Nant Gwrtheyrn course helps build confidence during lockdown

Like thousands of people across the county, Melanie Cargill has been working from home for over a year. Mel was worried about the effect it was having on her Welsh language skills; not being able to chat and practice with colleagues in the office. She worried about losing what she has gained in terms of her language skills.

She decided to register for an intensive virtual course (Advanced level) with Nant Gwrtheryn and she hasn’t looked back. Mel explains:

“I really, really enjoyed the course. It was lovely to have five days of speaking Welsh and focusing on nothing else but the learning during those days.

“Since I attended the course, I’ve got more confidence to speak and write in Welsh in a work capacity, I learnt new vocabulary and I now have a better understanding of mutations and how to put sentences together. Shân, our tutor was fab and because we were a small group the course was tailored to our individual needs.

“I’m very fortunate to work for Menter a Busnes, a company that really values and actively promotes the Welsh language. It’s something that’s core to the business and the support I’ve received from them has been brilliant.

“However, at work, I tend to switch to the English when I’m trying to get a message across because I worry, I’m not clear enough when speaking Welsh. But now I’ve started to make more of an effort and to push myself out of my comfort zone. I facilitated a session in Welsh in a meeting for the first time a few weeks ago. In the past I would have welcomed people in Welsh and then switched to English. This course has given me more confidence to use my Welsh.

“It was a fantastic course. We bonded together and we’ve already arranged to meet virtually and set up a book club. Go for it, you won’t regret it!

To register for a virtual course with Nant Gwrtheyrn, visit: https://nantgwrtheyrn.org/languagecourses/