learn Welsh fast with Cadw Swn - tips, tricks and news for Welsh learners



October 8, 2009

Simple but important Welsh pointers

It often helps to get a few basic pointers when learning a language. Since most people learning Welsh speak English the following might be of use:

1 - Things in Welsh are often the other way around to English.
There's a tendency for English speakers to say that things in Welsh are the 'wrong way round'. One could argue that since Welsh is the older of the two languages we should say English is the wrong way round but hey. (Hollti blew - to split hairs)
So a red book is 'llyfr coch' - the book (thing/noun) comes first then the description.
Likewise - car glas, dyn tal, ci bach

2 - We start statements in Welsh with a verb.
Mae hi'n braf. - mae is from the verb bod, to be.
Roedd hi'n braf - roedd is from bod, to be.

Cerddais i - I walked
Cerddais is from 'cerdded' to walk.

and so on.

3 - Welsh is easy to pronounce.
Most letters in Welsh are only pronounced one way. So 'c' is always a hard c sound as in call. If we need the soft sound (like center) we'd use an 's'.

Hwyl am y tro,

Colin

www.colin-jones.com

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October 1, 2009

'we'll bring out the Cymraeg in you'

Mae'r dosbarthiada yn dechrau'r wythnos yma - Classes start this week
www.welshforadults.org

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September 24, 2009

North and South Wales Welsh

Here as the main differences between North/South Welsh as I understand them:

The accent is very different, North Walians have a very strong nasal accent which some South Walians initially find hard to understand.

A small number of words are different throughout the country, lads, sweets, lasses and gates for instance. This is no big deal.

We abbreviate the present tense differently in the North and South; 'I am' would be 'w i' where I live and probably 'Dw i' in the North.  'We are' would be 'Yn ni' (ee ni) in the South and 'Dyn ni' (dun ni) in north Wales.

A few constructions are different;
'Mae Ford gyda fi' - i have a Ford (south) - Mae gen i Ford (north) Also North Walians  tend to use 'I did' (Gwnes i) to say things like 'I did shop' - Gwnes i siopa. South Walians will probably say 'I shopped' - Siopiais i.

Colin Jones
www.cadwswn.com
www.twitter.com/cadwswn

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September 23, 2009

Rhifau ffôn Cymraeg - Welsh language phone numbers

Gallwch ffornio'r rhifau yma i drafod eich busnes yn y Gymraeg. Gallwch droi i'r Saesneg os oes eisau.
Many Welsh businesses and services have Welsh-language phone lines. You can turn to English if needed.

www.cymorth.com

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September 16, 2009

Newyddion Pwysig - Important News

It's been nearly 10 years since Cadw Swn was formed. In fact next year will see the dengmlwyddiant - tenth anniversary of the course.

 As you might expect from the title of this blog entry, Cadw Swn will be undergoing radical changes between now and next year. I've been working hard on them, and feel that it's only fair to let people know what we're planning.

 For a number of reasons we've always been tied to selling the course as a 10-CD unit. That will change.

 I'm currently in the studio re-recording sections of the course over some new classical music. No great changes in the stories, but the new music license will allow us to sell CDs individually. I hope that a lot more people will feel able to 'dip their toe' in the water when they only need the course book and one CD.

 We'll also make the audio available as downloads. I have no doubt that this is the future of music. It's green, instant, and will allow us to make the recordings available very reasonably worldwide. We're working with a great company to handle the downloads simply and easily, more news on that soon.

 Finally, to tie in with these changes, the course will be retitled 'Learn Welsh Fast with Cadw Swn'. This should help with catalogue searches and search engines.

 I hope to have the first of the new CDs and downloads available next month, along with the rebranded course book. Then I'll make individual CDs available as and when they're finished.

 Diolch yn fawr am eich amser.

 Cofion gorau

 Colin Jones
www.cadwswn.com

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September 4, 2009

Cerddoriaeth Hyfryd - Lovely Music

Ahhh...

Huw M o'r albwm Os Mewn Swn:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/huwm/from/folkradio

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August 28, 2009

twpsin - a fool

'Twpsin' is Welsh for a fool or idiot. Why do I mention this, you may ask?
Well ym mis Medi I'll be doing a parachute jump to raise money for the Welsh cancer charity Tenovus,
and I would be delighted if you could give me a push, as it were.

Please take a look at my fundraising page:
www.justgiving.com/coljones/
where you can read the full story of a grown man's folly. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

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August 19, 2009

5 reasons for NOT learning Welsh

1- I can’t find the time.

That’s a fact. It’s funny how we can find the time when we really want to do something. What about that hour you spent last night watching CSI on TV? Or the half hour you spent online/in the pub/doing the crossword/etc. 
Get a book or a home study course (yes ours will do!) and enjoy it!

2 - I tried it once, but it didn’t work

Hmm… I remember my father trying to teach me to drive. I nearly gave up before I’d even started. I wised up and took lessons, but I failed the test twice. Should I have given up then? No, the truth is we expect to be able to learn to drive, however long it takes. Think about it.

3 - I’m too old, only children can learn Welsh easily. They’re like sponges.

Do you know how much time children in Welsh medium education spend each day hearing or speaking Welsh? They get hours each day, every day. Adults learning Welsh usually spend only a few hours a week learning. Of course children appear to learn faster, actually I think the reverse is true.

4 - I’ll never be fluent so what’s the point?

Adults who have learnt Welsh have succeeded as Welsh authors, songwriters, actors, etc. One has even won the chair in the National Eisteddfod for poetry. If you decide something’s impossible it usually is. If you decide that something’s possible, however, it also usually is.

5 - I can’t find a class/tiwtor.

Now that’s possibly true. But (see reason one) find a book/Welsh course (yes, ours will do) and have fun!

Want some Welsh tweets?

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August 17, 2009

Cwis - Quiz

(atebion ar y gwaelod  - answers below)

1 – Pwy oedd tad Arthur?
2 - Ble roedd Senedd-dy Owain Glyndwr?
3 - Ym mha flwyddyn oedd y Ddeddf Uno (Act of Union) rhwng Cymru a Lloegr?
4 – Pwy yw Prif Weinidog Cymru?
5 – O ble mae Superman yn dod yn wreiddiol?
6 – Pwy yw tad Buzz Lightyear?
7 – Beth ydy ‘Hollyhead’ yn Gymraeg?
8 – Dylan ______ Thomas.
9 – Ble cafodd Roald Dahl ei eni?
10 – Ble mae Sam Tân yn byw?

Atebion
1- Uthr Pendragon 2 – Machynlleth 3- 1536 4- Rhodri Morgan 5- Krypton 6 – Zurg 7-Caergybi 8- Morlais 9-Caerdydd 10-Pontypandy

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July 31, 2009

Welsh in mind

One of the ways you can accelerate your learning is by keeping Welsh in mind throughout the day. Whenever you get the odd minute say a few things out loud in Welsh. I think that speaking our loud is vital, although I appreciate that it does depend on where you are. 

So how do you remind yourself to speak Welsh? One idea is to put a small ‘post it’ note or a sign on your bathroom mirror with’Cymraeg’ written on it. Then you should say a few things (as simple or complicated as you like) about what you’re thinking/what you’re doing/what you’re going to do/etc. You’ll see this a number of times every day, and this extra practice will really be of help. You can do this at any level.

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