Family ties inspire mother and son to learn together

The Robinson family are from Kingston Upon Thames near London – mam Bronwen and her son Tomos. Tomos, who’s in his early thirties now lives in Newcastle.

Wales and the Welsh language are in their blood. Even though Bronwen was born in England, she grew up hearing Welsh at home and spent the second half of her childhood living in Wales. But after she went to University, she settled in England. 40 years later, what was it that spurred her on to restart her learning journey?

“Tomos saw a free weekly class for beginners being advertised. This was the kick start that I needed. He recommended Mathew (the tutor) and I saw that Nant Gwrtheyrn were offering a week’s intense course with Mathew and thought it would be a good idea to do a whole week. I’m retired, so I have more time now and I could do the course from home.

“It was exactly what I needed and definitely worth it. I’ve now started using Say Something in Welsh as well and I’m hoping that in future I’ll be able to have conversations totally through Welsh with family and friends.”

Tomos hadn’t heard the Welsh language being spoken at home, but he was very aware of the language which he heard when visiting his Nain and Taid.

“This may sound morbid, but I remember sitting at my Taid’s funeral and not understanding a word of it because it was held in Welsh. When I saw the course being advertised during lockdown, I went for it. I really enjoyed it and kept going, progressing to the next level. It’s a nice way to spend my Wednesday evenings.

“I’ve started to text mam in Welsh and I decided to change my phone language to Welsh – which can be a good thing and a bad thing!”

You can learn Welsh with us from anywhere in the world. Go for it: https://nantgwrtheyrn.org/languagecourses/