Who learns Welsh - and why?

People often ask me "who wants to learn Welsh??" with incredulity, as if learning it is the occupation of loons...

As a Welsh teacher, I am happy to say that I have always had at least 5-6 Welsh students per week at any given time, with new people showing interest almost every week.

In this video I talk about the top 5 types of people who come to learn Welsh... and WHY they do.

[mergiumar]

I´m learning Cymraeg. I have not Welsh roots. I just simply love celtic languages and I´m really enjoying it! Greetings from Argentina.

[claudianowakowski]

Linguist nerd here. I have been learning Welsh on my own for over 3 years. I went to Wales 25 years ago. Was fascinated by the language. I love learning Welsh.

[ventdelamer]

Personally, I feel solidarity with Welsh speakers. There are languages that (for some historical reasons) were marginalized by a “stronger” and “more prestigious” language. It’s the case of Ukrainian in Ukraine, Belarusian in Belarus, etc., etc. And in all these cases we hear the same thing: “Why on earth do you need Welsh (Ukrainian, Belarusian) if ‘everyone’ understands English (Russian)?” So, I’m happy that Welsh people continue to speak their beautiful language and are trying to revive it. It’s great!

[heavymetalmoustache]

I read Tolkien's biography by Humphrey Carpenter and it talked about how Tolkien found the language through passing boxcars that came from Wales, he fell in love with language right away so i decided to look it up myself and i fell in love with it to. So that's why i started learning it

[SpeakEasyIrish]

S'mae...I started learning Welsh with duolingo a few months ago and now from the web too. I just love the Celtic languages (and people), spent 10 years learning Irish. I will stick to Welsh and have given myself 5 years to get fluent.
At first I experienced the same slight setbacks learning Welsh as Irish what with different dialects etc and not having a standard version like with English.... but it's all good.
Diolch yn fawr, hwyl rŵan.

[Gwwvl]

I'm learning Welsh, I was born in Cardiff, Live in Abertillery where no one talks Welsh around here sadly, Learning Welsh was Denied me in school 70/80's .... So I've taken it on myself to learn now at 53 ... It's difficult and frustrating but I'm making progress all be it slowly ... Thanks for your videos .

[GuyNir]

My girlfriend is Welsh, and that’s what made me interested in it.

[afzk]

Welsh is just a cool, different and amazing sounding language; wish I had the time to learn it now, perhaps in the future!

[thefayyazis]

I fall in the first category. My maiden surname is Price (ap Rhys in Welsh). I am American and my Welsh ancestors came here a very long time ago. When I got really into genealogy, I learned that Wales and Welsh is unique from England and English. I am very educated, but facts and information about Wales were not widely publicized or taught when I was growing up. I learned that my Welsh ancestors spoke Welsh here and even had newspapers written in Welsh here in the US in the 1600's and 1700's. I felt very sad that I had this Welsh surname and had so many Welsh ancestors, yet did not even understand Welsh history or know that there existed a Welsh language, and so I started learning it a little. I think the ancestors would be very proud. Thanks to all of the Welsh speakers that make and post videos about Welsh language!

[lifeonmars]

I'm english but my grandad was welsh. He never taught us unfortunately, he was too shy 😄 so I am learning to keep it going. Beautiful language, country and people. Thank you so much for your uploads helping us to learn 💖

[Edenwaith]

I’m in the fifth category. I’m learning Welsh because I really like The Chronicles of Prydain, which were based off of Welsh mythology.

[taliesin]

Always a pleasure to listen to your voice: I'm trying to learn best I can. Thank you.

[sofiafernandez]

I want to learn it because it's beautiful, rare, and two of my fav fictional characters are from Wales! I'm from Argentina and only very recently I found out about the Welsh community, I'd love to visit it sometime (and Wales as well, obviously)
Thanks for your videos :)

[vyktorzhuravlev]

Well, I'm Russian, and some Russian researchers claim many old languages ​​originated from the Old Slavic language. This is one of the reasons to learn more from the past. Another reason is that my soul has always wanted something ... Celtic, and the Celtic language is also one of the oldest, still spoken by people. Also, the Celtic languages ​​are incredibly beautiful. Now I am learning Irish Gaelic, as well as Welsh, and I can say that in sound, although not only, Irish is close to Russian - a lot of letter combinations are pronounced like the letters of the Russian alphabet : lEA(Я)bhar, mUI(Ы)ceoil, mairtEOI(Ё)l, innIU(Ю), and a huge number of soft consonants (Ь) and sibilants(Щ). I also try Greek, which, by the way, is generally full of letters that look like from the Cyrillic alphabet. P.s. I really like Welsh too, especially - "LL" :xD. So sexy :))) P.s. Those who are learning languages, or just starting out, can be taught in several courses at the same time. Personally, that's what I do. I not only have a course on "Duolingvo", but also on "Memrise", where there are often several different dialects that differ from what is on Duolingvo. P.s. 3 And the Irish and Welsh, like the Russians, have fought against the Anglo-Saxon yoke and influence throughout history. This brings it together :))

[jandunn]

I love what you had to say. Welsh is a very soulful and poetic language. I was inspired by listening to a CD by Damh the Bard on the Mabinogi and when I heard the words I was enchanted and wanted to pronounce them. Also my Welsh family tree goes back the furthest and the characters like Bran and Branwen and Urien etc in the stories are on my tree which makes learning Welsh a great homecoming. Yes I am retired….too.

[sebastiancalvocamps]

Now I understand why Welsh-Cymraeg/Elvish-Quenya have some similar sound.

[jeffreyhoward]

Some of my ancestors came to the US from Wales, but my primary reason for acquiring a familiarity with Welsh language has been my deep interest in the poet author Dylan Thomas and also the fascination I have for the1st Millennium church and saints of Wales.

[lizbec]

Living in the States, but have yet to visit Wales and I’ve wanted to my entire life. I’m from group #1. My DNA test says I’m 51% Welsh, and my mom’s side is super welsh, sings constantly, and love Welsh cakes and eating lamb. I always Heard funny Welsh words growing up and always wanted to learn it. Thanks for your channel!

[nicokelly]

Also I really love what you said near the end in explaining why people learn Welsh. I find it very accurate and very beautiful. <3

[lisamilsom]

Holidays in North Wales from a young age and still visiting every year. I've been promising myself I'd start for year's and years and now I finally have.... Struggling 😂 it's been a year and it's slow going but I'll keep doing a little every day!