Jessica Li learned Hakka and Cantonese as a child and is now studying French and Spanish on Duolingo, as well as preparing for Welsh exams.
Although she learned a bit of Welsh at school, it wasn’t until around her 30th birthday that Jess really fell in love with the language.
“The thing I love most about languages is learning something new,” said Jess, a civil engineer.
Jess was born in Caerphilly and grew up speaking Hakka – a Chinese dialect – and Cantonese with her family.
She went to an English-medium school and although Welsh was on the curriculum, she said it wasn’t popular with other pupils at the time.
“I did and didn’t enjoy Welsh at school,” she recalled. “It was a case of following the crowd a little bit.”
Karen Cherrett decided to learn Welsh when she moved back to Wales
Jess went on to study civil engineering at Swansea University and now works for engineering design consultancy Hydrock.
It was around three years ago that she decided to give Welsh a try on Duolingo and then signed up for the entry course with Learn Welsh Cardiff.
“I’m really enjoying learning as an adult,” she said. “It feels like rediscovering the language and I’m actually falling in love with the process.
“I can speak three languages fluently already, so I think my brain is kind of geared towards it, which is helpful.”
She has found pronunciation the most difficult aspect of Welsh so far, but won’t let that put her off her ambition of becoming quadrilingual.
“Hakka is a spoken language, so we don’t really have an alphabet,” she explained.
Civil engineer Jess Li is hoping to become quadrilingual through learning Welsh – Liz Learns Welsh Podcast
- Civil engineer Jess Li is hoping to become quadrilingual through learning Welsh
- Karen Cherrett decided to learn Welsh when she moved back to Wales after living in England for 20 years
- Liz Day decided to learn Welsh after being made redundant during the pandemic
- Retired teacher Bev Parrish is learning Welsh to help her four-year-old grandson
- Mum-of-two Abby Burridge is learning Welsh at the same time as her children
Jess, 32, decided she wanted to learn Welsh after growing up, studying and working in Wales.
“If you go to another country on holiday, it’s just basic manners to at least be able to say hello, please and thank you when you go into a shop or check-in to a hotel.
“Then I realised – I live in Wales! I should know some Welsh. I should at least be able to read a road sign and understand it.”
She added: “As a child, I felt like I didn’t have much of a choice. It was in the curriculum, scheduled into my timetable. It was like: ‘This is what you’ve got to do.’
“But as an adult, it’s my choice. It’s what I want to be doing. So I feel a lot more enthusiastic.”
Jess has been learning Welsh for around three years. She completed her Mynediad (entry) oral test during lockdown and is now revising for her full Sylfaen (foundation) exam.
She has been studying online after work, which she finds “very convenient” and has started to recognise more and more Welsh in everyday life.
“I had a moment in Lidl a while back,” she laughed. “The announcement for another till opening was in Welsh before English. I understood it and I actually beat everybody there – it was great!”
Jess has passed a 640-day streak on Duolingo and has completed the Welsh course, while continuing to study French and Spanish.
She enjoys reading and appreciates books designed for Welsh learners, wishing she could find an equivalent for the other languages she’s learning.
“I think those books have really helped my reading and comprehension skills,” she said. “It’s a great way to practice.”
When she’s not at work or Welsh class, Jess enjoys crochet, as well as keeping fit and active. She goes to a gymnastics class and also teaches aerial silks at Up Side Down Circus in Cardiff.
Retired teacher Bev Parrish is learning Welsh to help her four-year-old grandson
Jess uses the opportunity to practice Welsh with other friends who speak the language or are in the process of learning.
“I use my Welsh skills at any opportunity I can,” she said. “It’s nice to push past that comfort zone and actually say things out loud and give it a go.”
Jess enjoys the balance of working as a civil engineer during the day, teaching aerial circus in the evening and also learning languages.
“Working in engineering and teaching silks – you can’t really make mistakes,” she said. “But with a language, I find you just have to go with it and let it flow. You have to make the mistakes to learn.”
Juggling work, family, going to the gym, gymnastics and teaching silks, Jess has become quite an expert at fitting Welsh into a busy schedule.
“Five minutes is better than no minutes when it comes to learning a language,” she said. “That could be five minutes of listening to Radio Cymru in the car or a five-minute lesson on Duolingo.
“It all adds up. I think it’s also very important with a language to speak it. Don’t be scared of making mistakes. I still make mistakes with my mother tongues – it happens and it’s part of the process.”
Mum-of-two Abby Burridge is learning Welsh at the same time as her children
Here’s the transcript from the podcast:
Ble cest ti dy eni a ble cest ti dy fagu?
Ces i fy ngeni a fy magu yng Nghaerffili. Dw i dal yn byw yng Nghaerffili nawr.
Beth wyt ti’n wneud fel gwaith?
Dw i’n gweithio fel peiriannydd sifil.
Rwyt ti’n astudio Sylfaen ar hyn o bryd. Ers faint rwyt ti’n dysgu? Wyt ti’n hoffi dysgu ar-lein?
Ydw, dw i’n astudio Cymraeg ar lefel Sylfaen ar hyn o bryd. Dysgais i dipyn bach o Gymraeg pan ro’n i yn yr ysgol, ond baswn i’n dweud fy mod i wedi bod yn dysgu Cymraeg yn iawn ers tua tair blynedd. Mae dysgu ar-lein yn gyfleus iawn a dw i’n ddiolchgar am y cyfle y mae’n ei roi.
Pam o’t ti eisiau dysgu’r iaith?
Dw i’n meddwl dylwn i wybod sut i siarad tipyn bach o Gymraeg ers i fi gael fy ngeni ‘ma a dw i’n byw ‘ma. Ond hefyd dw i’n caru ieithoedd.
Wyt ti’n siarad ieithoedd eraill?
Ydw, dw i’n siarad tair iaith arall yn rhugl. Gobeithio fy mod i’n gallu ychwanegu Cymraeg fel y pedwerydd.
Sut wyt ti’n ymarfer? Oes teulu a ffrindiau gyda ti sy’n siarad Cymraeg?
Dw i’n ymarfer ar Duolingo a dw i’n darllen llyfrau Cymraeg. Oes, mae ffrindiau sy’n gallu siarad Cymraeg neu sy’n dysgu Cymraeg hefyd. Mae’n neis iawn siarad ac ymarfer fy Nghymraeg gyda nhw.
Wyt ti’n mwynhau darllen yn Gymraeg? Beth yw dy hoff lyfr?
Ydw, dw i’n mwynhau darllen yn Gymraeg achos mae’n fy helpu i ymarfer. Ond dw i ddim yn meddwl bod hoff lyfr Cymraeg gyda fi eto ar hyn o bryd.
Wyt ti’n gwylio S4C? Beth yw dy hoff raglen di?
Dw i ddim yn gwylio S4C llawer, dylwn. Ond dw i ddim yn hoffi gwylio llawer o deledu, achos dw i’n edrych ar sgrin llawer ar gyfer gwaith, felly does dim hoff raglen gyda fi.
Oes hoff air Cymraeg gyda ti?
Mae llawer o hoff eiriau yn Gymraeg gyda fi, ond dw i’n meddwl bod bochdew fasai fy ffefryn bob amser.
Beth wyt ti’n hoffi ei wneud pan dwyt ti ddim yn dysgu Cymraeg?
Dw i wrth fy modd yn cadw’n heini achos dw i’n meddwl ei bod yn bwysig bod yn iach. Hefyd dw i wrth fy modd yn darllen a chrosio yn fy amser sbar pan fydd mae amser sbar gyda fi!
Liz Learns Welsh 
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