Staying in Llithfaen on the 6th! | If SSIW is helping you, why not help us? Get DAILY lessons: Become an SSIW Member!

[RedGreenInBlue]

Peint/panad/pryd o fwyd yn Llanbedrog ar y dydd Llun, amser cinio?

Mae pryd o fwyd yn swnio'n wych, os oes gynnoch chi'r amser - pa dafarn (neu fwyty/caffi)?

[my_cat_silky]

You could go to the Glyn-y-Weddw pub in Llanbedrog, Peter - Phil, Marinda and myself had lunch there, after I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Aran and Catrin and their adorable children for the first time last October! It's a very cosy, friendly place where the staff will speak Welsh with you - guaranteed! The food was good as well, although I was too excited to eat more than a bowl of chips!

[Aran]

Ia, o'n i'n mynd i awgrymu'r Glyn-y-Weddw...

[RedGreenInBlue]

Ia, o'n i'n mynd i awgrymu'r Glyn-y-Weddw...

Perffaith! Diolch am yr awgrymiad, Alison

PS. Yn ôl y lluniau ar y wefan, maen nhw'n licio cwrw Robinson's yn y Glyn-y-Weddw - fy mragdy lleol yma yn Stockport!

[Aran]

Byd bach, 'de! Fyddai tua 12.00 yn iawn? Dyna pryd mae'r plantos yn disgwyl cael bwyd...

[RedGreenInBlue]

Byd bach, 'de! Fyddai tua 12.00 yn iawn? Dyna pryd mae'r plantos yn disgwyl cael bwyd...

Byddai! Does gynnon ni ddim awydd i dorri eich trefn arferol; mae'r rhigolaeth (routine?) yn bwysig iawn i blant

[RedGreenInBlue]

I meant to post this last night, but after getting back from the serenity of Pen Llŷn to our building site a.k.a. house, there were other important things to sort out on our return! Anyway, we had a wonderful couple of days in Pen Llŷn - so much so that I found it quite difficult heading east out of Llithfaen towards the A487 on the way back. Maybe I'm learning a little about the meaning of hiraeth…

I got to claim my free pint at Tafarn y Fic (and Cwrw Llŷn's "Brenin Enlli" bitter is very fine ), and had a chat with John from Cwrw Llŷn who was in the Fic at the time. As we were so starving though, we headed into Pwllheli for fish and chips (in Welsh), and some bits and pieces from the Spar (in English), and sat on the beach, marvelling at the millpond calmness of the sea.

On Monday we walked around Porth Oer before meeting Aran and Catrin for lunch. Diolch i chi am ddod allan, ac ymddiheuriadau am orfodi Angharad Lliar a Beuno Llŷn i wrando ar ddwy awr o sgwrs yn Saesneg yn benodol! Sylweddolaf y byddai Rachael wedi teimlo bach yn anghynwysedig tasen ni wedi siarad yn Gymraeg trwy'r amser, felly diolch am eich meddylgarwch . Ond, ar y llaw arall, credaf eich bod chi wedi gwneud argraff da arni hi - oedden ni'n sgwrsio am ddysgu'r iaith fel oedolyn a dwyieithrwydd yng Nghymru ar y ffordd adref, ac oedd hi'n edrych ar safleodd gwerthwyr tai lleol ar ei ffôn!

After lunch we went to Porth Neigwl, but the weather was rather unpleasant, so we soon headed off to Plas y Rhiw. The gardens are beautiful (even in the rain!) and I liked the quirky story behind the property, but the best bit of all was the guide sitting at the entrance, who was a native Welsh speaker. We spent at least twenty minutes chatting mainly in Welsh, including being rude about a couple who started taking pictures despite the "no photography" sign while Rachael did this and had a look around the gardens. The highlight of the whole two days - and if this is not a testament to the SSiW method, I don't know what is - was her asking me whether I'd learned as an adult or whether it was my first language!! I just wanted to hug her for saying that and I think I walked around with a grin etched onto my face for the rest of the day. Thank you, SSiW!

On Tuesday morning we did a short walk from the Canolfan up to Cae'r Nant, around the top of the Nant and back down the road to the Canolfan (we found the old road but decided it was too slippery and steep to go far). Half-way down, a woman pulled up alongside while driving down the hill and started chatting. She was visiting the Nant with a friend after several years of living out of the area, and clearly excited at the prospect of seeing it after all that time. She too was a Welsh speaker, and again it was wonderful to see the look of surprise on her face as someone clearly English launched into Welsh. Unfortunately we had to break off our discussion - one of the more esoteric I have had at a roadside with a passing driver! - which had moved on to whether the fact that English is the main international language means that England no longer has a distinct culture, when we realised we were holding up another car, so we continued the chat in the Caffi Meinir before getting some lunch and setting off for home.

Two things on reflection: it has been worth learning the language just to see the surprise delight on people's faces as someone with a typical SE England "RP" accent suddenly switches from English to Welsh. As Aran said over lunch, and I know has said many times before, the positive effect on attitudes to Welsh in Wales of people from outside Wales learning the language should not be underestimated. However you don't realise how important it is until you yourself have been the source of that surprise and delight. And once you do, the search for more people to surprise can become a bit addictive!

Secondly, my increasingly level of "fluency" is starting to give me a bit of insight into the classic problem of what to do when one or two members of a group don't speak Welsh. At lunch on Monday, three of us four adults understood Welsh, but of course to ensure intelligibility, more than three-quarters of the talk was in English. It occurred to me that at least you can say in Welsh the things that you know the non-Welsh-speakers know already, but it would be interesting to hear what strategies people adopt to maximise the amount of Welsh used in such circumstances, without alienating non-speakers.

[Gruntius]

Fantastic account of your trip Peter, thanks for letting us all into your world for a brief glimpse.

The highlight of the whole two days - and if this is not a testament to the SSiW method, I don't know what is - was her asking me whether I'd learned as an adult or whether it was my first language!! I just wanted to hug her for saying that and I think I walked around with a grin etched onto my face for the rest of the day. Thank you, SSiW!

Don't forget to give yourself a massive pat on the back for putting in the time and effort to get to this stage. It must feel great and I can't wait to get the same feelings. You and people like you are an inspiration to the rest of us learners.

[Dee]

Very inspiring Peter, and a brilliant run up to the Dysgwr y Flwyddyn semi finals on Saturday. Pob lwc!!

[SJ]

Its great to hear that you had a good time in Pen Llŷn. I'm a bit jealous as I haven't made it to Pen Llŷn since I was a teenager! Sounds like you had plenty of practice but it is difficult when you're with someone/others who don't speak Welsh or have just started learning.

Secondly, my increasingly level of "fluency" is starting to give me a bit of insight into the classic problem of what to do when one or two members of a group don't speak Welsh. At lunch on Monday, three of us four adults understood Welsh, but of course to ensure intelligibility, more than three-quarters of the talk was in English. It occurred to me that at least you can say in Welsh the things that you know the non-Welsh-speakers know already, but it would be interesting to hear what strategies people adopt to maximise the amount of Welsh used in such circumstances, without alienating non-speakers.

This is a problem which is difficult to deal with, and I haven't found or heard a solution which works for small groups. People are always surprised to hear that I don't speak a lot of Welsh when I'm in North Wales. This is partly because I'm visiting my family who don't live in a very Welsh speaking area, but mostly because apart from Gareth (fy nghariad) my family don't speak Welsh so the conversation is always in English apart from the few phrases that everyone knows such as " Dim problem!"

Having said that, it is an easier problem to deal with in larger groups and it does seem to work at our Cardiff monthly meet up some what. Usually, there are enough fluentish Welsh speakers to have a continuing conversation in Welsh, and enough people who don't have as much Welsh who have an English/Wegnlish coversation, but the conversations change throughout coffee morning people dip in and out of the conversations. I'm sure there are occasions where those with little Welsh feel left out, and those who speak Welsh feel like they haven't had enough practice, but no one has complained (yet), and most people keep coming back!!