‘I’ve lived in Wales for 18 years – here is why I’m solely simply studying language’
I’ve always had learning Welsh on my ever-increasing to-do list, but living on a rural farm in a first-language Welsh community has finally inspired me thanks to Preply
The lessons were so easy to arrange and access(Image: Preply)
I’ve lived in Wales for 18 years now, which is long enough for me to feel rooted here. But like many people, I always meant to learn the language. For some reason or other, it kept falling to the bottom of my to-do list while juggling work and family life.
But after meeting a Welsh farmer in a nightclub seven years ago, I found myself inching further away from my Wirral roots and in the thick of a predominantly Welsh home and community.
I gave Duolingo a go, on and off, usually with good intentions but that faded after a few weeks. It was helpful in its own way, but it never quite bridged the gap between recognising words on a screen and actually understanding the conversations happening around me.
Subconsciously, I’ve probably picked up more than I realise, but I was always on the outside of the conversation. And after all this time not knowing what’s being said around me, it started to feel like something worth fixing.
That’s when I tried Preply, an online language tutors app. What made the difference straight away was how easy it all felt to get started.
Booking lessons was straightforward, with plenty of flexibility to fit around a schedule that isn’t always predictable. I could choose times that worked for me, move sessions if needed, and keep things consistent without it becoming another logistical headache.
The lessons themselves – typically 50 minutes – hit a sweet spot. Long enough to make real progress, but not so long that it becomes draining. And with a variety of time slots available, it was surprisingly easy to fit them in around work and family commitments.
More importantly, they’re one-to-one with an actual Welsh speaker. That human element changes everything.
Instead of tapping answers to the most unlikely of sentences into an app, I was having real conversations, hearing natural pronunciation, and picking up the rhythm and quirks of spoken Welsh as it’s actually used.
There’s also a surprising depth to the resources available. Between lessons, I had access to materials tailored to what I was learning – notes, exercises, and prompts that reinforced what we’d covered.
It meant the learning didn’t stop when the session ended, it carried on in small, manageable ways throughout the week. And crucially, the lessons were relevant.
We focused on the kind of Welsh I was hearing daily on the farm – informal, North Walian, and practical. Phrases that had previously washed over me suddenly made sense.
I’d hear something in a lesson and then recognise it later that same day, which is incredibly motivating.
Compared to my experience with Duolingo, it felt far more grounded in real life. Less like a game, more like a skill I was actively building.
The biggest shift, though, has been confidence. After years of putting it off, I’ve finally started joining in.
I still make mistakes, but I’m part of the conversation now, not just listening from the edges. And now the farmer has to think twice before he talks about me.
After all this time in Wales, it took an unexpected turn in life and a platform like Preply to finally make the language feel accessible to me.
Dw i’n hoffi dysgu Cymraeg. Diolch yn fawr, Preply.
