A new calendar at www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com/calendar is helping Welsh learners find out about opportunities to practise their Welsh, as well as helping people holding events in Welsh that would be suitable for learners to find a wider audience for their events. The calendar was set up by the team at www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com and anyone who wishes to promote their events on the calendar is welcome to contact the team at calendar[at]SaySomethinginWelsh.com.

‘We set this up because learners on our forum wanted to share news about events with each other, and we thought it would work better if they used a calendar, rather than the forum software,’ says Aran Jones, one of the two founders of SaySomethinginWelsh. ‘We then found that we could give them direct access to the calendar, so we now have a team of volunteers adding events from all around Wales, and we’re publishing the results on our home page at SaySomethinginWelsh.com – it’s becoming an incredibly useful tool.’

Up until now, different course providers have run their own, separate lists of activities, and it has been difficult for learners to find out about the full range of events where they can use their Welsh. Because SaySomethinginWelsh are willing to let other organisations and individuals promote their events on the SSiW Calendar, it has the potential to let learners know about events for them wherever they are in Wales.

‘This is a great way for organisations to let learners know what they’re offering,’ says Iestyn ap Dafydd, the other founding member of SaySomethinginWelsh, ‘but it’s also a brilliant way for people to spread the word about completely informal get-togethers. If you’re in Cardiff and you fancy going to the Fuwch Goch for a pint and a chat in Welsh, put it up on our calendar and you may well have some company!’

Learners have been delighted by the new resource. ‘It’s just so handy,’ says Dee McCarney from New Zealand, who now lives in Cardiff and has been learning Welsh for three years. ‘It’s easy for me to see what’s going on, particularly informal stuff that I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise, and it’s helped me find a lot more going on in Welsh than I knew existed! I have to travel to different parts of Wales over the next couple of months for my job and I’ll be looking in the calendar to see if there are any local events I can go to.’

Organisations and individuals who are holding events suitable for Welsh learners are invited to let the SaySomethinginWelsh team know by emailing calendar[at]SaySomethinginWelsh.com.