You don't have to be Welsh to speak it (From Free Press Series)

You don't have to be Welsh to speak it

ONE of the finalists in this year's Welsh Learner of the Year Award is not only English, but lives in one of the more English-speaking towns in Wales - Abergavenny! Noel Davies paid a visit to Lois Arnold's home to find out just why she is so passionate about Welsh.

"BORE da," smiles Lois Arnold as she welcomes me to her adorable Abergavenny town house in Frogmore Street.

What better a welcome could you expect from the finalist in this year's Welsh Learner of the Year competition?

A short couple of steps into the living room and the bible for all Welsh language learners - a translation dictionary - sits worn and well-thumbed on the coffee table.

"People leaning Welsh will instantly recognise this," she laughs, six years after nervously stumbling her first words on a Welsh learners course at the Hill College in Abergavenny.

Now a fluent Welsh speaker herself and part-time teacher of the language at the Hill College, Lois considers herself an honorary Welsh woman even putting her nationality down on the last census as being Welsh.

"My heart is in Wales," glows Lois, who was born in Surrey and runs a mental-health information business from her house in Abergavenny's bustling town centre.

"I do identify myself as being Welsh. I hope people do not think that I am being cheeky, but I do feel as if this is my home. Speaking the Welsh language has helped me with that."

Lois learnt to speak Welsh at the popular Hill College in Abergavenny. It was the college's head of Welsh Geraint Wilson-Price who nominated for the Welsh Learner of the Year Award.

"I initially said no I didn't want to do it. I was a bit shy!" she grins.

"I think the thing that persuaded me in the end was that the Eisteddfod was in Newport and we needed someone to represent the language from this area and show the world that people here do speak it.

"I think I've got this far in the competition because I have an immense passion for the language and have enjoyed using it to make a contribution to the community. All the four finalists have done more than just learn Welsh, they've embraced the medium to it's full."

Lois set her heart on learning Welsh when she got her first pet dog living in Hertfordshire.

"He was a Welsh sheep dog so we called him Cymro (Welshman). It was only years later when I started learning Welsh that I realised I had been pronouncing it wrong!" she laughs.

"Ever since I was a child I have known about the country and had a fascination with it. I had a pen pal in Blaenau Ffestiniog called Susan Jones who was a Welsh speaker.

"I used to go stay with her and her parents all the time. We used to go play with all her friends and they'd all be speaking Welsh. I remember thinking how wonderful it was."

Like practically every other first-time Welsh learner, Lois found wrangling with the complex linguistics tough early on.

"I remember trying to say the words and just sounding like I was gargling them in the back of my throat! The worst word ever for me was library (llyvrgell) and trying to pronounce it in Welsh. I felt so proud when I did.

"It was a big hurdle to cross in the beginning, but once you do things become a lot easier. I loved it from the start and was so excited, but I never imagined becoming a fluent speaker and having conversations in it."

The winner of this year's Welsh Learner of the Year award will be decided at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Newport next month. Cameras from ITV Wales have been shadowing the four finalists in the build-up to the finale on August 4 for a TV show later this year. "It's going to be a bit like being at the Oscars with the cameras facing us as the winner is announced. We'll all have to remember to be honourable in defeat!" quipped Lois.

Last year she was awarded a certificate by eisteddfod officials in recognition of her support to helping new Welsh learners. Lois wrote a book of short stories entitled Cysgod yn y Coed (A Shadow in the Wood) in simple Welsh text aimed at those not fluent in the language.

Locally she has big plans too.

"Welsh does not get the profile it deserves here. I think more people would use the language if they knew how many shops in the area understood it.

"Contrary to what many people might think there are a lot of Welsh speakers in the town. You only need to look at the number of learners at the Hill College to realise just how popular the language is here.

"Wales and its language has opened up a whole new world to me and I am very grateful for all the opportunities I have had."

The National Eisteddfod of Wales in Newport runs from July 31 to August 7. Officials in Abergavenny have helped raise over £10,000 to support it.

Those interested in learning Welsh can find out more about courses in the area this September when Welsh Learners Week takes place. Call 01495 333710 for details.