Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment.

In the words of Jeff Goldblum in that beer advert: Don’t delay - buy one today! :slight_smile:

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Ha Ha.

Great retort.

I’ll buy them all eventually, I promise.

But which one should I buy first?

Truly I would like some guidance on this. I’m doing Canolradd with Learn welsh and starting to feel confident with my welsh.

It’s expensive, but if I could just have one I’d choose Modern Welsh. It is so comprehensive and easy to read with tonnes of examples. I imagine it’ll answer every question I’ll ever have😀

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I think, since you mention that your confidence is growing, that Emma’s advice is good, even though she is right about the price. I understand that, unbelievably, there are second-hand copies on the market here and there - I can only assume these must have belonged to people who are now dead and therefore no longer need them by their side.

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Thank you. I’ll put my order in for Modern Welsh.

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Diolch yn fawr! :slight_smile:

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Important news @garethrking - he’s back -although, of course, some say he’s never really been away :wink:

The world is a slightly brighter place today - but talk of Hollywood makes me hope it’s not going to go to his head. Look what happened to Corden. :confused:

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O restr - in succession /one after another

Enillion - Winnings?

Adding to above ‘amser sbâr’ thread

cymryd hamdden - to take time off/ to get a bit of respite/time off to leisure

Furthermore/ Ymhellach

Ar fy leser - At my leisure

I think it is important to use a variety of resources to consolidate your learning and I also remember more through reading and writing so I think a physical coursebook would be a great supplement to SSI audio challenges and an app based learning technique.

Would you recommend the Dysgu Cymraeg or Cwrs mynediad textbooks as a supplement to this course? I believe I can download Dysgu Cymraeg materials for free.
If you have access to both do you have a preference?

I’m not using either of those (nor am I currently using SSiW, as I find it too difficult to discern the actual sounds without seeing them in writing). I did finish the old Course 1 and the 15 free Challenges in the new Level 1 (which I understand are no longer free - good job I never update my apps…).

Instead I have downloaded the BBC Cymru Byw app, and try to read an article or two once or twice a week, looking up words I don’t know (or at least the main ones). You learn all sorts of useful words there, like brechlyn (vaccine) and haint (pestilence)…

And I have to admit, I also use Duolingo… :flushed:

I wasn’t getting on with duolingo so I deleted it. That is a good suggestion. I have been looking at some books for Welsh learners that are about subjects that interest me as think it would be useful to learn some language related to my hobbies. I found out the coursebooks are to accompany courses that are either too intensive (can’t get 3 weeks off work) or not intensive enough an hour and a half each week for the best part of a year . .

Under each challenge there is a vocabulary list that has the individual words introduced in that challenge and some example phrases. I have found this really useful to help me pronounce the words so maybe have a look at that? If I remember correctly I could access the challenges before I subscribed so if you try on the website you may be able to access the new ones. I had a listen to the old ones and the new ones are so much better. I didn’t find the old stuff very impressive to be honest.

So far it would appear that Wales has a very rigid pronunciation of letters unlike English so I think if you know how to pronounce each letter in sequence, reading should be relatively straightforward. Then you just have to figure out what you have read means haha.

Duolingo is rather amusing (“Dylan has two giraffes”, “The owl enjoys eating the white mouse”) but it helps me get regular exposure at my own time.
I have also read a few books for learners, which is helpful.

It’s funny, really - theoretically I agree 100% with the principle behind SSiW - you learn best simply by being exposed to the language and using what you know - but my brain is too hard-wired to input information through reading to cope well with it! Maybe it would be easier if I actually lived in Wales…

“Draig dw i” Was my personal favourite.

Yes they say immersion is the best type of learning for languages because you have no choice but to figure out how to communicate. I think you’re right, spending time in Wales will probably be beneficial for you because all the signage etc is in Welsh often with the English translation below. That might help things click more rapidly. I find things stick better if I write them repeatedly by hand.

I used to go to Wales every month before covid kicked off so was intending to spend more time in the shops than in the mountains on future visits to practice speaking with the locals. Are you far from Wales?

Hampshire coast, about 3.5 - 4 hours from Cardiff. but we go fairly regularly, as our daughter is studying at Cardiff University. But as we’re usually together all the time, there’s not really the opportunity to seek out people who speak Welsh (especially as they’re apparently not very common in Cardiff).

I found a resource recently that lists all the Welsh speaking places across Wales, If you search google you might be able to find it, there might be a few pubs, shops etc that you could visit together and see if you can get chatting away?

“steamed up” (as my glasses often are when wearing a mask) - Wedi Ageru Lan?

ager is a very literary word for steam (the noun) and you’re more likely to come across stêm. The verb ‘to steam’ would be stemio, so “steamed up” = wedi stemio lan, wedi stemio i gyd.

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To use “lan” here is a literal english to Welsh word for word translation that doesn’t always work. Wedi stemio is enough I think.

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