Ask Mark

Mark Bond works as a Communications and Engagement Officer with Natural Resources Wales.

Mark grew up in Pembrokeshire and has started speaking Welsh again, thanks to a confidence-building course at the Nant Gwrtheyrn Language Centre on the Llŷn Peninsula.

We spoke with Mark about his experience of starting to speak Welsh again.

Tell us a little bit about your Welsh language journey

I started learning Welsh when I was in comprehensive school aged 11.  I enjoyed learning Welsh, but when I had to choose my A level, I thought other subjects would be more useful to me in the future.

But my mother said, "Listen, you're very good at speaking Welsh and I'm happy to find a part-time job to pay for lessons after school for you to do your Welsh A level."  And she started a part-time job cleaning one of the offices in town to pay for my Welsh lessons.

Strangely enough, I now work for Natural Resources Wales in the very office my mother used to clean to pay for my Welsh lessons!

And what happened after you finished school?

After leaving school, I moved to England and didn't speak Welsh for almost 30 years.  I've been living in Wales for 20 years, but I kept the fact I could speak Welsh a secret until two years ago.

I didn’t have the confidence to speak Welsh.

What changed?

The biggest change was spending a week at the Nant Gwrtheyrn Language Centre on an immersion course two years ago.  It was absolutely amazing and quite emotional.

Everything changed after I went to the Nant.  I now rave about the experience to everyone.  It’s hard to explain just how special and useful it was.

I made a short video about the experience to share with colleagues at Natural Resources Wales, and they have had loads of requests to go to Nant since sharing the video - from people like me who had lost confidence to use the language.

Today, I’m very confident and don't mind making mistakes.  I speak very freely, and if I don't know the Welsh word, I’ll say it in English and carry on. 

The most important thing is to ‘speak now, edit later’ – that’s my motto!

Here’s a link to a video by Mark discussing his time at Nant Gwrtheyrn