Aleighcia Scott – the courage of learning in public

Aran Jones Author, SaySomethingIn

About two and a half years ago, I got a call from Jason Mohammad. He had a young radio colleague, he said, who really wanted to learn Welsh, and he wondered if I’d be willing to lend a hand.

I’ve thanked him since then for twisting my arm (yeah, you try and say no to Jason!) because Aleighcia Scott has been one of the most inspirational learners I’ve ever worked with.

I was pretty startled, then, to see a recent opinion piece on Nation.Cymru saying it was great to see lots of people competing on Y Llais who weren’t fluent Welsh speakers, but that Aleighcia’s Welsh apparently wasn’t ‘good enough’ to be a presenter.

Is it really not clear that these two things go hand in hand?

Courage

People need to see someone like them to know that they’re welcome in a new space – Aleighcia’s bravery in agreeing to be one of the judges is a vital part of showing contestants (and future possible contestants) that throwing yourself into using the language matters far, far more than trying to be ‘perfect’.

Of course, she knew in advance that it was possible someone would throw some mud at her.

It’s not the first time she’s faced that kind of attitude, and sadly for Wales it won’t be the last time.

That’s why it took real courage for her to agree to judge – but courage and determination are two qualities that Aleighcia has in abundance.

Aleighcia deals with unkind comments very gracefully.

I bloody don’t, though.

I’m a grumpy middle-aged (okay, late middle-aged!) white bloke who gets stroppy at the drop of a hat. And this is me after I’ve calmed down a bit.

If you’re going to hear that Aleighcia’s Welsh isn’t good enough, I reckon, then you should also hear just how much effort and passion and fire she’s already put into her learning journey. Buckle up.

Belonging

When we first met, she was still nervous that the Welsh language didn’t really feel as though it could belong to her. It already mattered to her – she cared about it – but despite being a Rumney girl through and through, she’d already heard too many people telling her she didn’t get to be Welsh.

I pointed her at the SaySomethinginWelsh app and told her to start suffering.

Then she went on holiday. I’m used to that – I’ve heard some variety of ‘sorry, I haven’t started yet because I’ve been on holiday’ about a million times. That’s not Aleighcia, though.

When we next spoke, she said ‘I’m sorry, I’ve been on holiday in Jamaica, so I’ve only done about two hours a day.’ That was when I knew she was going to be a Welsh speaker.

By the time she was back from Jamaica, I’d already emailed the Iaith ar Daith team to tell them that Aleighcia would be brilliant for the programme.

And she was – she and Mali Ann Rees produced one of the most emotional episodes so far.

We’ve stayed in touch ever since, and I’ve watched her speak on stage and sing in the Eisteddfod, get long-listed for a Grammy, get her own programmes on Radio Wales and Radio Cymru and as a regular guest presenter on 1extra’s massively influential reggae programme, gigging non-stop and saying ‘yes’ to pretty much every request she gets to support schools or speak at events.

Busy doesn’t even begin to describe her – she’s never had any spare time at all to carry on with her Welsh.

And yet she’s never stopped carrying on with her Welsh, not even for a moment.

I have literally no idea how she finds the time, but I very rarely speak English with her now. Anyone who has tried to learn a second language will understand what an achievement that is.

Oh, and she’s just about to release her first songs in Welsh (March 21st, look out!).

How many Grammy long-list artists turn around and start doing stuff in Welsh, eh? We might want to be happy about that.

Celebration

Do you know how nerve-wracking it is trying to speak a new language with a first language speaker?

You do if you’re learning Welsh, or if you’ve ever tried out your French in Paris.

Now imagine that you’ve got to do it with three other people all at once.

Now imagine they’ve got accents you’ve hardly heard before. Stressed yet?

Now imagine you’ve got a bunch of cameras pointed at you, and any mistakes you make are going to be shared with the nation.

Oh, and there are going to be billboard ads all over the place.

Yes, this is the most extreme, stressful version of language learning it’s possible to imagine.

So I reckon if you’ve ever learnt another language well enough, in less than three years, to present a TV show and release songs in it, and host radio shows, and you still think Aleighcia hasn’t done well enough, then I’ll listen to what you’ve got to say.

If you haven’t, though, you might like to join me in celebrating the fact that Wales has such committed, passionate, hard-working learners – because Aleighcia and people like her are going to play a crucial role in helping us grow into a genuinely bilingual nation.

It’s not going to be easy. We’ve got a hell of a challenge on our hands.

I’ll tell you something that won’t bloody help, though – telling our most inspirational learners that they haven’t done enough.

Right, I’ve got that out of my system. Now I’m off to celebrate some Welsh learners.

Diolch o galon am ddysgu Cymraeg, Aleighcia.

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