1 million Welsh speakers by 2050? It's a fake policy

Bull and sound bites from a Welsh government that is totally useless!

Tim, c'mon, they ARE different but by no means unrelated. As long as they are defining speakers in plain English as those who have received a Welsh education and are fluent then a million speakers is 1 in 3 of the population, a doubling of the market for Welsh language music, novels, film and tv etc. And if we assume they are going to leave the language die back in it's strongholds then the growth will have to be even more spectacular in the anglasised areas. So more thab 31.6% Welsh speakers in Abertridwr. The real problem with the target is that Labour have shown time and again that they will not fulfil the target, that it is a cruel joke. See exhibit A in Llangenech. If we have a million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050, I will happily join that scab Dafydd El in declaring the language battle over. I will also eat my hat.

Build it and they will come

Mae gymaint o agweddau am lesteirio'r 'polisi' hwn, ac er nad ydw i'n hoff o'r gair, normaleiddio'r Gymraeg yw'r ffordd ymlaen. Lle roedd yr iaith Gymraeg yn iaith y werin bobl, erbyn hyn, mae sawl un yn gweld yr iaith yn elitaidd. Yn anffodus hefyd, rydym ni fel Cymry wedi'n labelu fel 'cwynwyr', a dwi'n teimlo bod ni'r Cymry angen bod yn fwy gweithredol o ddydd i ddydd. Mae angen i ni gychwyn sgyrsiau siop yn y Gymraeg, defnyddio'r ATM yn y Gymraeg, defnyddio ffurflenni Cymraeg o fewn y gwasanaethau cyhoeddus ac ati- ond yn fwy na dim, stopio barnu pobl am y diffyg Cymraeg, ond croesawu ac annog y defnydd o'r iaith. / So many issues will 'hinder' this policy, and although I'm not keen on the word, normalising Welsh is the way forward. Where Welsh was once the language of the common person, it's now often seen as elitist. Unfortunately, we as Welsh speakers have also become expert 'moaners' and I do feel we as Welsh speakers need to be more proactive on a daily basis. We need to start shop conversations in Welsh, use ATMs in Welsh, use Welsh forms when using public services etc- but more than anything, stop judging people for the lack of Welsh, but welcome and encourage the use of the language. I enjoyed reading your article. Diolch.

Also. I am sure as a Welsh learner it is very hard to summon the confidence to do so, but there really is only one way to find other Welsh speakers .... "dechreuwch bob sgwrs yn y Gymraeg". I do and even here in Sir Fflint, in amidst 5 or 6 days of disappointment and rudeness I get the odd joyous day where I use Welsh more than 50% of the time.

Diolch, Tim! I enjoyed reading your opinion piece. I've learnt Gymraeg as a second language to, I'm told, a fair conversational standard by using the online resource - Say Something inWelsh - which has allowed me to live, when I'm in Wales, through your nations beautiful language. Like, DuoLingo another great resource using modern techology and new ideas. On their website you'll find lots of information about loads of chances to use the language throughout Gymru, a tu hwnt. There have been many positive developments in recent years allowing people to use whatever amount of the language they have without fear of embarrassment in many social settings already. Myself and a friend ran a successful group in, Rochester for a number of years too. But having originally started with, Wlpan over twenty years ago, without success, I see lot's of exciting ideas growing that will see positive strides being made forward towards hitting that million in this exciting modern age.

Cytuno'n llwyr.

A vastly powerful and wealthy capitalist system dominated by the English language - ALL while there is a vast explosion in communications technology and tech in general........ - means there is a massive uphill struggle to keep smaller languages alive - without MINDSET change Radical change has to happen in communities

Yn gyffredinol, rwy'n cytno - ma' angen ysgogi'r Cymraeg i dod yn iaith cymdeithasol. Hoffwn i glywed syniadau am sut i gyflawni hyn... Yn y cyfamser, fel ysgrifenes di "Sending children through Welsh Medium education is a start" - mae'n dechreuad! Os hoffau ti cyfathrebu a Cymro Cymraeg - danfon ebost a trefnwn ni Facetime / Skype

Cytuno'n llwyr. Nid yw dysgu Cymraeg yn ysgol yn ddigon, rhaid ei ddefnyddio er mwyn cael a gweld ei werth.

The story of your Welsh language learning is very like my own, Tim, though it was chapel, good teaching at school, and holidays at the Urdd camps in Llangrannog and Glan Llyn, that helped me to turn the corner. I live near Cardiff now, and I hear Welsh spoken around me far more than I did as a child; it almost seems to be a requirement for a certain metro persona. The numbers vs practise analysis is a good one. Bilingual signage and paperwork, Welsh language television, and "Incidental Welsh" in schools won't raise the profile of spoken Welsh in the community on their own. I enjoy speaking Welsh when I can, though I'm often put off by my own relatively small vocabulary. But I like the idea of Lleoedd Cymraeg for learners in pubs and cafes, too, but they will only help by giving those who are already willing that final push in the right direction. I fear that the Senedd's target is no more than a big, fat juicy apple at the top of a very tall tree. If we struggle upwards, to try and grasp it, we're in danger of ignoring a lot of other pickable fruit lower down.

Trist. Try saysomethinginwelsh.com by the way. They concentrate on getting you speaking Welsh and hold bootcamps to help you on your way. It's great.

I would be happy to meet new friends on an ap in greater Cardydd/Casnewydd and use my fluent Cymraeg with people who have not been given the opportunities I have.

A thoughtful interesting article. We must help Welsh learners as much as we can, and modern developments can help e.g. Duolingo and SSIW. Perhaps a "Virtual Total Immersion" would help those living where little Welsh is spoken. Building on the S4C Sunday morning programmes, as comprehension improves, this could be supplemented by tuning in to Radio Cymru for periods during the day, also viewing other S4C programmes, using English subtitles at first. Programmes of particular interest could be recorded, and played back in manageable chunks, consulting a learners dictionary when necessary. Daliwch ati a phob lwc!

Great idea for the app "Grinder" for Welsh Speakers.

There used to be a 'Lle Cymraeg', where learners could spend time with other Welsh speakers in pubs, cafes etc, and very succesful it was too, meeting in places all over Wales on a very frequent and regular basis. It was calld CYD, and attracted lots of attendees; much was due to the sterling work of its skeleton (paid) staff. But the (then) Welsh Language Board decided we did not offer value for money and withdrew our very modest grant, thereby closing down a valuable resource.

Oen i'n gweithio mewn Siop newydd Rhiannon (Aur Cymru) yn Aberystwyth, sef cwmni Cymraeg IAWN a oedd pawb yn wybodol byddwn yn siarad Cymraeg tu fewn. Ond achos doeddwn nhw [cwsmeriaid] ddim yn digon hyderus a'n meddwl buasai'n ei farnu ar ei allu i siarad y iaith oedd nifer jyst yn siarad Saesneg. Hynny yw cyn i mi esbonio am adeg o'n mywyd pan symudes i i Loegr, colli llawer o'r iaith a dim ond trwy ymarfer cynyddes fy safon, hefyd teimlais y barnu yma ar fy hunan. Ar y diwedd o'r dydd dylwn cymeradwyo unrhywun sy'n ceisio'i wella ei hunan mewn unrhyw ffordd, y person tew yn y gym sydd methu 'lifftio' llawer (eto) neu'r dysgwyr Cymraeg sy 'mond yn wybod 'tipyn bach' o'r iaith hyd yn hyn. ...having taken the time to write that in Welsh I realise that you're article was English and you wrote of your inability in the language, soz. Basically people get nervous around 'known' Welsh speakers because some are judgmental - but most aren't and who cares if they are anyway, I implore you to force them to "deal with my sub-standard Welsh!"! On your point of the 1 million Welsh speakers. We've got to start somewhere and if we know more 'know' the language then we're more likely to use it. 'Cymraeg yn gyntaf' is a really good motto that has helped me to speak Welsh to many in my previous job roles and also out in the community. If you start the conversation in Welsh it becomes pretty obvious whether or not you can carry on, and you either do just that or switch to a common language (try french?)

I think Lle Cymraeg is a great idea! I'm in the US and learning Welsh online from a teacher here using Hangouts. But it is really slow going without opportunities to practice. I found another person in my city who is taking class from the same teacher and we have started meeting together once a week to practice speaking Welsh. It's really helpful! So I hope you pursue this idea, and I would love to join any online groups if I would be welcome. :-)

I'm not sure that I would go so far as calling it a "fake policy", however I would agree that it is not the silver bullet that some seen to think: it is a part of the solution, but not the whole solution. As Mr. Richards rightly points out, the language needs to be normalised, so that a Cymro (or Cymraes) Cymraeg can live and work to the greatest extent possible through the medium of Welsh, whether in the North or South, East or West. An app helping to link Welsh speakers could be part of the solution (I really like the idea!), but as an easy and more immediate step I would encourage all outside of the Bro Gymraeg (and those in it too) to make the decision to use Welsh as the primary language of interaction - start conversations in Welsh in shops and restaurants and pubs and clubs. It's easy enough to switch to English if needed, but this way you won't miss out on those conversations that could/ should occur in Welsh, but don't because the default in too many areas of Wales is to communicate with strangers in English.

I'm hoping that phone technology these days might enable an app to let you know who might be close by or share similar interests etc, whether thats work or hobbies or just general things. The same idea that I imagine dating apps like Tinder might use, but I honestly have never tried a dating app, because I'm sure that my wife would find it a bit strange. I would like an app like that, that wasn't associated with dating, so that I could use it maybe for professional work and business use as well as other interests like sports like rugby etc. This may well be facebook thing, but I would like something a bit different personally, because I'm not really a facebook sort of person. It doesn't have to be just about a particular language such as Welsh, it could be for many languages and disciplines? I've rambled a bit, but basically it's about having that social networking tool that works on lots of different levels, that enough people with all sorts of levels of abilities can sign up to, that one day might tell you that six people in the pub you happen to be in, or the person behind you in the checkout are on the same page, even if you're ability level was as rubbish as mine it would encourage a shwd wyt ti or a diolch and make the whole thing a more natural thing, which is maybe sometimes that elusive thing that we all want.

There's a lively discussion going on in the SaySomethingInWelsh forums about what we can do NOW to make it happen - joing up Welsh speakers is certainly one aspect - might be worth floating the ap idea over there too? https://forum.saysomethingin.com/c/welsh/million-speakers

I agree. Without accompanying progress in opportunities to use Y Gymraeg in everyday life, children loose their language skills after leaving school. Like algebra or writing a story, it becomes "something I learned in school but can't 'do' anymore". The idea of 'Lle Cymraeg' could work well, but of course it needs to be part of a much larger social change. The biggest hurdle is convincing non-Welsh speakers to accept hearing Y Gymraeg, to not be intimidated, to drop the "it's rude" Victorianism and to not constantly make it 'about them'. There are very complicated (not to mention bizarre) social conventions around speaking Y Gymraeg around non-Welsh speakers: we are meant to take into account whether they were previously part of the conversation or are likely to be in the next 10 minutes, how far away they are before you start speaking Y Gymraeg, how well you know them and where you are at the time (Eisteddfod - not too offensive, someone else's house - absolutely outrageous). But I've dropped all that and people can be as offended as they like. Non-Welsh speakers must be brought to understand that if we only speak Y Gymraeg when there aren't any non-Welsh speakers in a 1/2 mile radius then we'd never speak Y Gymraeg at all... and that's exactly what is happening in an increasing amount of settings and localities.

The app is a great idea. But have you been on the Say Something in Welsh forum? They have meet ups everywhere! In Wales, England, America, Australia - by Skype, face. There are hundreds of members committed to siarad Cymraeg as often as possible. Saysomethinginwelsh.com. I've got religion on it!

For me the absolute priority regarding the future of Welsh is that the Fro Cymraeg needs protecting. Protecting from speculative market driven developments. Without the Fro theiving Welsh will never be able to truly grow. It is the only resource left on the planet for the Welsh language! The Fro should be treated as a special area economically too,with bespoke packages of funding and development. When this has been succesful a strategic spatial plan connecting Welsh speaking communities,with areas on the edges of the Fro should be developed . At the beggining these would act as a kind of buffer zone but could become absorbed into the Fro. Also more generally an economic and social strategic plan for the whole of north Wales urgently needs to be looked at . One that doesn't have the north west of England's economy at the centre of it.

This is an excellent article and touches on an important truth which we need to always bear in mind: the path to Welsh language regeneration needs a variety of approaches in tandem. Ultimately the endgame must be to fully normalise the use of Welsh in everyday contexts. I think the idea of using an app to meet up with other Welsh speakers is a great start, but naturally it won't be the answer on its own. Being something that you have to seek out yourself means that it will be the preserve of people who are already enthusiastic about learning/preserving language skills. Reinforcing this cohort is of course important, but it will have limited impact on drawing new learners in. If the language is to become normalised then we simply need to hear it used in conversation more. I think that there should be some sort of incentive provided to businesses, particularly those which serve as meeting places, to encourage their members of staff to use Welsh in the workplace. Hearing staff speak Welsh to each other will give Welsh speaking customers more confidence to use Welsh when they deal with those staff, and thus create another context where everyone involved can use their Welsh - consistently reinforcing their langauge skills and confidence. Meanwhile people who don't speak the language will nevertheless hear it in everyday use more frequently, reinforcing to them that Welsh is a living language and a part of their community. The flaw in this plan lies in how to provide the incentive. I would advocate a sort of progressive tax relief, designed so that smaller businesses have less obligations in order to recieve the full relief, while large businesses would have to be quite proactive to get the full relief. This would make the scheme as inclusive as possible and so stymie accusations of anti-Englishness (except from the most hardcore), and would have the bonus effect of boosting the capital of small businesses, ideally encouraging economic growth. The Assembly doesn't have nearly enough power over taxes to accomplish this though so this is all academic anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In the long term we need to change people's perception of Welsh language use. It will have to be gradual, will necessarially take generations to accomplish and there is no one magic bullet to accomplish it. But I think we have come a long way towards improving people's attitudes to the language, and if we can be prepared to take some bold steps to help normalise its use then we can assure our language's prosperity.

Well Labour is not the Welsh party. It's the Socialist Party. Something Plaid seems to want to be at the expense of being the Welsh party. I come from a similar background but I'm a few decades younger... and that should really show how many of us have lost our identities over recent generations. I happen to think we're the most important people in Wales... because being born in the South to families who have experienced that loss gives us insight into Welsh speaking Wales and English speaking Wales. It also makes us the best people to fight for the survival of our identity... because in the West and North they fight to keep their identity... while we fight to reclaim ours. I think Plaid really missed the boat with that. They wanted to conquer the Valleys and did not really understand its people. We don't need another party which will exploit our Socialist leanings - but one that understands those of us who have lost our identity - those on the middle ground who will speak to our compatriots as fellow Cymry, not fellow Socialists. I don't feel the current set up does understand that loss... and therefor fails to gain real momentum... just gains discontent socialists who could swing back to Labour at a leader or policy change.

It's one of many needed good ideas . . it's no good having 3 million people that are able to speak it but don't use it . . . so the biggest problem is finding people that speak it. . . There really are lots everywhere. . bumping into each other, serving you in the shop, at the bank etc. . but our initial greeting is what let's us down. . . I found out a few years ago I'd been speaking English to a good friend of mine for years. . when we could both speak Welsh, but neither of us knew. . . All that changes if you just start every new conversation with a Welsh greeting. Shw mae, bore da. whatever. . . . even non Welsh speakers will not really bat an eyelid, but you'll discover many Welsh speakers along the way. I see no other simpler way to "normalise" Welsh. . . Try it. . . . Pob lwc.

Perhaps you should use the home-produced 'Say Something in Welsh' which is far and away better than Duolinguo. It offers you a practical knowledge of spoken Welsh in a very short time via a non-doctrinaire but carefully cumulative course in terms of vocabulary and functional language with multiple opportunities for immersion across Wales and England and as far afield as the US and Australia, and also access to a worldwide forum of many thousands of Welsh learners.

Syniad da. Mae grwp o siaradwyr yn cynnwys gwahanol safonau yn cwrdd pob nos Iau ( 9 yh tan amser cae ) yn tafarn y Pembroke Yeoman yn Hwlffordd. Croeso i pob un sydd eisio ymarfer sgwrs Cymraeg.

Mae grwp yn cyfarfod I ymarfer eu Cymraeg yn Nhafarn y Llong Uchaf ym Magillt ar nos Fawrth.

David of Willem(s), government has to control us, we control government. We can help by tools and gadgets like Lieu Cumraey app of Tim Richards. Cymru is Old School, Medieval spelling. New is Cumry. Cambria. Cimmer. Beth dych chi'n meddwl? What do you think of it? I guess. W/O-mega, oo. Cumry am buth? Picture of Sarah Joy. The Best? Frieslawn b'uppe! Sorry. By dog turds: Ych-a-fi is Frisian Ach-en-wee? Chwarae teg? goddamned? My Taid, granddad. Taffy is a nickname to be proud of by here - by there. Ysgol ifor Bach, basic eschool. Ysgol gyfun, gymnasium? Coom Rumney Valley Swansea, West of Cardiff? Swan Lake District. Swan bloom leafs, Swamp leafs in Friesian Flag. Welsh Wlpan, welp, wylp: Yr ydwyf fi, -yt ti? Abertridoor, Aber valley, quarter? 1060s is 1960s. Census figures matter. Davey/Dauwe fon der Meulen, Amsterdaam

I think the way forward is to encourage everyone to use Welsh first and to try to make Welsh the default rather than English. It is a bit easier for me as I live in Ceredigion where most local people speak Welsh as their first language but until we do this, Welsh will always be second best. Also, the big problem I think is that of confidence in our language. This is where we need a sea-change so that the next generation see speaking Welsh as a really positive thing, not as our parents and grand-parents did, a negative thing. This is where the direction of the Assembly's strategy should be focused in my opinion.

App Cymraeg Syniad da - good idea. Agree with this: 2050 target is ambitious and worthy However Welsh Labour don't practice what they preach Agree with this too: When leaving school, pupils don't use their Welsh and can lose it Lots of time and effort is therefore 'wasted' However, first we all need to use the Welsh we know to normalise the language in all our communites: e.g. these phrases we can all use Shwmae/S'mae / Bore da / Prynhawn Da./ Noswaith dda / Diolch / Diolch yn fawr and some others - Ych a fi / Bendigedig etc. This is the way to begin the process of re-nomrlaising the use of Wesh in south/east Wales. No government will ever give the change we need. We need to be the cahneg we wish to see (as someone like Ghandi once said) Felly, er mwyn sicrhau'r Gymraeg,, defnyddiwch hi. Bob man. Bob amser. Bydd yn wrol!

I'm of the opinion that it is definitely worth while promoting Welsh as a second language and increasing the percentage of learners in non-welsh speaking areas. But what I believe is even more important is conserving the Welsh language where it is still alive which today is mainly in North West Wales - Gwynedd, much of Anglesey and areas of Conwy still. What this blog (https://politicsbyrebuttal.blogspot.co.uk/.../will-welsh...) shows is that while Welsh is holding well in many of these areas, there are other areas where Welsh appears to be other areas there where it seems to be collapsing as we speak.

Hoffen i pebai fy hunaniaeth siaradwr Cymraeg yn fwy gweladwy- tatw tafod y ddraig fel tatw y bluebirds yn dangos fy mod yn hapus i siarad Cymraeg. Wedi cael digon o fod yn ofnus i gyfarch pobl yn Gymraeg, ac o fethu teimlo colled. / I'd like it if my Welsh speaking self were more visible - a tattoo of the dragon's tongue, like the bluebirds tattoos . I'm happy to speak Welsh, in fact I prefer it, and have had enough of those daily decisions whether to greet people in Welsh, and feeling real loss and stupidity when I've chickened out.

Another point I wanted to make is that a problem for groups often regarded as minorities is market reach. If we want to secure investment and uptake for great idas, then it has to be to a large market. In this, we have the advantage, because when you think about it minorities all put together are more than likely the real majority of people in the world. So if its an app we want to develop and we're worried about tje market, the make it an app that all of the minority groups in the world can use. An app tjat helps Welsh woulf no doubt be useful for Bretoon, Maori or so many others. The market potential is huge if we invest in platform technologies and ideas that so many people with no power or voice of their own could do onbtheir own. We could state we did thsi for Welsh, but proud to help all those out there who maybe need this evn more than we do. we can help ourselves, but perhaps even more importantly whatever we can do that succeeeds may help other who have no means or opportunity of ever doin this themselves. Make our ideas adaptable for others to exploit. Invest in things that others outsidebof Wales can use. By doint things in that way, how could anyone posaibly be negative anf cynical. Any cynicism would be beneath contempt. Apologies for typos - my phone keyboard should be renamed Diawl.

Hi Tim. Wi'n lico'r dy syniad "lle Cymraeg" Wi'n byw ym Mhenfro, De Sir Benfro ond wi'n dod o Sir Ģâr yn wreiddiol. S'dim lot o'r Gymraeg rownd fan hyn .. ond wi'n cwrdd â phobol Ceredigion a Gogledd Sir Benfro a Sir Gâr o gwmpas y dre ac ni'n cael cyfle i siarad Cymrâg nawr ac y'man. Mae na lot o ddiddordeb gyda phobol Penfro pan ydynt yn clywed y Gymrâg ac mae nifer ohonynt yn gweud .. "My daughter is in Welsh school and I'd like to learn it too" ayb. Mae'n pwysig i ddefnyddio'r iaith ar y strydoedd, miwn lleoedd cyhoeddus er mwyn rhannu'r Gymrâg i'n cymdogion ni. Diolch yn fowr am dy ffydd a hyder!

Joined up thinking would be good. Whilst the Say something in welsh intentions are good, they themselves need to work with other people in order to make this a reality. I think also its a shame the private language companies can't work together. I wonder how much is motivated by profit and how much by the language. One organisation sells a 5 day self catering course (both foodwise and lessonwise) for £1000. It smacks of profiteering and doubtless leaves many a potential learner scratching their head saying "how much?". Over 686,000 people have tried duolingo. So.....can we work with duolingo to mailshot the excellent ssiw course? Currently learning welsh has no real everyday advantages. But it could have. Happy am i when i'm in Aldi and hear in welsh which till is opening or closing first. It gives me an advantage. So lets all do that. Announce everything in welsh first. Trains, buses, shops. Tills and ATMs should default to welsh. It says welsh is important. It means there's no need to wait for or switch to english. It's also relatively cheap.

I can only endorse the view of previous contributers, say something in welsh is the best online method of learning the language. As other people have also said on that website are details of weekly/monthly meetups where all are welcome use their welsh.

sign me up! dwi'n defnyddio duolingo hefyd achos dw i'n taithio llawer hefo fy waith. we dont want to see the same regression as our gaelic cousins which means Welsh needs to be a living language. i think the reason it is decreasing is primarily economic (young welsh speakers going to work elsewhere) which was highlighted in another article. any means to increase daily use is supported by me!

In this context it always helps to look to other places which have gone further down this route. One such place is the Basque Country (at least the EAE part) where they do a lot of socio-linguistic research. In short what they've found is that there seems to be a subconscious cut-off for switching to another language. They were equally puzzled that 10% or even 50% speaking ability did not automatically translate into equal % usage. But when it reaches 60% (give or take), it suddenly flips. Of course it's more complex than just speaker numbers and just pushing fluent speakers out of schools is not enough but as they often remark, if you push fluent speakers out of school, you have something to work with. If you don't, it gets a lot harder. So if you ask me, 1 million is not ambitious enough. What Wales (and Ireland etc etc) need is a "no child leaves school as a monolingual" policy.

You cannot depend upon any government to save your language for you.

(English version to follow) Cytuno'n llwyr Tim! Erthygl dda iawn! Rydw i'n athro mewn ysgol cyfrwng Cymraeg yn Wrecsam ers chwarter canrif, ac yn dod ar draws cyn-ddisgyblion yn reolaidd. Mae rhai yn dal i ddefnyddio'r iaith, ond nifer yn ei cholli. Rydw i hefyd yn helpu rhedeg Canolfan Gymraeg Saith Seren, sef tafarn Gymraeg yng nghanol y dref. Daw cyn-ddisgyblion i mewn yn aml, ac mae hi'n gret i glywed nhw'n defnyddio'r iaith, am y tro cyntaf ers blynyddoedd i rai, ac mae'r Gymraeg yn llifo'n well fyth ar ol cwpwl o beints! Mae criw mawr o ddysgwyr, Clwb Clebran yn cyfarfod yno pob nos Lun i ymarfer eu Cymraeg, ac mae un ohonynt wedi cyrraedd rownd derfynol cystadleuaeth cenedlaethol 'Dysgwr y Flwyddyn' eleni. Rydyn ni'n cynnal gigiau Cymraeg rheolaidd - Meic Stevens, Bryn Fon, Anian, Gwerinos, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, Hen Fegin - i gyd yn dod cyn diwedd y flwyddyn, ac yn gwylio holl gemau rygbi a phel-droed Cymru ar S4C. Mae tua hanner y cwsmeriad yn ddi-Gymraeg, ond yn hapus i glywed sylwebaeth Gymraeg, ac ymuno wrth ganu 'Calon Lan' a.y.b. Ers agor yn 2012, mae Saith Seren wedi darparu canolbwynt i weithgareddau cymdeithasol Cymraeg yn Wrecsam, ac mae'r Ganolfan yn rhoi neges bwysig i blant y dre bod yr iaith yn cael ei defnyddio y tu allan i giatiau'r ysgol. Bu bron i ni gau yn 2015, ond cawson ni ein hachub gan haelioni ein cefnogwyr, yn enwedig rhai Say Something in Welsh. Yn wahanol i'r Canolfannau Cymraeg sydd o fewn Colegau neu Awsurdodau Lleol, nid ydym wedi derbyn unrhyw arian o'r Llywodraeth, ac er ein bod yn brysurach nag erioed, rydyn ni'n dal i grafu am bob ceiniog. Mae'r Gwyddelod hwyiog wedi bod yn llawer mwy llwyddiannus wrth werthu eu hunain ar draws y byd, ond byddai'n braf meddwl y byddai tafarndai Cymraeg fel Saith Seren yn codi ar draws Cymru o leiaf, fel mannau i ddefnyddio'r iaith a chymdeithasu drwy'r Gymraeg. Dyma dwi'n credu byddai rhan o'r ateb i'r broblem ddilys rwyt ti'n codi.

Totally agree Tim! Very good article! I've been a teacher in a Welsh medium school in Wrexham for a quarter century, and come across former pupils regularly. Some still use the language, but many lose it. I also help run the Saith Seren Welsh Centre, a Welsh pub in the town. Former pupils to come in often, and it's great to hear them use the language, some for the first time in years, and the Welsh flows even better after a couple of pints ! A large group of learners, Clwb Clebran meet there every Monday night to practice their Welsh, and one of them has reached the final of 'Learner of the Year' nattional competition this year. We hold regular gigs Welsh - Meic Stevens, Bryn Fon, Anian, Gwerinos, Cowbois, Hen Fegin - all coming before the end of the year, and to watch the Wales football and rugby matches on S4C. About half the patrons speak Welsh, but are happy to hear Welsh commentary, and join in singing 'Calon Lan' etc. Since opening in 2012, Saith Seren has provided a focus for social activities in Welsh in Wrexham, and the Centre will gives an important message to children that the language is used outside the school gates. We almost closed in 2015, but we were saved by the generosity of our supporters, especially those from Say Something in Welsh. Unlike the Welsh Centres that are within Colleges or Local Authorities, we have not received any money from the Government, and although we are busier than ever, we're still scrimping and saving. The Jovial Irish have been far more successful at selling themselves all over the world, but it would be nice to think that Welsh pubs like Saith Seren could rise up, across Wales at least, as places to use the language and socialise through Welsh. This is what I think is part of the solution to the valid concern that you're raising.

Say something in Welsh is good, one learner used it, and my welsh class in London so well he went on to write Duolingo welsh, and moved to Blaenau Ffestiniog. https://forum.saysomethingin.com/c/welsh/million-speakers www.duolingo.com or as an app Petroc

One of the best things about Saysomethinginwelsh is that it removes a lot of barrriers to learning - no books, no need to write anything down, you can download lessons to use in your own time, whenever it suits your own schedule. Duolingo and memrise are complimentary tools and all together they make a great learner package. All of these have come about by the hard work of passionate people who have had little if any public financial support. I personally would like to think there would be a way to repackage and extend the best of these things into materials for school second language education. Im sure duolingo is already in that space, but more SSIW style materials for that market would be a big move forward. I think generating the materials is something that needs support - children and teenage specific materials , that satisfy educational needs would require investments, without much in the way of financial returns. Link all these things with the trips young people make to Llangrannog etc and you could have a joined up fun package that differs enormously from the current lack of enthusiasm by many in that age group for Welsh second language school education.

Dwi'n cytuno efo ti. Lle Cymraeg is a great idea. I know Say Something in Welsh tried to do something similar on were a learner could be paired up with fluent speaker in their area but it wasn't successful. I live near Chester and I go to Welsh class, watch S4C etc.. but really struggling as i don't know anyone in my area to speak Welsh to and I have no confidence at all. I know if I could speak it regular it would just become second nature so my confidence speaking would rocket. Its been so interesting to read your article and everyones comments

Tia programo por poŝtelefonoj jam ekzistas: www.amikumu.com Ili nun testas ĝin por la lingvo Esperanto, kies parolantaro estas bona testpubliko. Baldaŭ ili lanĉos ĝin por ĉiuj lingvoj, do ankaŭ por la kimra! Ili estas tre kunlaboremaj, mi rekomendas kontakti ilin. (Pardonu ke mi ne povas komenti kimre.) Such an app for mobile phones does already exist: www.amikumu.com They are testing it now for the language Esperanto, the speakers of which are a good test audience. Soon they will launch it for all languages, thus for Welsh, too! They are very collaborative, I recommend you contact them. (Sorry that I can't comment in Welsh.)

> such as a table in a local cafe or pub where Welsh learners like myself could meet up to practise speaking the language. This already happens. Here in resolutely English speaking Newport there are around 40 regular meetups, in the city or nearby. Some of them are run by groups like Menter Iaith or Coleg Gwent, but many are run by a group of learners or speakers who get together in a pub once a week or month. I'm sure this extends to other parts of Wales. Finding out about them can be tricky though, since information is spread about all over the web. I have a very simple website - http://chat.cymru - that lists meetups in and around Newport. If I find some more spare time, and willing helpers, hopefully the concept can be extended to other areas. Also - to echo what Leia said above - checkout: https://forum.saysomethingin.com/c/welsh/million-speakers Although it's a conversation hosted on the saysomethinginwelsh forum it's about coming up with ideas that people like those commenting on this article can get involved in.