Learning Cymraeg

This September will mark 10 years of me living in Wales. Way back in 2002 when filling out my dreaded UCAS form I must admit I had very little knowledge of the Welsh language, Dorset girl that I am, and how important it is. But it is important; language and culture make up so much of a person's identity and expression.  Last year I married a Welshman who uses the Welsh language a lot both professionally and socially. Consequently our group of friends includes many a proud native Welsh speaker. Sometimes, in fact, I am the only non Welsh speaker in the room, not that anyone has ever made me feel excluded. However, I have felt for a while that I should make an attempt to learn. I once tried to learn when in my final year. A patronising teacher, slow class and the fact that I was in my final year made me give up after only a few lessons (I also seem to remember some guys from Rhyl trying to teach us Welsh at Glastonbury festival 2003 but needless to stay it didn't stick).

Tafwyl at Cardiff Castle

Recently, a few friends and I went to see American Interior, the film that accompanies The Gruff Rhys album of the same name. In the film, Gruff follows the trail of one of his ancestors on the quest for a mythical Welsh speaking tribe in America. Check it out btw, it's great. The Welsh language is prominent throughout and at one point Gruff states that there are only 1 millions speakers.

At the weekend, Hywel and I went to Tafwyl festival at Cardiff Castle. It was so interesting to see, and hear, Welsh being spoken by so many people and to listen to musicians singing in Welsh. It made me jealous. I want to speak Welsh! One person shown in Gruff's film mention the website "Say Something in Welsh" so I decided to check it out. It is a series of online Welsh lessons which can be downloaded and listened to as and when you want. Each lesson is only about 35 minutes long so it is easy to fit one in. I honestly cannot praise it enough. I have only done 5 lessons so far and already I can say loads! It teaches you to construct sentences rather than learning by rote. The only slight downside is that it requires a lot of speaking on the learner's part so I cannot really do it at work but then speaking is the only real way to learn! I can even do my crochet at the same time. Win.

Sorry quite a wordy one