Former asylum seeker graduates with Welsh master’s just eight years after arriving in Wales

Nation.Cymru staff

A former asylum seeker who arrived in Wales without knowing the country had its own language is celebrating his graduation from Swansea University with a master’s in Welsh.

Originally from the Ivory Coast, Joseff Gnagbo, 52, was forced to flee his homeland in 2011 due to political unrest and conflict.

After spending six years in Morocco and a short period in England, Joseff settled in Wales in 2018.

Now, just eight years later, he has graduated from Swansea University with an MA by Research in Welsh.

Joseff said: “To graduate with a master’s in Welsh is something I never would have imagined when I first arrived in Wales. I didn’t even know there was a Welsh language. I’d seen the flag before and knew about the national rugby team, but that was the limit of my knowledge. It has been an amazing journey.”

After being welcomed at Oasis Cardiff, a charity supporting asylum seekers and refugees, Joseff began taking lessons, a step that would shape the rest of his life in Wales.

He said: “The first word I remember was Cymru. From that point on, I wanted to learn the language.”

That determination was also shaped by Joseff’s own experience of language loss in the Ivory Coast.

Before coming to Wales, Joseff worked as a journalist, language teacher and musician, and spoke several languages. Yet he never learned Guébié, the language of his family and community in the Ivory Coast.

Joseff said: “I became comfortable not speaking it and eventually rejected it. It took me many years to realise how important a language is to your identity.

“With few written records of Guébié and the loss of its older speakers, including my father, I became increasingly aware of how easily languages can disappear.”

People’s attitudes

Learning a Celtic language presented linguistic challenges, but Joseff says the biggest obstacles were often people’s attitudes.

He said: “People often asked why I was learning Welsh when everyone spoke English, which only motivated me more.”

Within a year, Joseff was able to hold conversations in Welsh and became immersed in Welsh-speaking communities across Wales.

He said: “The Welsh-speaking community is just amazing. They have a very positive energy and were encouraging me to learn.”

After gaining refugee status, Joseff began introducing other refugees and asylum seekers to Welsh, delivering short sessions at centres like Oasis Cardiff.

Joseff said: “I wanted to go where people were already learning English and give them a taste of the Welsh language.”

Over the following years, Joseff became increasingly involved in Welsh-language campaigns and community initiatives.

In 2023, he was elected Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society), becoming the first person born outside Wales to lead the organisation. He was re-elected for a second term in 2024.

His contribution to Welsh culture was further recognised in 2024 when he was inducted into the Gorsedd Cymru at the National Eisteddfod.

He said: “Working in Africa as an activist, you are risking your life and you do so without getting, or wanting, recognition. To go from that to being recognised nationally at the Eisteddfod was incredible. I kept thinking, ‘Is this really happening, or am I dreaming?’”

Migrant Welsh speakers

For his MA by Research at Swansea University, Joseff examined the opportunities and challenges facing refugee and migrant Welsh speakers in Wales, bringing together his academic interests, advocacy work and his lived experience.

Looking ahead, Joseff hopes to pursue a PhD and also plans to continue his Welsh-language advocacy and outreach work.

He said: “The social aspect is very important. You have to preserve the community because you need the community to speak the language.

“For me, learning Welsh was about much more than learning a language. It helped me become part of a community.”

Dr Gwennan Higham, Senior Lecturer in Welsh at Swansea University, said: “Joseff’s story shows that the Welsh language belongs to everyone who chooses to embrace it. Graduating with a master’s in Welsh just eight years after arriving in Wales is a remarkable achievement in itself, but his contribution to the language extends far beyond his academic journey.

“Through his advocacy, community engagement and commitment to inclusion, he has helped build connections between people from different backgrounds and enrich the Welsh-speaking community.”

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