Where have all the Welsh gone?

My great grandma was a Welsh speaker and I like Wales and I've spoken in the Welsh Assembly so in case it happens again I thought I ought to learn the lingo. I've tried Rosetta Stone which has given me basic vocab and there's a BBC tutorial which is good and I also watch Pobol y Cym - with subtitles I must admit. This Saturday I'm going to the Welsh Centre near Kings Cross station in London for a Pre-beginners course and am really looking forward to it. My aim is to be able to say a simple sentence - it's OK having vocab, you have to do something with it!!! When I was last in Cardiff I tried a few words at the hotel but they were all non English speakers, let alone Welsh!!!!

Download "Say Something in Welsh" it's brilliant.

It is funny to hear Wenglish being used sometimes. But confusing if people do it around children.

Missed yesterday as our cats were at the vets having teeth out, very traumatic!They seem to be ok but very sorry for themselves.
I came down to Merthyr the weekend of the Abervan disaster, Anniebach. I hope none of your family were affected, it was an awful time.I was living in the Midlands at the time and it was hard being so far from my family, especially Dad, who was head of one of the local primary schools at the time and knew almost all the people who died.
Sorry1 A bit morbid for a thursday morning!
I'm very impressed and envious of all you Welsh speakers.Once Christmas is out of the way I shall endevour to become one of you!

Nannyfran , cousins and friends died, my close family and home were safe, thank you for asking. What isn't realised is the aftermath , no PTS then, people were prescribed Librium etc, I was and it caused problems which lasted after the grief eased . All these years on and I cannot sit in a room with doors closed , but I married, had children and grandchildren, many of those children would be grannies now had they not been killed by the coal board

BBC Wales did have a site re speaking Welsh, perhaps they still have

Hope your cats are making a good recovery

I'm sorry to revive painful memories Anniebach, as you say, no PTS then, you just got on with things as best you could.I'm glad you managed to make a good life and sorry it left such a mark. My Dad was there for days helping with the rescue team and I don't think he ever got the images out of his head. I hope the fat cats responsible had more than a few sleepless nights!
Our cats are slowly getting back to normal, thank you. Trying to get the medication in the right place is fun!Only one of them needs tablets, which are supposed to go in their food. One down, nine to go!

Not Welsh, and I live abroad, but Im in Neath every few months to see my beloved step dad who came into my life 40 years ago when I was 15. My mum is long dead and I now have a precious new step mum (so to speak) but we are all living proof that blood is not always thicker than water. I think the modern name for it is a 'blended family' and blended we are even though my (step) dad was the original toy boy and at only 8 years older than me he had to learn as he went along.

Annie and Fran, I was a child in Scotland but I can still recall the day. xxxx

When the news of Aberfan came onto the television, I was standing with my second daughter in my arms, just a couple of weeks old. My other daughter was tucked up in bed.

I have never forgotten the shock of that. It was only matched by passing a TV shop window and seeing a dozen screens showing the plane crashing into the tower in New York.

Nannyfran, perhaps my Dad worked along side your Dad, I may have given your Dad tea and sandwiches , so long ago.

I would like to take this opportunity to say to who ever reads this, regarding PTS - the Aberfan disaster happened in 1966, it was horrific , time passed, in 1996 I was watching the news and reports came through of Dunblane, I watched , I cried, I prayed as did the country. The following day I just couldn't go out of my front door, my knees buckled , will not bore you with details, was diagnosed with Agoraphobia, went throught usual treatment , didn't help. Eventually my father arranged for me to see a psychiatrist privately , no medication, during the treatment came the most vivid flashback , the mothers in Dunblane racing to the school and the Mothers in Aberfan racing to the school , I had not thought of the latter as I watched the events in Dunblane.

Forgive me for talking about myself but there may be someone here who this may help, there was a thirty year gap between these horrors when the phobia hit me I was going to pick up my little grandson from nursery school , Aberfan and Dunblane were not in my thoughts , yet the three blew a fuse

Apologies for this long post

No apologies needed, Anniebach.Anyone would be greatly affected by these events and if you have direct connections with them the scars go deep.
Once again, I'm sorry to revive painful memories, but if it helps anyone to talk about these things , then some good has been done.
My Dad became head of the new school they built in Abervan and deeply loved the people he got to know there. He died a few years ago, but it was a topic that frequently came up.
On a lighter note, I think you deserve to be "honorary Welsh," Hannoona!

On a Welsh note, can I remind everyone about the new drama "Y Gwyll" currently on S4c? Very noir, with subtitles. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I think.

Anyone watch the rugby?We managed not to take our chances yet again, how frustrating! Being married to an Englishman it was even harder to take although he's always very sensitive about these things and does support Wales when England aren't playing them. I'll have to live on the memory of the Lions tour for a bit longer!

Yes it was a tad frustrating wasn't it, nannyfran, after a good start. Injuries did not help I think and I hope none of them have lasting effects.
My DH is the same re Wales except that in his case, when Wales play Ireland he is very torn as he is an Irish passport holder - it is the only time his Irish-ness comes out.
We have a lovely walk around Plas Newydd garden this lunchtime. Blue sky, autumn colours, snow on top of Snowdon and the other higher mountains and to top it off, our first-ever sight of red squirrels (skipping around in eucalyptus grove!).

Anniebach You can't bury horror but you can try. I hope since Dunblane you've found peace.

I really enjoyed the beginners course I went on at the Welsh Centre in London - lots of variety. I've started the Say Something Welsh course which is excellent but requires quick thinking which I find difficult so I'm still on lesson 1!!! I like the way it doesn't require any writing down though. I also watch the little videos from the BBC learning Welsh which are based on various scenarios - and then there is Pobol y Cym (with subtitles, I have to say).

Your walk sounds idyllic JessM, I had no idea there were red squirrels still in Wales, that's lovely. I read in the paper today that Jonathon Davies is out for the rest of the series, a real blow, don't know about Adam Jones.I'd like to wrap Leigh Halfpenny in cotton wool 'til the next game!He is so often our saviour.
Let's hope next week restores our faith.

It was very pretty nannyfran . Te red squirrel was re-introduced to Anglesey a few years ago. Apparently they have made it back across the suspension bridge and into Treborth botanical gardens, the mainland side of the strait. Initially I visualised them sprinting up the pavement (having a good head for heights helps walking along there - but they do, don't they. I find it pretty challenging as it is a very long way above the water - built to let tall ships pass at high tide)
Then I realised it would be an easy matter for a squirrel to jump from trees to superstructure of bridge and just do a bit of a Tarzan act across to the trees at the other side without coming down to bridge deck level at all.
I do not suppose they swam (unlike the wild pig that seems to have swum the 7 miles from France to Alderney recently) .

Jess your walk sounded lovely, if you ever go inside Plas Newydd, look up, my uncle painted the ceiling (he also helped on the Whistler murals)This gave him a taste for murals and very late in life he painted a mural on the his bedroom wall. A beautiful view of the bay at Rhosneigr, however, to add realism he included the Red Arrows flying overhead His wife was not amused!
My sister is fed up about the big move, everything has ground to a halt!

great story.

I'm Welsh, Cardiff born & Bred

helo bawb, dw i'n siarad Cymraeg, a dw i'n byw ger y Cymoedd a'r y ffin rhwng Sir Fynwy a Powys.

Some years ago we went to Plas Newydd. I loved the mural there, - absolutely fantastic. You could spend hours looking at it and still see only a small amount of the detail in the scene. I really recommend it as a "must see" for anyone.

I'm writing this in English as no-one has answered my previous message (in Welsh).

Is anybody still looking at this page I wonder?

Hwyl am y tro!