I have just got back from 2 weeks in Pen Llŷn with my husband and 2 sons. My friends and family sponsored me to speak Welsh with as many people as possible to raise money for our local cancer unit who were so supportive to my husband during his recovery. Well it has been an amazing 2 weeks and being sponsored definitely gave me the courage I needed to use my Welsh whenever possible. The people I met and spoke to have been fantastic and I have raised over £300 for the unit.
I made it clear to people I spoke to that I wasn’t asking for money, just for them to sign my form as a record and “evidence” that I had had a reasonable conversation with them and been understood! However several also insisted on sponsoring me which was incredibly generous of them. I received some lovely comments on my Welsh speaking so of course each time I explained about SSIW and gave out business cards and window stickers. I don’t want to bore you with all the details of my holiday but I would like to mention the highlights of my Welsh speaking moments as there are several places I would highly recommend to other learners if ever they are in this beautiful part of North Wales.
1 Caffi’r Penwaig, Nefyn – We have been regulars here for years but always spoken English so they were surprised but very pleased as I ordered our meal in Welsh as well as very kindly sponsoring me too.
2 Nant Gwyrtheyrn – Welsh Language Centre. The lady in the gift shop was very friendly and spoke slowly and clearly for me to be able to understand her.I still find it harder to understand what is said back to me than speaking, so this was great.
3 Palas Print, Caernarfon – I booked tickets for Steve Eaves and Lleuwen and received very flattering comments from the 2 very friendly ladies here. They already had a sticker in the window!
4 Plas Glyn Y Weddw – Llanbedrog Art Gallery – very busy the day we went but staff were happy with me speaking Welsh while picking up some tickets which I had booked ( partly in Welsh!)over the phone from home.
5 Plas Yn Rhiw, Mynytho – Ann Owen one of the curates at this lovely little National Trust Plas, was amazing!! Highly recommended. She was so friendly and greeted everyone in Welsh, encouraging every visitor to have a go so I had a lovely long chat with her.She was very interested in SSIW.
6 Nana’s Cafe, Pwllheli – The Welsh assistants were very patient as I ordered our meal and the younger assistant made my day when she said that I sounded Welsh. The owner isn’t Welsh but he is learning along with his children so of course SSIW was highly recommended to him.
7 Pesda Roc, Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda. Thrilled to see Steve Eaves and Lleuwen here. I have been listening to them a lot recently thanks to discovering them on SSIW and love them both. This whole night was amazing! The organisors treated us like VIPs when they realised I was learning to speak Welsh. I felt very touched when one of them even thanked me for doing so. We were invited to sit in ( front seats!)on the warm up as we were very early. So we got to listen to Lleuwen twice! As Lleuwen came off stage she noticed me trying to take her picture and invited me to take it in the back room where it was lighter – my son took one of us both together. One of the organisors told her I was learning to speak Welsh so I felt more able to continue trying to manage our conversation just in Welsh! She was lovely and wanted to know more about how, why etc. She had heard of SSIW! She told me she now lived in Brittany with her French hubby. Eventually I asked her to sign my form feeling very chuffed to have Lleuwen’s name on there. She handed her lovely 5 month old son over to me while she did so, then she and her friend thrust money into my bag insisting they sponsor me too! Lleuwen explained that she had lost her mother to cancer. I said that I had heard about this as her father Steve Eave’s latest album is in tribute to her.She said her Dad would love to speak to me too but he was chatting to others and I was quaking by then!! I was so thrilled to have managed all this in Welsh! Thank you SSIW !! Throughout the concert I was sitting next to 2 brilliant ladies from Wrexham who chatted to me in Welsh. At every interval we talked and I had time to think of questions to ask them which helped it become more of a 2 way conversation.They were passionate about the Welsh Language and were pleased and intrigued about my learning Welsh.They also insisted on sponsoring me.
I got 20 signatures on my sheet by the end of the 2 weeks; but had lots of shorter encounters where I didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask for a signature e.g. in a long queue in a shop! I have to confess I felt all Welshed out by the end of the 2 weeks but what an experience!
It was also lovely to meet up with my SSIW skype pals Maeve ( lovely to see you again) and Pabi ( great to meet you Pabi and thank you again for sponsoring me)and then spotting SJ in Nefyn - recognising her from her photo and her appearance on Hwb. Lovely to have met you SJ.
Woops sorry, I'm afraid this did get a bit long winded after all
but I can't finish without saying once again thank you to SSIW for this fantastic course and to the great bunch of folk on the forum. I thought this was just about learning a language. It has been much more!
Please feel free to correct my mistakes. Diolch!
by JeanB » Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:19 pm 
Please feel free to correct me. Thanks! 
= "Oh, is that how it's spelled!"
