Case Study - Kay Holder
Kay Holder – Learner of the Year 2011
Kay started learning Welsh at the Cardiff and District National Eisteddfod in 2008. Kay said, “I attended the Eisteddfod to promote veganism, and discovered a new language, culture and world. I also started learning the harp at the Eisteddfod in Cardiff and have already completed the Grade 3 exam. So the Eisteddfod changed my life!”
Originally from Penarth Kay had an English upbringing, she said "I'd not had experience of meeting anyone who spoke Welsh in the south. I am a linguist but I didn't think it was important to learn Welsh."
She said it was only after she began to learn Welsh that she realised "how ignorant I had been" about the language.
Kay started learning Welsh through books when living in England, and after returning to Wales she has been attending refresher courses and has studied at proficiency level with the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Welsh for Adults Centre. The Eisteddfod had a great effect on her, as she is now part of the preparations for the 2012 Eisteddfod in the Vale of Glamorgan.