New online Welsh book group

Hi @neil-pyper. I don’t believe that ‘Gwers Mewn Cariad’ is at ‘roughly the same level’ as Sgŵp. I tried it and I really couldn’t get the gist of what was going on, even in the first chapter… even with the aid of Google translate :wink:. Seriously, I would say Gwers is Intermediate with Sgŵp on the lower border of Intermediate/ Mynediad . Anyway, I was sad to give up for now and returned to Ffenestri by Lois Arnold. So I won’t be joining in on Monday. Keep up the good work though :wink:

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Hi, I’m finding it a great book. I don’t want to pre-empt(?) the meeting, so just to say that’s it an enjoyable challenge.

Ho Robert, sorry to hear that you have found it challenging. Do you have any thoughts on what we might read next? Hope you are well!

Thats a shame Robert. Maybe cos ‘Gwers’ is written from North Welsh point of view and ‘Sgwp’ from South? This did confuse and frustrate me mightily when i first started reading llyfrau Cymraeg.

No, I’m learning Northern Welsh and living within a Welsh speaking village. I can’t put my finger on it but maybe it’s simply that the content is more ‘sophisticated’? I couldn’t seem to get into it and I felt that I was having to guess at the subleties of the context… which can sometimes be downright confusing if you get it wrong!!:joy: Anyway, no worries, I’ve got the book and it gives me another target to aim for. I’m determined to crack this language, if only to prove to myself that Welsh isn’t impossible to learn, as some of my Southern Welsh relatives have implied!:wink: BTW I’m English and from the Midlands yn wreiddiol! Wales was our go-to holiday resort in my childhood… I’m in heaven now I’m retired here :heart:

Iawn. Dwi’n cenfigennus. I’m jealous! Tho from Casnewydd yn wreiddiol ive been living in Weston-super-Mare fir the last 12 years and its my intention / dream to retire (too far away sadly) back to Cymru.

Just tried to join but can’t. I’m getting the warning ‘Your browser doesn’t support Teams Meetings’ on my laptop. Ive no idea what this means (I’m bot very IT technical).

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Cris, you may need to use Chrome browser for hangouts. I normally use firefox and get the same message until I pop into chrome with the hangout link. Hope this helps for next time.

Teams definitely works with Chrome. I did not think there were compatibility issues. I am happy to use a different platform next time if people would prefer. The advantage of Teams is that it is professional quality and I have access through my job, and it can handle more than ten people at a time. Does anyone have access to the professional version of Zoom? That might be a good alternative.

What would everyone like to read for next time? This list might help us decide (and any recommendations would be great):

https://parallel.cymru/amdani/?lang=en

Also there is now a #clwb-darllen channel on WSP. Please join if you are interested in the book group and let me know if you need any more information.

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Hi @neil-pyper, enjoyed the chat last night although I couldn’t see anyone and even if I could there was only a 4 person grid on my screen. Using an IPad mini so maybe that’s the best I can get. I’ve had more success joining Zoom meetings. The free option kicks you out after 40 minutes but you can restart immediately using the same meeting invitation. Here’s a link to more titles in the Amdani series for learners http://www.gwales.com/search_advanced/?sr_first=1&tsid=5 I think someone suggested opting for level Sylvaen. I’m happy with that or Canolradd. I quite like the sound of Bethan Gwanas’s Yn Ei Gwsg, which is Sylvaen and have Elin Meek’s Budapest (Canolradd) gathering dust which I’d be happy to start. Happy also to hear other people’s suggestions of course!

On Teams you can see the last four people who have spoken at any time. I am happy to use Zoom next time. I like the idea of the Bethan Gwanas novel. I can ask around to see about approaching her to attend the hangout if people are interested. What do others think?

Unfortunately, both of these are not currently available on Amazon. I am not sure about other outlets.

Hi @neil-pyper, I’d be interested in reading a Bethan Gwanas novel. There are the Blodwen Jones books which look good, there’s one in the Cyfres Amdani series called Yn Ei Gysg (in the Sylfaen level) which looks interesting, or Beca suggested Efa which is a novel for teenagers. I’d be happy to read any of those :slight_smile: It was lovely to have Beca on the hangout, and it would be great to have Bethan too! :slight_smile:

Can anyone recommend some poetry books good for learners?

I like the idea of reading Efa, which is readily available. What do others think?

There is quite a bit of poetry in Ffenestri by Lois Arnold, which is very readable!

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gwales.com appears to have stock of all the Bethan Gwanas books and they do ship overseas :slight_smile:

The delivery charge on GWales is high - over 30% of the total cost of the two books - so I will wait for it to come back into stock on Amazon. I would like to read it, so hopefully that will not be too long!

Nia has suggested this in this afternoon’s hangout: