Name: Gareth Evans

Work: Author/Director

Which languages do you speak?
I speak German, Spanish, Welsh and a little of the Basque language

Where did you learn your languages?
I learnt German in school to A level and then I did my joint degree in Drama and German at Manchester University. To tell the truth I learnt to speak the language properly in Germany- I worked in a factory over there for 5 consecutive Summers when I was a student. A few years later I met my wife who comes from Germany and I have been speaking German every day for fifteen years. I have two children and they too speak German with their mother. Having satellite television showing 30 German channels also helps to keep the language alive in the house!

I learnt Spanish ‘on the street, in other words I didn’t have one word of Spanish before I went there nor one lesson throughout the time when I was there so it was a different experience to learn the language formally. The advantage is that you learn the language very quickly. However, the disadvantage is that you do lose your ability to speak very just as quickly when you return home. After a few years here I could barely manage to string a sentence together despite being able to understand almost everything. Since then, I have attended a refresher’s course in the Centre for Lifelong Learning in Cardiff and I try to read in Spanish now and again. Because we still have lots of friends there, I am lucky to be able to go there quite regularly to practice.

I have been learning Basque- quite unsuccessfully for a few years. At the moment I am following an interactive course ‘Boga’ with an on-line tutor- it’s possible to do 5 levels and obtain a certificate but I am not sure how far I will get!

Could you describe the nature of your job, outlining your main tasks and responsibilities
I am working on my own as an author. The job varies a lot according to demand but I mainly write for television ie: ‘Pobol y Cwm’. I also write and produce short films. In the next year I will write more episodes for my favourite soap opera and I will be writing a novel for children between 9 and 12 years old. There is also a possibility that I will be working on a German television series.

Which jobs did you do in Germany?
I lived in Germany for 8 years. I had two jobs: the first was working as a radio producer for ‘Deutsche Welle’ – an international station in Germany- which is very similar to the ‘World Service’ on the BBC but from a German perspective. At the time, they were transmitting programmes in over 40 languages. The biggest department was the English one and there were people from all over the English –speaking world there. From New Zealand to Ireland, from Scotland to South Africa. There were 3 Welshmen there too but I was the only Welsh speaker . My main task was to produce programmes about Germany in English and these were transmitted to the whole world apart from to South America.

My second job was working as a scriptwriter on a daily soap opera ‘Verbotene Liebe’- an adaptation of the Australian ‘Sons and Daughters’. To tell the truth, it wasn’t a very good programme although it is still running! The set- up for every soap opera is slightly different: there, as a scriptwriter you were responsible for the storylines, ie what was happening and not the dialogue which was always passed to the authors. I wasn’t very happy there for several reasons I was pleased to get the opportunity to start writimg for Pobol y Cwm!

Have you also spent time in another country ? What did you do there?
I have. I lived in Spain for a period – 18 months in a small city in Northern Castille, called Burgos, which was about an hour away from the Basque Country. Before going there, I obtained the TEFL qualification that enabled me to teach English to adults so naturally that is what I did-I taught English to adults. I had been working as deputy director for a television series called ‘Dinas’ and I continued to occasionally write while I was in Spain, and I faxed the chapters to Cardiff-there wasn’t e mail at the time!

In your opinion, what is the best thing about learning language?
A language is much more than just words- it’s a way of life. Quite simply, speaking another language opens a door to another world.

What would you like to say to people who don’t want to carry on with languages
One day, believe me, you will regret it…!