FOLLOW Gwent Olympian Jamie Baulch as he learns Welsh as part of the S4C programme @cariadiath.

DAY 1

Wow! This is my first time in this part of Wales and I've been taken aback by how beautiful it is here.

After a long car journey, there was no time to spare as we were quickly acquainted with our fellow contestants and shown around the Centre for Alternative Technology.

Onwards then to Bala Lake where we would undertake our first challenge of the week – rafting! Our task was to build the raft then paddle our tutor Ioan 100m to shore. I couldn't help but laugh at how surreal all of this was, especially when Tom Shanklin's barrel came loose and began to sink. Thankfully, we made it home and - almost - dry.

I then realised what was ahead of us – a whole week of learning Welsh quite intensively and putting it to use through various challenges. I'm still feeling nervous about it all as I have such little experience of the language.

Growing up around Newport, Welsh wasn't a spoken language and none of my friends or family knew a word. I didn’t thrive in the classroom and formal lessons bored me at school so I'm not sure how I'm going to cope this time around.

However, the teaching method they're using here couldn't be more different! We're being totally immersed in the language and we're learning through stories, dance and song. It's like being five years old again. I think people learn in different ways and I'm quite a visual and practical learner so let's see if the words sink in!