Ask Mei-Ju Hwang

Mei-Ju Hwang, a Consultant Breast Surgeon at Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital, has recently completed a Learn Welsh course at Nant Gwrtheyrn.

The course was developed by the National Centre for Learning Welsh and is part of the Centre’s comprehensive range of services for the health and social care sector. It was created to support the Welsh Government’s ‘More than just words’ (‘Mwy na Geiriau’) scheme, which aims to provide healthcare services through the medium of Welsh.

We caught up with Mei-Ju to learn more about her language journey.

Tell us a bit about yourself...

I’m Mei-Ju. I’m from Taiwan and now live in Ynys Môn (Anglesey). I work as a Consultant Breast Surgeon at Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor.

What inspired you to start learning Welsh?

I’m learning Welsh because I want to speak Welsh with my patients and my new friends in Bangor. It’s a very interesting language, and I enjoy speaking it every day.

How was the course at Nant Gwrtheyrn?

After spending a week at Nant Gwrtheyrn, I feel I’ve gained confidence. It’s a very safe space to speak Welsh with new friends and with my tutor, Lisa. It’s been an excellent experience.

It’s very important to me to respect the culture, the language, and the country that I now live in and call home. It’s been a very special experience for me.

The staff are very passionate, and we’ve been learning about the history of the place and the Welsh language. Everyone has been so friendly, and we’ve had a laugh learning together. It has been the best experience.

How will you use your Welsh at work?

I always tell my patients and nurses not to stop speaking Welsh because of me. I want to listen to their conversations, as it helps me learn and understand better.

To me, being able to connect with my patients is the most important thing. Being able to speak Welsh with them will be an amazing experience.

More information about our taster courses for the Health and Social Care sector can be found below:
Taster courses for Health and Social Care | Learn Welsh