Prynhawn da!

Bit of a random one, but I’ve been reading up about Y Wladfa- the Welsh settlement in Patagonia- and it got me wondering: has anyone here ever actually met someone from there?

Would love to hear any stories if you’ve crossed paths with a Patagonian Welsh speaker, or if you’ve been over there yourself! It’s amazing how our language and culture have survived all these years on the other side of the world.

Diolch! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

by LewysBeddoesGB

24 comments

  1. All I know about it is some of my family went over, including my great great great great grandfather who was an Anglican priest in trelew.

  2. Yeah in primary school an older couple visited, the wife only spoke Spanish and Welsh while the husband had very basic English just to get bye as well as Spanish and Welsh.

    Honestly besides a slightly different accent (not more different to north vs south wales) they were just like any other older couple from wales tbh.

  3. I have, they came over to Wales since they were actually learning Welsh and engaging with the culture. One I’ve met had Welsh ancestry, others did not but grew up in the old Welsh settlements so thats how they were exposed

  4. Yes, while working in a pub in North Wales in my 20’s…

    They spoke Welsh with the oddest of accents!

  5. No, the only Argentinians I’ve met were of Spanish and Italian descent.

  6. Falling for obvious bait here but what’s the second flag? The only similar thing I can find online is from some cringe alt-history wiki but it’s not the same as this one.

  7. Yes! The last tutor I had for my Welsh lessons was from there originally, now lives down Carmarthenshire way.

    It’s quite an interesting accent, as he had quite a Spanish/Argentine cadence to his phrasing but also there was a sort of a Welsh inflection too.

  8. I reset my Welsh exam two years ago with Dysgu Cymraeg and the examiner for the speaking portion was from there

  9. Yes, was there last November (Travelin, Esquel) Lovely part of the world. There was a coach tour with tourists from the Swansea area there talking with some locals in Welsh.

  10. Yes a group of Welsh speaking patagonians came over to the Wrexham game last year and had a few pints with us

  11. Yes, because I went to Welsh language school and they were very keen to maintain links with the Patagonia lot. We’d have visits every few years. Their Welsh was hard to understand to begin with because the accent is very very different but once your ears get used to it it’s clearly the same language, albeit with a bit more Spanish than I’m used to.

  12. Yes. When in school an all girl choir from Patagonia come to visit. Most could speak Welsh .

  13. There are tons of them in Cardiff, ive met plenty at latin music nights or Welsh language events

  14. I haven’t but I haven’t lived in Wales that long and didn’t go to school here.

    What I’d like to know is what linguistic dialect they use and if they have different words like North and South Welsh do.

  15. No. Heard Patagonian Welsh spoken on an S4C segment though and I adore the accent

  16. I met a woman who was here for a year. Her Welsh was very good, and obviously she could speak Spanish, but she had virtually no English at all.

  17. I met a Welsh Patagonian woman in her 20s in the Welsh bookshop in Oswestry, Shropshire. A tinge of Spanish in her accent when speaking (fluent) Welsh.

  18. Yes, actually a couple of weeks ago – he even lived in Trelew and spoke a few words in Welsh – his accent was quite different as you can imagine. Admittedly he was originally from Buenos Aires, but a few words in Welsh was impressive enough 🙂

  19. My undergrad thesis, many years ago, was about the current linguistic makeup of five towns founded by Welsh settlers. I spent most of my time speaking with learners with low fluency, but I also got to interview some lovely older women who come together to drink tea and talk about Welsh things.

    The language is quite interesting; it’s taken on a bit of Spanish influence (especially the pronunciation), but it’s still perfectly understandable. If you create a free account, you can access the Welsh-Spanish Patagonia corpus and listen to some interviews here: https://sla.talkbank.org/TBB/biling/Bangor/Patagonia

  20. Yes, many.

    My housemate seems to know every single one of them after he lived there for 5 years. Through him, I’ve met about 20-30 who either live in Wales, are visiting Cardiff or the Eisteddfod, or at the new monthly Welsh/Spanish practice meetup in Cardiff. I’ve hung out with them enough to be able to speak Welsh with a Patagonian accent.

  21. Yes, in Cardiff when the Millennium Stadium opened for the first time, Wales v Argentina. They were over to support the motherland against the homeland, dressed up in Wales kit, speaking Spanish-accented Welsh. I met the group randomly walking through town and had a nice chat.

  22. I doubt many will meet a person from that specific part. I’ve met South Americans before. Usually from Venezuala.

  23. Not yet! But i’ll be travelling South America soon and planning to visit when I go! Extremely excited as I’ve read so much about it🤍

  24. My mate went over as a Welsh teacher, married one of their local Welsh teachers, and brought her back here. Ironically did more damage to the language yn y Wladfa.

    Patagonian Welsh is absolutely incredible to hear. Also the split with Wales Welsh is fascinating with Spanish loan words rather than English loan words

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