I want to be a Welsh speaker for purely whimsical reasons: the language sounded lovely to me, and I wanted to be able to understand what is being said.
I have no connection whatsoever to Wales, have never been and don’t know anybody Welsh personally.
To my further embarrassment it hadn’t occured to me before last summer that Welsh as a language existed.
However, now I do know and plan to remedy all the above over the next couple of years.
I told myself when I was younger that I couldn’t learn languages and would never speak Welsh, even though I have lived here all my life. I’m now defying that belief
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I would love to be the first in my family ever to cross from the non-Welsh speaking half into the Welsh speaking half, and see jaws drop when I open my mouth at the next wedding or funeral that drags us all back together.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I’ve been living in North Wales for over a decade, many of my friends are first language Welsh speakers, and I want them to be able to speak to me in their preferred language instead of everyone (generously) shifting to English while I’m present. I’m tired of feeling ashamed of myself for being a stereotype of an English person.
I also know at least one of my friends will be absolutely overjoyed when I suddenly start speaking to him in reasonably competent Welsh. That reaction alone would make it worth doing.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because we plan to move to Wales in the next year from our current home of Southampton.
We have been holidaying in South Wales every year for a decade and now we are looking to make it permanent.
I am currently looking for work but I realise it will improve my employability if I have a level of the language. More than this however, when living there I want to get the most out of the community, to be able to fully integrate and appreciate the environment around me.
I see this as a major part of taking this important change in our lives.
I’m learning Welsh because I can and I will become one of the MILLION.
In the past I’ve tried learning French but I’ve always been too embarrassed to speak. Now nobody can tell me that I can’t do this challenge.
As the Bake Off winner Nadiya Husssein said so beautifully: “I’m never going to put boundaries on myself again, I’m never going to say I can’t do it. I’m never going to say “maybe”. I’m never going to say I don’t think I can. I can and I will.”
Hi. I want to be a Welsh speaker because my great grandparents spoke Welsh, and my great great grandparents only spoke Welsh. It was lost in my family, and now I have a great opportunity to get it back.
because I have lived in Wales for 20 years but for the first time am working with Welsh speakers which has made learning Welsh more possible and relevant. Also, it’s a big big challenge - never learnt another language before.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I have moved back to Wales and really want to be a part of the community. The hoped for outcome is that I will be able to speak Welsh with my native Welsh speaking friends
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I find the language beautiful and poetic and I am amazed that it has been on my own doorstep for all these years. The hoped for outcome is that I will be able to unlock a whole new world of art, culture, music and friendship through the medium of Welsh.
I have no Welsh family connections. I learned to “read Welsh in primary school in Manchester, thanks to a North Walian Headteacher. This sparked my interest. 4 years at Swansea University reinforced my curiosity and I took a special interest in learning signs around the place. I started to listen to Welsh language broadcasts, without understanding anything but I just liked the sounds of the language. Years later, a couple of trips to Anglesey brought me face to face with spoken Welsh and this led me to purchase Heine Gruffyd’s Live Welsh. As a French and Italian speaker I knew that a book centred approach would’nt really work for me. Last year I tried Duolingo but got bored with the slow rate of progress and I have no interest in learning to write. In December I stumbled across SSIW and was immediately hooked. So why are you learning Welsh ? My son asked. Because, it’s there, almost on my doorstep. Because it’s sounds great. Because It allows me to get more from programmes like Hinterland. Because I’ve been interested for a long time; because I like Welsh songs and choirs; because I recognise the importance of maintaining and developing minority languages ; because I enjoy learning languages and at 73 I am convinced it’s good for me. So… achos dwi’n caru yr Iaith a hoffen i mindi i Gymru i ymafer siarad Cymraeg.
I want to be a Welsh speaker because I want to play my small part in keeping the language alive - diversity is a wonderful thing! And I want to do it out of respect to my Welsh friends and colleagues.