This is nothing to do with your challenges, but I didn’t want to start a new thread for a one-off event! Currently the BBC are sponsoring schools to report on local news. These are from all over UK although not near where I live! However, there is an International category, only about four on it. One is The International School Ljubljana! They ought to be on iPlayer! There may be mention on you media too! So far, I get an empty page and promise of content later! This BBC School Report is a regular event!
O, thanks. Do you have any link to that page? I’ll check regularly if there’s one or should I just type Schools report and then International?
I hope that will work! Else, just look for BBC School Report Ljubljana
Aha, Now I know where this is aiming. They just want to have reports from British schools abroad and (as far as I could read and know) this one in Ljubljana behaves prety “isolated” from ordinary slovenian activities. I believe this school attend only kids of (mostly) diplomats and higher society and they might also have totally different teaching/learning plan from national education plan we have. Most ordinary people living in Slovenia comming from abroad put their kids into schools in the area they’re living in, what means Slovenian schools. However a lot of our kids in primary school speak English almost better then their own mom iaith …
Actually I was hoping I’d hear there’s kind of Welsh “class” in this school, but if I refer to British Council where I once asked about some Welsh language resources in Sloenia or if they can provide me some, they don’t have much connection with anything but English unfortunately. Even Irish is neglected I have a feeling.
But … I can very well (and that’s 90 % sure I am) be wrong. Let’s wait and see what this site provides in the future.
Diolch yn fawr iawn.
It appears sick-leave has some good side effects for learning Welsh though so I was listening to some Radio Cymru again and yes, I wouldn’t be me if I wouldn’t tweet but this time I was not even aware something would happen as I wasn’t sure if I’m listening to live program on TuneIn app at all but it happened.
Challenge Number 21 - Amarfer in the wild
Aled Hugher was the one who “picked” the post to Radio Cymru this time as it was his show and mentioned me several times in the show. Not to repeat myself, it’s all here:
And this resulted into another little twitter thingy. Hearing on the Radio Cymru (In the Aled Hughes show again) about app Sain Fagans developed and gave on the market I just had to ask some things (it is in my nature to put questions obviously) and so the little twit-chat began. I was answered by Aled Hughes and Sara Huws from Sain Fagans. We tweeted about the app and little about the “interactive” facility they started to build last year which was delightful and chalenging both at the time as there were some words I didn’t know. Thakfully it was written chat what means I could look up words and check my spelling before replying.
So, tweeting again today made me realize I’m tweeting in Welsh these days a lot and it makes me feel like I actually am some kind of improving after all.
Next challenge … who knows what it would be … 
Oh, and by the way: You can read all about the “Traces Olion” app here
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Do you remember me writing this in the last post of this topic approximately 4 and a half months ago? Many things have happened until now but there was actually no particular challenge until now. Writing on twitter, Facebook or Clecs seams more or less normal to me now, talking (as much as I can in given circumstances) too so they’re not particular challenges now anymore.
However, you might remember I once said this:
A challenge … next time I’ll be in Postojna cave’s Concert hall, with someone from Cymru or alone, Ill sing the antheme properly and I’ll make someone record it for you all! It has to be heard there echoing across the largest and most acustic hall of the cave system. smile Agree?
in the A visit from Cymru topic. So, here it is
Challenge Number 22 - Singing in the Concert Hall of Postojna Cave
We visited Postojna cave yesterday and of course I had to fulfill my promise given to you in April last year. I promissed to sing Welsh Anthem, I know but instead of singing it I rather decided to sing Calon Lân. I knew the words of the first verse and the refrain once already but I somehow forgot some words to sing them properly so I had to re-gain my knowledge. I did some practice in half an hour before we departed for the cave however the circumstances were not going in our aid so not properly working camera, a bit darker hall as it was last time when we visitd Cave with @margaretnock and lack of practice made me a bit of nervous so what you’ll actually hear is havy dripping of the water from the cave’s ceiling and me singing just a refrain. However to hear what acustic this cave named Concert Hall of the Postojna cave system has, it will be just enough.
The singing was more or less public as I’ve stood in the middle of the cave singing so everyone who passed me could hear me. I’m just sorry there was too dark so you can’t see anything but just hear me. Who was the real witness of my singing I won’t tell yet. I can only say it was one of SSiW members… You will get the insights in next days from this member for sure but I’m leaving you in wonderings who this might be …
So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen - my humble atempt of singing in the Postojna Cave System’s Concert Hall. (I know I did at least two mistakes though but due to me being a bit nervous I hope you can excuse me for that.)
Enjoy!
And yes … As challenge was not fulfilled entirely I give myself another one which is to sing and record Calon lân in whole … not in Postojna cave this time though. Fair enough?
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You have more guts than I do. Mind,I can’t sing. I would recite Calon Lan instead! Da iawn ti!
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O Da Iawn @tatjana! We need to get a proper choir together. So, who are you with? I can’t wait to hear!
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Diolch yn fawr iawn Huw.
Oh, well, a lot of practice needed yet. I knew all the words before departure then I forgot quite some.
Thank you. It is more determination to fulfill the promise than guts with me though.
Diolch yn fawr iawn Margaret.
You can imagine how ti would sound in such acustic hall, don’t you? It would be great!
Well, as I said, you’ll hear in the next days. What I can say is that my guest already safely returned home and that we had a wonderful and interesting time together siarad Cymraeg and quite some Saesneg of course when my husband was with us.
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Tatjana…you’re the best! Your Gymraeg is fabulous and your voice lovely and clear! Honestly, I do admire you! 
A 
for the artist! 
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Wowowo! Hold your horses a bit @Claudia_Beryan!
Well, thank you for the compliments of course, but when I’ve listened to myself at home I’ve heard I’ve done at least two mistakes so actually the recording from aproximately a month ago is (speaking from the language aspect) better (recording below), but yah, I can’t say I have bad voice and the acustic of the cave adds to the singing a lot.
A bit of explanation: at the end a bit of laughter is heard but actually I didn’t laugh but almost started to cry (those who know me will know what I mean and why). It is always somehow touching moment for me when I have to sing at some (for me) special occassion or when this brings memories back no matter good or bad ones. So … laughter covered my crying actually.
EDIT to add that this can cause a bit of confusion. This recording here is from a month ago and the “original” one in the cave is in the post a bit upper.
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Brilliant! You sing very well!
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Thank you. I tried to sing as loud as possible so that the singing would really be as it should. Usually I more or less murmur to myself than sing so my husband allerted me that I have to sing loud and clear before I started.
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You accept the compliments of the gentlemen gracefully, but I should hold my horses? 
Even though I don’t know you well, I know that laughing and crying are closely related; and that there are situations which make it very difficult for us to ‘chose’ between the two…so, they simply mix.
I couldn’t hear any mistakes - partly because I couldn’t care less about mistakes and partly because my Gymraeg still is so poor that I could only recognise the word ‘nos’. 
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Oh, well, I didn’t mean it to be that hard. [quote=“Claudia_Beryan, post:92, topic:2384”]
I couldn’t hear any mistakes - partly because I couldn’t care less about mistakes and partly because my Gymraeg still is so poor that I could only recognise the word ‘nos’.
[/quote]
You know much more than you are keen to admit. And it is all the thing of listening and learning how to say words. The mistakes are at the beginning. I should sing “Tecach yw na’r lili dlos” but instead I’ve left that “w” out. Then I should sing “Dim ond calon lan all ganu” but instead I’ve transformed that “all” into “ach” and just half mutated the “c” in the word “canu” what is absolutely not right. So now you know and will eventually not do the same mistakes when trying to sing this song.
Yes, they often do. I actually didn’t quite know if we have enough time until “train” departure from the cave so I was in a bit of hurry too.
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Ah, no, I was just lovingly teasing you! But, you know, I may sometimes sound a little ‘over the top’ or pazza, eh…that’s my Southern European blood 
(Imagine this typical Italian hand movement ‘Mafioso-style’). Tonight, we Mafiosi take over the hospital…dottor Matteo, Giacomo from the kitchen, nurse Maria and cleaning lady Claudia…mamma mia! 
I wish you were right and I’d really know more than I think. But ask Milla; she was so kind to chat with me about 3 weeks ago. I could only say very little in Gymraeg, I couldn’t remember much. Honestly, I don’t try to talk myself down, I’m telling you how it is. I do have a problem with learning and there is no point in denying that. 
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Hmmmm … this smells like things need to be tested a bit … When I sort myself a bit into ordinary ways of living again, we might have a nice little Skype chat at one point …
I know, I know … don’t worry.
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I can’t believe it is already 2 years since I’ve last posted into this topic what means there were no particular Challenges in store for me to do. It might be I’ve done some more or less “impossible” stuff yn Nghymraeg, but nothing big in particular until now. But now, as many of you might (or might not) know already, the really big challenge lied ahead of me for about a year (or a bit more). So here it is:
Challenge Number 23 - SSiW Rap - A little story about 10 years of Say Somethig In Welsh
This is well the biggest challenge in Cymraeg I’ve ever made until now. Since Catrin published the plan to have a big 10th SSiW birthday party back in 2017 I had in mind to do something big and give it as a present when the party will be. The first thought was to write a poem but you know … poetry in Welsh is rather hard to write especially with quite strict rules of how to compose it (apart from modern poetry I presume) so I gave up on this despite I’ve started to compose some kind of a sonnet wreath. Yes, I literally have written some verses but then I gave up on trying thinkng “This thing is too poor to go wth it further”. Then on I’ve got the idea of making a song. Come on, me singing something I’ve composed! No way … My voice is more or less cracked and without real condition to sing … but yes eureka I’ve got the idea! What about the rap. You actually don’t need to sing but … o boy … you need to speak fairly fast in Cymraeg. Can I do this? Yes I might be able to do it after all.
So the writing of the lyrics begun in early 2018 but there was not much to write. No ideas what and how to include until the beginning of this year when I all of a sudden have got the idea. I’ve remembered every single thing I’ve read in the Aran’s book Some Sex and a Hill and in the FAQs on the learning page on the history of SSiW and started to inplement all my knowledge about it into the yesterday (01.06.2019) at the party presented Rap.
Next step was recording the whole thing which was a bit hard since i don’t posses the studio technology which could eliminate all background sounds off but with the luck of today’s phone technology and apps which some of them are really good even this was sorted out at the end. So recordings began, part by part night by night until all was done.
Then on it occured to me that I surely didn’t write everything properly and there might be many, if even tiny, mistakes which needed to be corrected. So I’ve put all recording into the musical section I’ve created with Music Maker program and mixed all down into a song (rap). Now there was a question to whom to present the whole thing in order to get some feedback and possible proof reading so I’ve gathered a small team around me to the private premiere of the whole thing where we discussed everything and with the help of all gathered I’ve managed to do the corrections if even that meant to re-record the whole thing again.
I thought I was too late for the party though, thinking that it was announcred to be at the end of April already so the video was even not an option for the party in the first place but finding out it’s still a month to go before the party begins I gave it a try.
So the searching for additional material, video-recording, rehersaling, putting video together, masking, covering, cutting and what’s more to it began in really mad pace hunting the dedline of a week prior the party to catch.
Now I’m super happy I could make it with the huge help of gathered small team aboard and the star behind the scene who organized the whole thing party-wse @siaronjames. And I’m super-grateful I could make all present at the party happy with the gift I’ve planned to give. The gratitude is all mine to all of you - team gathered around me, party-goers, SSiW staff and you here on the forum who bare with me each and every day I come on.
And the produce of the “challenge”?
You can read all about it and see the video itself in the Post party Chat (including Tatjana appreciation) but for all of you who rather listen than watch here’s only audio version of the Rap also.
I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did creating it and as much as those at the party did.
And of course the next challenge will be in store for me in less than 2 years again (I hope). 
Hwyl!
Tatjana
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