PhD student shortlisted for the 2026 National Eisteddfod Learner of the Year competition

Jonathan Davies is one of 4 finalists in this year’s Learner of the Year competition at the National Eisteddfod in Garreg Las.

Jonathan has been learning Welsh over the past few years and is now a Welsh for Adults tutor with Learn Welsh Swansea. After finding out that he had been shortlisted, we had a chat with Jonathan to learn more about his background and his reasons for learning the language.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m Jonathan Davies, I come from Loughor, near Swansea. I am doing a PhD in the Department of Welsh here at Cardiff University and I’m also a Welsh for Adults tutor with Learn Welsh Swansea. This year, I'm a Learner of the Year finalist at the National Eisteddfod!

When did you start learning Welsh?

I started learning Welsh as a new year's resolution in 2020. I spent my first year teaching myself doing Duolingo before starting an Access course with the Welsh Learning Centre in January 2021. After a year at Access level, I began studying an A level course before starting to work as a Welsh for Adults tutor in October 2022.

Why did you decide to learn Welsh?

I started learning the language for several reasons. Mainly, because I lived in London at the time and people were asking me if I spoke Welsh. Obviously, I had to say 'no'. Needless to say, I felt I was that I had missed out on an important part of my culture. Many of my friends went to a Welsh medium school and I remember when they talked about competing in the Urdd and life in Welsh medium schools and, of course, I wasn’t able to share the same memories with them! So I decided that I had to give it a go to engage with my culture.

How was the experience of learning Welsh?

Learning Welsh was an amazing experience. From the very beginning, I felt like everything I learned in school was starting to make sense. I had quite a negative attitude towards Welsh after my school days, so it was lovely to have a completely positive experience of learning the language. Also, I was very fortunate to have fantastic tutors along the way. After 2 years of learning the language, I started working as a Welsh for Adults tutor, so I learned pretty quickly and it was a lot of fun.

You are now doing a PhD. Tell us a bit about this.

I started the PhD in October 2024 and (so far) I have enjoyed every minute. My project looks at Welsh medium education in English medium primary schools in south Wales. Of course, as someone who has learned Welsh as an adult, I went through the English education system and left school with a negative attitude towards the language and hardly any communication skills in Welsh. After I learned Welsh, my attitude was completely different and the process of learning Welsh has been a lot of fun. Therefore, I wanted to do a study that finds out how teachers and children feel about learning the language and what happens in Welsh lessons in English medium schools.

I have finished collecting data, which included interviews, focus groups and observations in primary schools in south Wales and I am now analysing the data. I hope to finish the PhD by September 2027...

You've also set up a new podcast called Ymchwil ar y Gweill (Research In Progress). Tell us a bit about this.

My project is funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and I have done some training with them and talked to a couple of other PhD students about ways of sharing our research. We realised that we needed somewhere to discuss research in an accessible way to highlight the fantastic work that Welsh language researchers are doing. So I decided to create the podcast to provide a platform for people to share their research with people within and outside academia.

I have finished series 1 and I’m now working on series 2. The podcast will be back in September and there will be one episode every fortnight. In the first series, we had monthly chapters which included chats that were about an hour long discussing one piece of research with someone who was doing a PhD. But the second series broadens the scope of the podcast by discussing work by academics and also includes a number of panels and recordings of conference papers.

What is your favourite thing about the Welsh language?

I'd say ‘chwyrligwgan’ is my favorite word because it just sounds bonkers. Also, ‘chwyrligwganod’ is a fantastic plural word!

What would be your advice to someone who wants to learn Welsh?

The only piece of advice I would definitely give is, go for it! As well as the positive effects on your brain, learning a language opens thousands of doors for you to learn about new cultures and traditions. I may be biased but I think learning Welsh was one of the best choices of my life.

You are in the final of this year's Learner of the Year competition, congratulations! How does this feel?

I would say that reaching the final is one of the greatest privileges of my life and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to take part in this year's competition. Also, I'm really grateful for the support I've had from everyone around me; especially my friends at the School of Welsh!

The final round of the Learner of the Year competition will take place on Wednesday 5 August 2026 at the Eisteddfod Maes. Good luck, Jonathan!