I saw Ioan Gruffud on the Craig Ferguson Late Night Show here is the USA last week. I stayed up into the wee hours just to see him. Craig asked him where he grew up and he said, Cardiff. Craig said, your first language was Welsh, and he said yes, I was raised in a bilingual home. Ioan is engaged to an American girl and they will marry in Sept. He pronounced his name as Yo an. I have heard him say that it is John and Gruffud is Griffith. He said his parents gave him the Welsh version to make it hard! I was born and raised in the USA of Welsh born paternal grand parents. I lived next to them in a double block that was connected through the basement and I was over at my Grandmother's all of the time. Her cooking was out of this world!!!! I lived with her from 15 to 18. When I signed the 2000 US census, they asked if I had been in a bilingual home growing up and I said yes, Welsh. I actually was because my grandmother spoke fluent Welsh. She would deny this but the minute one of her Welsh speaking friends or sisters called her on the telly, she would go off in Welsh for the whole call! She didn't want any little ease droppers knowing what she said. She refused to teach me much Welsh, saying "what do you want to know this for, we are in the 'NEW COUNTRY!' But I did manage to get her to teach me a few words. When I took a few Welsh lessons, they told me, "you speak like they do in the "Valley's of Southeast Wales! She also told me that there were no curse words in Welsh!!! Many years later, my Uncle taught me to say "tooth a deem!" That's phonetic. My Dad and great Uncle said that to pronounce the double LL, you put your tongue on the top of your mouth and blow. Dad said it sounded like Cl when saying Lloyd (grandma's maiden name). My cousin always wanted to raise the umbrella's when the family got together and spoke Welsh. She also would say, I wanna buy a vowel!!!! Janet USA <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.