S'mae Shalom from Israel

I’m a native English speaker who lives in Israel, and I’ve recently started to learn Welsh for the sheer love of it. I’ve just finished the basic Course 1 (first 25/26 lessons). I’m starting the ‘Vocab’ lessons which seem just as good as the basic ones.

I think that this is an excellent course (although I’d personally like a bit more grammar). Well done and diolch yn fawr to all concerned for making this such a rewarding experience.

My main problem is that although there are many languages spoken in Israel, Welsh is, regrettably, not yet on the list. Anyone out there in the area who’s learning Welsh and wants to get together for a talk?

Do Forum members have any suggestions for those of us who can’t easily find Welsh speakers with whom to learn?

Hwyl fawr i chi,

Baruch

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Croeso i’r fforwm Baruch!

If it’s grammar you want, there is plenty available, paid a phoenu…just not (explicitly anyway) at SSiW.

There are some good books by Gareth King, and some of them are on Google Books (probably old editions, and possibly not complete). Look for example for “Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar”. Or you can get titles by looking him up in amazon.co.uk then search google books for those titles.

(Of course, I think you should buy the books as well, but delivery to Israel might be expensive or take ages or whatever, so you can make do with google books (hopefully) in the meantime).

There is also some material on the BBC website, for example.

You want grammar? We got grammar! :smiling_imp:

(Not necessarily for the faint-hearted though, which is why the SSiW approach is a little different. :slight_smile: )

Shalom a hwyl fawr,
Mike

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Mike,

Thanks very much, especially for the BBC link, which looks very good.

In fact I have a couple of books on Welsh, and I recently acquired the Oxford Modern Welsh Dictionary, which I think is superb.

P’nawn da,

Baruch

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As for practice talking, might I suggest the FfrindIaith program (which is accessible from this website - click learn, and then one of options on top of the screen is FfrindIaith)? Time zone differences may be an issue, but it’s better than nothing.

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S’mae Baruch ve gam Shalom,

Eirwen, my wife, is a native Welsh speaker from North Wales. I am learning Welsh with SSiW and also have begun learning Hebrew. I can manage some basic Hebrew conversation at this point

Do you speak Hebrew fluently? We could do 15 minutes of Welsh conversation to help your Welsh followed by 15 minutes of Hebrew conversation to help my Hebrew - or something like that via Skype.

We live in semi-retirement on the Italian/French border,

Justin

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Croeso ar fforum @Baruch.

Well, this is our common problem. I’m living in Slovena where absolutely no one I would be aware of would speak Cymraeg at all. The most helpful practice for me are Skype chats (with learners of higher level for now) and it probably could be the temporary solution of the problem for you aswell.

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Croeso! Many of us come from outside Wales, where it’s hard to find Welsh speakers to practice with, so you’re not alone! I find talking with other learners to be very helpful.

As for the grammar side of things, the idea of this course is that you pick it up organically, rather than having to struggle to learn rules that you don’t yet have any language to apply to! That said, many people use supplementary material for the grammar, and it can be very helpful.

Pob lwc!

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Croeso cynnes i’r fforwm, Baruch - a warm welcome to the forum - and thank you very much for your kind words… :slight_smile:

As others have said already, your best bet is probably too find other learners who want to practice via Skype…

Pob lwc!

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Justin,

I’m interested. Welsh for Hebrew? Gwych! I’ll get in touch if and when I ever get Skype; I’m still in the 20th century on that point.
How does one write privately to another Forum member without disclosing email addresses publicly?

Baruch

Thanks to all the replies above - it’s a great welcome to the Forum. And even though I realise that you’re not all Welsh or living in Wales, such a welcome does mirror my experience with the Welsh people whom I met during family visits there in recent years. They’re/you’re such friendly people almost without exception. And I never felt the need to hide my Jewishness from this beautiful country - something that unfortunately can’t be taken for granted.
Those are reasons (amongst others) that have prompted me to start learning Cymraeg.
I don’t yet have Skype, but it seems my best bet by common assent.
Lastly, how does one write privately to another Forum member without disclosing email addresses publicly?

Diolch yn fawr i chi pawb (is that correct?),

Baruch

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I’m going to tag @tatjana here - she’s the tech teacher here! :smile:

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Easiest way is to click on their name or picture in a post. A popup will appear which will have a button to send a message.

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Diolch!

Thank you @Karla Not so much of a “tech teacher”. I just want to help, that’s all.

Here you go @Baruch : How to send PM

Andif you scroll down the topic there, you’ll find many more useful (hopefully helpful aswell) stuff on “how to on the forum” subject.

Happy posting.

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