to speak Welsh so I can teach my Bikeability courses in Welsh. I’d also like to chat with my nephews, sister and brother-in-law in Welsh. After 7 weeks I’m already making progress and have spoken Welsh with my sister!

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Wow! What a lovely aim is that?

Preparation for Bikeability starts pre-school on bikes without pedals kids gaining confidence and balance… Then with your top level students they’ll be safely “breathing their (and your) Welsh” all over the countryside and townscapes [see BreatheyourWelsh website!] and you’ll be able to get unnecessary car use off the scene/ the roads.

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I want to speak Welsh so that I can re-connect with family roots; a very proud Welsh father (Rhondda) and a mother who grew up in Swansea. We left Wales when I was 2yrs old and a nomadic lifestyle followed with many schools in different countries. I always had to explain where Wales was and that it wasn’t a part of England! I have always found a way to spend some time in Wales most years, it’s the only landscape I feel truly connected to, but the glaring omission of not being able to speak or understand the Welsh language is a huge obstacle to making other connections…

I hope to…make those meaningful connections…buy produce in Machynlleth market this summer!..eventually read and speak poetry in Welsh…encourage my son to connect more with his Welsh heritage.

My dad would be delighted. I feel like he’s doing the 6 month course with me!

Huge thanks to you Aran and all who are connected with this fabulous community.

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for lots of reasons, but my most urgent one is (deep gulp here at the sheer level of crazy of this)…I’m director of a dance company in Wales that makes shows for children and families with science themes - I want to make the next show bilingual, at point of origin (i.e not get the script translated afterwards). We start making this show in the autumn.

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Wow, that’s gutsy - what a brave aim! :star: :star2:

I’m sure you can do it… :slight_smile: :thumbsup:

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Thanks Aran - it does sound ambitious but two things: it’s a dance show so there won’t be too much text/speaking & the rest of the team will be Welsh speakers. Easy peasy! :wink:

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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I have two Grandaughters in Wales who attend a Welsh speaking school and although they speek perfect English I want to be able to talk to them in Welsh.
I know my son-in-law will be well pleased when I can.

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I want to learn Welsh because I live here now and I love hearing it spoken and I want to be a part of that. Plus - it’s difficult - and there’s the challenge!

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I want the Welsh language to continue and I want to be a part of Welsh culture.

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My kids are only 5 and 7 but I already can’t help them with their homework, so I need to learn Welsh and if I have any hope of being able to help them in the years to come I need to get cracking! And I don’t like them being able to talk about stuff in front of me that I don’t understand. That’s just asking for trouble once they’re teenagers.

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On a clear day I can see Wales from the top of the hill opposite my house in Bath. I’m a language teacher and they say language teachers should challenge themselve to learn a new language, so what better one than Welsh!

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Still having fun learning this lovely language.

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I feel more Welsh when I use the Welsh I have learned - the land and language are inseparable, Welsh is spoken by those who are born/live here or because of other connections to the land of Wales - a great family. (2nd sentence, I know!) - I also want to help my granddaughters in their learning of the language and keep this wonderful language of ours alive.

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Because it was my father’s first language, I grew up in Wales, it’s my heritage and it would make me so happy to be a Welsh speaker. It’s also important to keep the language going.

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I spend a lot of time in Dolgellau and would like to feel more a part of the community by using Welsh in shops, understanding what is said at Welsh only events and reading Welsh in the newspaper. And understanding the the gossip going on around me at the pub!

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I’ve got to say that at the Rugby, I quite like listening to the Welsh speaking family who sit behind us.

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I love this as I was exactly the same. My Mamgu and Dadcu all spoke Welsh. My mother never spoke Engligh to them. A move to England prevented me from going to Welsh school. When they died the language did but now we moved to Wales and all 3 of mine in Welsh school and I love that I am learning it again. it’s great to hear my mum using the language with them.One day I will speak properly to my mother as Welsh classes I find are still too grammatical. The SSIW is much more suited to me being able to do that with her and revive the families language again. Pob Lwc everyone in your learning xx
I run cookery classes for children and many who come attend the Welsh school so my ultimate dream would be able to offer these in full Welsh one day!!

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. Well very well done for getting started, that is the hardest step. I’m proud Welshman at 71. I 've been trying to learn Welsh for about 5 years with different courses. But SSIW is definitely getting me to speak the language of Heaven and improve my listening skills.

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Here’s my one sentence: My dad’s side of the family is essentially English, but my great great grand father and his family spent a couple of generations in Wales until the birth of my father who was born in Bristol (:unamused:), with everyone seemingly falling in love with Wales and the culture and the names (we now have names like Llewellyn and Gwynn - they even passed down a kinda OK way to pronounce the LL), so when I was doing work on family history to tell the kids about where their family is from I started learning the national anthems of the various countries and was stumped by the Welsh one, which although I learned, didn’t understand much, so with my love of languages, I looked for a way to learn a few words in welsh and came across SSiW - now I’m on Challenge 11 of Level 2 and I loving the language so much, I’m listening to TV in welsh, having conversations online and reading online - in short, I fell in love with the language and I’ve set aside my much beloved German, which I had been learning, to focus purely on my Cymraeg. Thanks to Aran, Catrin, Iestyn, and Cat, who make this possible. You guys are awesome, generous and have made an amazing system! I still can’t thank you enough!

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It is such a joy to see stories like this… :slight_smile: :heart:

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