New 'Welsh-speaking friend' scheme launched at Eisteddfod

A new project called ‘ffrinDiaith.org’ was launched in the National Eisteddfod (in the Studio on the Maes) to help Welsh learners find Welsh-speaking friends.
The original idea for the project came from Hywel Gwynfryn, and it is now being developed in partnership between the six Welsh for Adults Centres throughout Wales and the online course SaySomethinginWelsh.com.
Learners and speakers can register at www.ffrinDiaith.org and contact each other to arrange regular informal sessions - in a cafe, in a community centre, or just down the pub!
"This is a huge step forward for Welsh learners,’ says Siôn Meredith, Director of the Welsh for Adults Centre in mid-Wales.
"One of the biggest challenges learners face is taking their Welsh out of the classroom and into the community. ffrinDiaith.org will help them get to know Welsh speakers as soon as they start learning, so they will have an immediate connection to the Welsh-speaking community that will grow and deepen as their own use of the language becomes richer and more confident."
ffrinDiaith.org will bring local speakers and learners together by showing users how far away they are from each other - but it will also help people make global connections via video conferencing, and people from Australia and America have already registered on the website.
"This is the ideal way for Welsh speakers to make a real difference," says BBC Cymru’s Hywel Gwynfryn.
"I’ve been helping my friend Rosie by having a chat in the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff once a week, and it makes a huge difference - you don’t need to be a teacher, you don’t need to do grammar drills, just a regular chat is enough to give a learner entrance to this fantastic world of the Welsh language."
"I think ffrinDiaith.org will play a vital role in helping Welsh speakers welcome learners into their communities," says Aran Jones, CEO of SaySomethinginWelsh.com, "And it will also strengthen and revitalise mini-communities of Welsh speakers around the world. Welsh speakers feel very strongly about their language, and this is an exciting new tool that will allow them to make a real, practical difference to the future of the language by giving up as little as an hour a month."
Welsh speakers who are willing to help a learner become part of their community, or Welsh learners who would like the chance to use their Welsh informally with a friend, can register at www.ffrinDiaith.org for free. They will also be able to access advice and guidelines about how to get the best out of the connections they make through ffrinDiaith.

For further information, please contact:
Sion Meredith, Director, Mid Wales Welsh for Adults Centre, Aberystwyth University - stm@aber.ac.uk – 01970 628493; 07816 358477
Aran Jones, CEO, SaySomethinginWelsh.com - aranjones@gmail.com - 07887-573446

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