I guess that ll sound is one of the toughest for most of us learners @markie-1
When I first tried to repeat that sound I did a lot of unnecessary effort!
The training that worked for me was:
finding a song I enjoyed that had a lot of that sound in it and just sing it along a million times - in my case was “Hollol, hollol, hollol”. (note: I still have no idea of what those lyrics say, but it doesn’t really matter)
watching a few YouTube videos to see how face/mouth looks when someone pronounce it correctly
listen to a few explanation on how it should be pronounced
In the Southern course, Iestyn does a great job of explaining how to say ‘ll’ properly. Just follow his instructions and practice it for a bit. It will come and you will have many more opportunities to practice the ‘ll’ sound.
When to use â and efo. Both mean “with” and I’m struggling trying to figure out when each is appropriate.
Nes i cwrdd â rhwyun - I met with someone
Nes i eisiau siarad efo rhwyun - I wanted to speak with someone.
I know if I mix them up, I’ll still be understood. Pretty sure, I’ve done that already multiple times. Since I live in the US without a convenient person to speak with daily, I talk to myself. I’d like to learn the rule so I can correct myself.
As a general rule, â is with when referring to using an implement (e.g. wedi torri â chyllell - cut with a knife) as if you’re saying with as in “by means of”.
gyda is used when referring to “in the company of” (e.g. mynd i’r tafarn gyda fy ffrind - going to the pub with my friend).
gyda is also the one for possession (in southern Welsh) of course.
However. â is also a preposition that naturally follows some verbs. With some of these, the ‘with’ makes sense (cwrdd â, siarad â), but then with others it’s there but doesn’t translate to ‘with’ (paid â).
two special ones are when it is attached to mynd and dod - normally these are followed by i or o (because to go or come to or from!) but by using the â, you turn them into take (mynd â) and bring (dod â).
I hope that hasn’t confused things even more for you!
Not quite the same meaning, in as much as “gyda” is used for possession in the South, whereas this role is filled by “gan”, and not “efo”, i’n the North.
‘might’ is a tricky one because there is no one word that corresponds directly - in English, ‘might’ is a way of saying ‘may’ and in Welsh, there are lots of ways to say ‘may’! There are examples in the Geiriadur Academi but you have to look under ‘may’.
Helo, SwissToni
I’m still a learner myself and when I’m creating Welsh sentences, most times there are words I want to say that I do not know the Welsh equivalent. My first action is to think if I can say what I want with the limited vocabulary I currently possess. For your example, I would say, “Sut wyt ti’n deud ‘might’?” And most times I’m happy wth that. If I really need to know the word, then I hit my dictionaries.
Geiriadur Cymraeg Cyfoes (Modern Welsh Dictionary) by Gareth King says this for “Might” on page 382
"This verb has no exact equivalent in Welsh. Where it means ‘may’ phrasing with 'effallai (perhaps) or mae’n bosib (it’s possible) are used. For ‘might have’ gallu/medru + fod wedi <-@AnthonyCusack - great instincts (if you reply to this then Aran can tell you off -> is the equivalent for ‘might as well’.
Hope that helps.
(note: I still have no idea of what those lyrics say, but it doesn’t really matter)
(note: I still have no idea of what those lyrics say, but it doesn’t really matter)
multiple times. Since I live in the US without a convenient person to speak with daily, I talk to myself. I’d like to learn the rule so I can correct myself.
I don’t think I had installed it properly the first time.
)