What is Siop Siarad?
Our “siop siarad” is a free monthly, online hour-long informal Welsh conversation group, giving people the opportunity to practice their Welsh language skills in a welcoming, low-pressure situation. You can choose any of three levels of skill, beginning, intermediate, or advanced, and each level is moderated by an advanced or native speaker who facilitates conversation and answers questions.
In the week prior to a session, your group moderator will send an email to you, to let you know what the conversation topic will be, including specifics to help you prepare. That gives you time to jot down some vocabulary you’d like to practice, or some sentence forms you want a chance to try out in the company of others.
When and where do Siop Siarad sessions happen? The third Saturday of each month, as online Zoom meetings.
Which level do I pick?
— Beginning — Anyone with roughly a year or less of learning Welsh, or even no Welsh at all, or if you have been learning for some time but just don’t feel Intermediate yet. Our format allows us to flex to meet you where you are, whether it’s first words of Welsh, or forming simple sentences.
— Intermediate 1 & 2 — You’ve studied for a year or two or three, but conversation still doesn’t come easily; perhaps you know a lot of vocabulary but you find that forming sentences comes slowly, or perhaps it’s the other way around. Intermediate is a good level at which to develop your comfort and facility at conversation in Welsh, in a small group of other speakers close to your level.
— Advanced — You’ve been learning Welsh for long enough to have a pretty sizeable vocabulary that comes reasonably easily to mind when you grope for a word, and you’ve got a good handle on forming sentences as you speak; here you’ll find other folk to help expand your ease at speaking conversational Welsh.
Whatever your level of Welsh, we welcome you heartily, and we’ll help you find your place.
How do you put this on for free? We who run Cymdeithas Madog are ourselves Welsh learners at a broad range of levels. As volunteers, we are both participants and moderators in Siop Siarad, practicing and expanding our own language skills. And we are all eager to share our “taith wrth ddysgu Cymraeg” with everyone who would like to join us.
To view all of our upcoming learning events, please visit our Calendar Page.