Learn the Welsh Language in a series of Videos and Podcast's with Jason Shepherd, presenter of 'The Learn Welsh Podcast' and author of 'Learn Welsh Now: A Beginner's Guide to Welsh'.
That sounds like a very aspirated 'sl' to my ear. And funny that you mention 'Llandudno' right off, because that's precisely one of the places I visited when I was in Wales and was struggling to pronounce correctly. I know the last part was pronounced "didnaw" because Welsh orthography is quite different even where a sound have might actually some close English counterpart.
My family’s welsh but we lost connection to the language fast and it made me so sad- I’ve been slowly learning welsh for years when I had time. But my mother ALWAYS makes good food for Saint David’s day, so it’s nice to know how to say something about it in welsh
Thanks for this. It's useful to watch a video on rolling r's that's specifically for Welsh. I actually learnt to do the short one first and today is the first day (I've been practising for about 2 weeks) that I have been able to extend this-though it still needs loads of practice. I am 65 and completely believed myself unable to produce this sound (since I was 10 and had the mickey taken out of me because of it). If you are struggling, keep practising, because believe me, if I can do it, anyone can!😂 I have found the word "cyfarwydd" a great help!🤣
The Welsh language was in decline though, that is why the Welsh government have spent money and considereable effort to reinvigorate its use. So, I can see why people say it is/was dying. Maybe "dying" is a strong word but langauges can, and do go extinct. I recently spent a few days in Llangollen and wasnt able to find a single Welsh person who spoke Cymraeg. I was told by many people, "we don't speak THAT here", as though it was an insult to them lol.
Good description…❤ Now in a minute is ‘soon’ Over by there is ‘there’ Tamping is ‘fuming’ Nobbling is ‘very cold’ Chopsy is ‘annoying talk’ Thanks drive is ‘grateful for your driving me’ Butt is ‘mate’ Cwtch is ‘a cuddly snuggle’ Hanging is ‘after a proper night out drinking with your butties’😂 Tidy is ‘good’
I can't thank you enough, Mike! : You initiated me - quite some time ago - to the beauty, to the pleasure of learning Welsh. I am now a bit ahead on the mastery of this beautiful language and I have used over the last two years a number of resources available on the net, among which "Ask Dr Grammadeg", which is in my view the best source for those deeply interested in the structure and rules of Cymraeg. Hundreds upon hundreds of short/medium short sentences illustrating the various aspect of Welsh grammar - colloquial/written/formal/Ne-Gogledd differences. In short, a real trove for the earnest learner. This said, why - do you ask - address these comments on your site... Well, I thought, with you so implicated in the propagation of beautiful Welsh, you might know if the numerous examples offered by 'Ask Dr Grammadeg' in writing have perhaps been made available in speech, in MP3 format or otherwise. Such a thing would be a boon to us learners. If sound files are not yet available for this site, any volunteer around? I have myself looked everywhere, without success... Again M. Sheppard, a great many thanks for your efforts and enthusiasm (with just one reservation! - I remember you stating that one could get along even when not quite abreast with the intricacies of mutations. I humbly beg to disagree: no know your mutes'? - dictionary turns into a no-go zone! - Other learners will undoubtedly agree!) Any follow-up on this Dr Grammadeg sound files will b deeply appreciated. Again, 1000 thanks!
I've recently discovered through Ancestry DNA that I'm over 40% Welsh (currently it's 43%), which I am absolutely delighted about because the hills and vales have always drawn me from a very young age. I was delighted to find this because I'd said to my parents YEARS ago, I wanted to be able to sing the Welsh National Anthem in Welsh. And at the end, I did sing along ... and at the chorus the tears started ... and I couldn't sing the last 2 lines as the emotion and tears were just too overwhelming. Roll on the Wales v Fiji game in November!! As this is a National language for this beautiful country of ours, and perhaps one of the oldest languages around (certainly older than the English we speak today), I believe Welsh should be taught in all schools throughout England and Wales, and the Gaelic language of the Scottish Isles should be taught in all Scottish schools. We need to look after and cherish the heritage and history of this island, because we are fast losing it. Diolch, Diolch, Diolch yn fawr iawn am y gan (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much for the song - I'm learning 😊) and I look forward to finding more of your videos. Hwyl 👋
The area in Blackpool I’m from is called Revoe and it predates Blackpool and I can’t find anybody who can explain where the word is from? It predates the Norman conquest I think.
My Nan made fantastic welshcakes. In her lifetime we worked it out she had made over a million of them. She would brown them for me and only put sultanas in for me. Because i dislike current,s. My nan was born in 1894. In 1910 she walked from Welshpool with her family to Treorchy in the Rhondda to get work in the park and dare pit. The journey took them about two weeks and they slept by the side of the road. She never smoked or drank alcohol. Followed the quaker faith all her life. Mark Jones
this is how it is written in the Spanish writing form: -Doit Tim an cobio macsen -doix neeb an ai nabod o -mai mil a jue jat o flanazoiz -an anser ri jir ir cor -Pan aiz Magnus Maximus o ganrri -an o bloiden tri-jantiguen-oiz-tri -aan gadail an kenet-eul katban a jeddiul güele ni -roini anma o jid -er cueiza paub a fobpez -roini anma o jid
What a video. I've shared it with my daughter who is on holiday in North Wales with her mum. She's soo excited because I'm from Cardiff and my granny was from pil gwen. She always supports Wales despite being born in Hampshire. Her first time feeling the land in her soul.
Diolch yn fawr. Very pleased with myself, I answered all 11 questions correctly. I have recently started to learn Welsh as I left Wales in 1966, but these were words/ phases that I learnt in primary school and still remember. Da iawn.😊
Shwmae Jason! On the duolingo app there are some times where the r is not rolled. For example the word "traeth" is pronounced with a sound more similar to the start of the english word "church" rather than a rolled r. This confuses me a bit, so I'm wondering if there are some exceptions to the rule of using a rolled r, or if this an error from Duolingo? Diolch!
Cwts (Welsh language spelling) or cwtch means not just a cuddle but a comforting cuddle. It can also mean hutch e.g. chicken cwtch, or even a dog's bed. In valleys homes you would often hear "go cwtch" said to a fussing pet dog.
What you don't hear any more is the superfluous use of "do". Particularly in the Eastern South Wales valleys, you would never say something like, "I like that". Instead you'd say, "I do like that", but the pronunciation of that phrase would be more like, "I duh like tha'.." or even, "I duh like 'ah'...". "That" was often pronounced tha' but sometimes just 'ah', ..."then" was always pronounced 'en ... and the phrase "I'm not" was rendered... I ent, or, if followed by a verb, simply...I en, as in ...I en 'avin' i'...! (I'm not having it). When I was in the navy I sometimes brought a mate or two home with me on weekend leave. Of course we would visit my local and it was loud and most of the conversation was unintelligible to them. On the first occasion, I was speaking to some of my local Welsh friends and my two shipmates were looking confused. They leaned towards me and one of them said, "You've never told us you could speak Welsh" Laughter all around, I, like my Welsh mates, was speaking upper Rhymni Valley English.
