Brian Lewis

I was born and raised in Northern Ontario in a small mining village. Both of my parents were immigrants to Canada. My mother came from the Ukraine and my father from Wales. My dad was, shall we say, an enthusiastic storyteller, and he used to say that as a boy (born in 1903) he was beaten at school for speaking Welsh and beaten at home for speaking English. To be honest, I’m not sure if he actually spoke Welsh or not, but I do remember him teaching me numbers from 1 to 10, and how to pronounce ‘ll’ properly.
I never really thought of my father as having a Welsh accent when he spoke English. However, once upon a time, while hitchhiking in Tasmania, I was picked up and given a bed for the night by a man who sounded so much like my dad that it literally brought me to tears.
So, my motive for learning Welsh.
To honour my father’s memory, and, yes, I will be learning Ukrainian too.
We are going to Argentina soon and I hope that we can get down to Trelew, Gaiman, or Trevelen, to meet and talk with a Welsh speaking Argentinian.
I love learning how languages work and Welsh is especially cool and different.