Cymru Fyw Discussion

Does anyone want to start a discussion thread for Cymru Fyw articles as they seem to be a good starting point for post-level 3 reading (with a handy vocab button)? Maybe focus on the Cylchgrawn articles as they are more casual? I just find that I need a purpose for reading in Welsh and though others might need one too.

I don’t know whether people want unstructured discussion (in Welsh or English?) or whether it would be good to have a format (eg. write a sentence containing a new vocab word from the article) or a game (eg. write 3 sentences with gaps for a new vocab word- like a riddle)?

Any thoughts?

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I’m definitely one of those others! :smiley:

I hadn’t considered all these possibilities until now that I’m reading your post, so I need a little time to think about it and see if any idea comes to mind.

p.s. I think also Parallel.Cymru can be interesting for a sort of similar structured work.

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I’ve had a busy week but just popped onto Cymru Fyw and managed to get 5/8 on this tree quiz https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/49933255 Can anyone beat my score?

Uh…no! (I won’t reveal my terrible score) :grimacing:

However, I’d like to link the article I’m going to read next. It’s a bit longer than the average. If anyone else finds it interesting and would like to try some game/practice based on that, just let me know! :slight_smile:

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I’ve added the article to my weekend Welsh reading list and I’l get back to you with how I find it.

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This is a brilliant suggestion! I will mention it in the next newsletter as I think it will be useful for quite a few people.

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5/8 also. Every one was a guess.
Sue

Here’s an ideal ‘Cymru Fyw’ discussion topic…

Da iawn @gisella-albertini :star2:

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Diolch!
By the way I don’t remember what I said exactly, so it will be interesting to read it!:sweat_smile:
(And of course further discussing it if anyone’s curious)

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I have finally finished the article you posted. It took me three sittings to get through it and it was the longest thing I have ever read in Welsh! But it was good because it challenged me.

I started by writing down all the new words that I was learning but had to give up because there were just too many! The words that I particularly learned were:
canrif - century
cwmni - company
diwylliant - culture

I have one question - did the interviewee say at one point that he went to prison?! The vocab button seemed to give up at one point and I am still uncertain about that part.

I have started reading the ‘Dysgu Cymraeg ar draeth yn yr Eidal’. I had to Spotify Datblygu after the first few paragraphs and I have to say that I really couldn’t stand it - must be my age!

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yes, Dafydd Iwan went to prison in 1970 for protesting for Welsh Language rights. :slight_smile:

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The one about Sain is definitely challenging! I wasn’t able to read it all at once myself.
However since it’s very interesting for me, I’m gong back to it a little bit every now and then becoming familiar with the words. (I need a few more times before I can discuss it properly though!)

As for Datblygu, oh well…they’ve been around for quite a long time (early 80s). They jump through quite a few genres, but I understand they can often sound a bit tough to many ears - of any age! :laughing:

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Great idea :grinning:. I’m happy to take part. Diolch.

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Thanks for this thread- I hadn’t used Cymru fyw before and found both articles interesting and not too difficult to follow thanks to the vocabulary button.

Should I/another SsiWer post another article on a Friday that can then be discussed in the following week?

I could even post with a list of ‘new’ words from the article which I could find by getting the computer work out the words in the article that are not in eg. the top 200 frequent words in Welsh or the words that are not in the SsiW course (if I could somehow find a collection of these words).

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Great article by @aran from Tuesday:

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Yes, it could be a way to go on, I guess. Actually what about the one @AnthonyCusack linked?

Would be a bit lighter after the really tough one about Sain: still a lot of vocablulary I’d like to remember. And I’m not sure I have completely understood it yet (by the way where did he say he went to prison?)

Also, I’ve just started to listen to listen to the music they mention - that I had never hear of - except Catatonia who were pretty popular over here for their songs in English, Meic Stevens and the names of Dafydd Iwan (yn y glaw, before anything else :grin:) and Geraint Jarman.

Although the funniest moment was when I had to stop and wonder “are they really talking about sheeps here?” :open_mouth::rofl:

You just couldn’t help yourself, could you!

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“Roedd y tâp yn barod i fynd, ond fe aeth o i’r carchar. Nes i sgwennu’r gân Paid digalonni heb fod â bwriad i recordio, ond efo’r bwriad i ymgyrchu tra roedd o i mewn”

There seemed to be a lot of fe aeth or fe benderfynon etc.
I’m guessing it is to do with Southern past tense but it did throw me a bit.

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“Fe” tends to be used more in formal writing than “mi” for the positive marker. I’m not sure why, and it’s only what I’ve noticed so not exactly scientific :joy: