I would start with the Cyfres Amdani, level Mynediad. Theyâre books specifically designed for learners.
You might also like the magazine Lingo Newydd, which you can also read via an app. Itâs for learners and has content in three levels, so as you progress you can go back and read the more complex versions of articles.
Re bookshops, I love cantamil.com and Palas Print. Both are very helpful and will talk to you in English or Welsh. You can of course also buy from Amazon, but I prefer to support independent Welsh bookshops as they contribute to the economy and therefore sustain the language financially, where Amazon often removes Welsh language book reviews for âbreaching content guidelinesâ!
To your question about written Welsh, yes it does vary. Written Welsh varies a lot more than you will be used to from standardised majority languages like English, Spanish or German. Aside from the differences you learn early on, fiction often represents spoken norms when presenting dialogue or internal narrative, and non-fiction often uses literary forms that are only used in writing.
However if you stick with content for beginners youâll be fine as itâs deliberately graded to keep it accessible, and by the time you run out of that youâll be able to cope with the variation. My tip is to say the words in your head. 1) that forces you to absorb instead of translating and 2) saying the words helps you see through variant spellings to words you recognise. Also, saying the words helps you appreciate the use of language.
Oh brilliant - thank you so much for the recommendations and additional information!
Regarding the online bookstores, absolutely, I will definitely check out these smaller retailers rather than amazon; thatâs ridiculous that they often remove Welsh language books!
Thatâs so interesting about the written form varying like that, particularly for the dialogue as you said. Iâm looking forward to the day I start to notice these variances, but for now will definitely stick to the beginner level as you suggested.
Personally, I donât know. Itâs only available as paperback or Kindle versions on Amazon and, seeing as Iâve never bought a spoken word book, wouldnât know the best place to look otherwise. Sorry.
Iâve moved all the posts about Books To Give Away over into the Second hand books up for sale / giveaway here! thread, to keep this one for discussing particular books and reviewing them for others.
Fully aware Iâm replying to a three-year-old post here, but I remember reading this in English in primary school but could never remember the book title. I did however remember the little rhyme involving their surname, the name Francetti stuck with me ever since! Never expected it to come up on a Welsh forum.
Iâve not seen Agor y Drws up here so far, although thereâs a lot of posts to go through. Six short humorous stories written by a different author, each one (with the exception of one story) working up to a punchline. Recommended in mid-Mynediad, so very accessible. Mererid Hopwoodâs contribution, Annwyl Sion, had me in bits halfway through. Laughter is great, feels even better to chwerthin
Can also recommend Gorau Glas, by Lois Arnold (who is quickly becoming a fave of mine). Again itâs very short and early learner-friendly but has a cracking sense of humour.
I finished this book while on holiday, not too far from the area where the story is set.
Daf Dafis and his family attend a Plygain service where the local farming families all sing their own traditional carols. Afterwards they move to the community centre for much-needed refreshment. Daf is talking to Illtyd Ashley, a well-known collector of folk songs and customs, when a cup of tea arrives for Illtyd, but not for Daf. Daf is annoyed - until Illtyd collapses. He has been poisoned and later dies in hospital. With a temporary rank of Chief Inspector, Daf is put in charge of the case. Unfortunately a large number of people have cause to hate Illtyd. There are his current wife, his first wife, various lovers, a daughter, a son and people who have been cheated by Illtyd. As usual, Daf is distracted from his investigation by a range of crises involving his family, neighbours and colleagues.
This is the third book in the series, following âA Oes Heddwchâ and âPwnc Llosgâ. I think that it is best to read them in order because there is a large cast of characters, some of whom appear in the earlier books.
âA Oes Heddwchâ has been translated by the author as âBloody Eisteddfodâ, and âPwnc Llosgâ as âBurning Issueâ. âBurning Issueâ has a list of characters, indicating their complicated relationships. Very helpful. I expect that a translation will appear for âY Plygain Olafâ but for the moment you are on your own. I look forward to starting the fourth book, âMynd fel Bomâ.
These are mainstream detective stories, not aimed particularly at learners, but I think that they are accessible at Uwch level, and they are certainly entertaining.
I have read the first two both in Welsh and English, and I was fascinated by some subtle differences. I suppose that an author translating her own work can feel free to add explanations and alter passages that might lose their effect in a literal translation.
Sue
Diolch everyone for keeping this fabulous thread going!
If youâre new to the forum, this thread is an invaluable place for book recommendations for those of you ready to venture in to staring to read some Welsh.
If youâre unsure of where to start, look for contributions by @gruntius heâs a very avid reader and I donât think there are many books for learners in Welsh which he hasnât read. Use the search function in the top right hand side to look for posts by him.
Yes, a thanks from me too @gruntius. Iâm currently using Goodreads - great to keep track of what Iâve read and what Iâve liked, but many books are review-free (and those that do have them donât always go into the suitability for learners) so your contributions are a really big help.
Iâve got DeltaNet to start next. Iâve not found any verdicts at all on this one - although Andras Millward (RIP) wrote for Warhammer 40K, prompting me to excitedly run to my Games Workshop-mad partner. Iâm looking forward to it though mainly because itâs a techy novel written in 1999
I read a lot - everything from Bunyan to Pratchett in English. I have also âtackledâ classics like âRhys Lewisâ and âTraed mewn Cyffionâ through to books aimed at Welsh learners but they all remain hard work for me.
I often turn to Science Fiction or Steam Punk for a bit of escapism in English. Does anyone know of any novels in Welsh in these genres? A translation from English would do. If not, would someone write one please?
âIgam Ogamâ by Ifan Morgan Jones is supposed to be somewhat like Pratchett. I did start it, but havenât got very far with it to be honest. âSeren Wen ar Gefndir Gwynâ by Robin Llewellyn is also SF, though again I havenât read it yet. Not SF, but the novels Iâve personally found most readable are the murder mysteries by Myfanwy Alexander. The first of those is âA Oes Heddwas?â set in the national Eisteddfod. There are now 4 or 5, but I recommend reading in order because there are lots of recurring characters.
Babbel by Ifan Morgan Jones is a steam punk style novel. Itâs written in antiquated-style Welsh though, to match the era. Iâve started but not finished it.
As mentioned by Margaret, I thought Igam Ogam fell into the comical fantasy genre. That was a lot quicker to get into than Babbel.
Dadeni by the same author is also fantasy but rather more political. However I did love protagonist Jonny Teifi, and quite liked most of the gods.
I thought that I had mentioned Deltanet a few years ago, but I canât find it now. I read it when I was quite new to reading Welsh. I found the vocabulary challenging, with a lot of words that I would not normally use. The story itself was interesting and quite sinister. When you finish, I hope that you will let us know what you think, @reesgilbert.
Sue
Embarrassingly, Iâve parked DeltaNet at page 24 - the setting is great and I can tell Iâm going to enjoy it later on, but itâs simply too difficult for my level right now (early Sylfaen). Having to stop and start with a dictionary glued to my other hand is not the best way to read a techy mystery, I feel.
Itâs written in past tense with a lot of idioms, so I think Iâll give it another shot at the halfway mark of Sylfaen and see if I can digest it a little better.
On the opposite end of the scale, I recently read these two on a train trip - Camu Ymlaen and Ling-di-Long.
Theyâre great little books for anyone brand spankinâ new to reading Welsh, because theyâre not a huge departure from the DysguCymraeg material. Short stories, jokes, interview-format factsheets, a little bit of history - some of them marry up quite well to current Mynediad units too. Iâll ask for the Sylfaen ones for Christmas, I feel if theyâre anything like these ones itâll be great supplemental material.
Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru / Books Council of Wales
Maeâr gyfres o lyfrau i ddysgwyr, Amdani, yn 5 mlwydd oed!
40 o lyfrau, wedi eu graddoli ar bedair lefel, gan amrywiol weisg.
Yn 2023 bydd pob teitl ar gael fel llyfr llafar am y tro cyntaf o wefan http://ffolio.cym
Mwy yma: https://llyfrau.cymru/amdani-dathlu-pum-mlynedd-orâŚ/
Amdani, the series of Welsh books for learners, is 5 years old!
40 books, graded at four levels, from a variety of Welsh publishers.
In 2023 every title will be made available as an audiobook for the first time from https://ffolio.wales.
More here: https://llyfrau.cymru/âŚ/celebrating-five-years-ofâŚ/
