Eisteddfod: What is it like when you don’t speak Welsh?

Nerys and James Cook brought their two-year-old twins Lili-Wen and Gwenllian to their first eisteddfod on Tuesday.

While Nerys grew up in Wales and speaks a little bit of Welsh, James is from London and is still learning the basics.

Nerys, 39, from Talbot Green, said there were “lots of people encouraging you to speak Welsh”.

“As soon as they find out [James] is a non-welsh speaker, they’ve been teaching him some words,” she said.

James, 43, added: “It was an old-boy who was trying to teach me ‘dy nae dy nae’ which means ‘there there’ I think?”

The couple said they did not feel the festival catered for English speakers trying to learn Welsh.

James said he had a hard time understanding what was happening as the billboards had no English translation and the family were not told about the festival’s mobile app, which featured an English-language schedule.

“It’s not a criticism but maybe there should something with the basics on, like a card or on a site map,” he said.

“Even just having a billboard that says ‘if you don’t know Welsh come and speak to us’ would be good.”

“Thankfully coffee is coffi,” he added.