Hi everyone,
I am a very elementary learner of Welsh, but know many other languages, and I have
always found bilingual readers very useful, as long as the source text is on the same page or the opposite page from the target text. This saves you having to constantly look words up in the dictionary and struggle with grammatical constructions that you are not yet familiar with.
Does anyone know if these exist in Welsh please? If not, perhaps someone could think
about writing one. know, for example, that they do NOT exist for Icelandic, but there are many of them for Turkish and also for Spanish.
They often range from fairy-tales and short stories to pieces for children or articles from newspapers.
Tim
2 Likes
Shwmae, Tim. There are definitely many titles available in Welsh and English, including the Harry Potter series. I have a book of short stories with parallel text, also.
1 Like
Hi Karla,
thanks for the reply. Perhaps I should have made it more clear that I meant texts printed in the same publication, on the same page, like dual columns, not books available in translation, which you could compare by having two books on the go.
Do you have the publisher of your short stories book please?
Tim
There arenât many. have a look at this site.
http://www.grantandcutler.com/books/section/UHC
1 Like
I have a handful of these sorts of things that I have picked up at various visitor attractions around Wales. They are published by Gomer in the âCip ar Gymruâ series. See:
http://www.gomer.co.uk/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=cyfres+"cip+ar+gymru"
They arenât much more than pamphlets (about 30 pages long) but nicely produced, with lots of pictures, and with the Welsh and English either side by side on the same page or on facing pages.
2 Likes
As people have said, there arenât many, but two I did find were:
âY LĂ´n Wenâ - âThe White Laneâ by Kate Roberts, translated by Gillian Clarke, Gomer, 2009
and
âSi Hel Lwliâ - âTwilight Songâ by Angharad Tomos, translated by Elin ap Hywel, Gomer, 2004.
I wouldnât describe either as particularly suitable for beginner readers, however.
What I found worked best for me were books written specifically for adult learners in the Nofelau Nawr series. They are short, probably have somewhat simplified vocabulary, and contain some vocabulary as footnotes on most pages, but they donât give every âdifficultâ word, so you have the chance to work out meanings from context, or if all else fails, look them up. 
Unfortunately, the series is not that large, and I couldnât find all of them, but I have about half a dozen I think, and I liked them all.
Some people recommend the âStori Sydynâ series.
Another approach (as an alternative to parallel texts) is to find separate translations. With some detective work on Amazon, one can sometimes find the same book in both English and Welsh. Unfortunately, the ones I bought that way turned out not to be very good; however, I havenât totally given up on that idea. With luck more translations may become available. Although there may be a reluctance on the part of some authors to let their books be translated into English.
@CelticBiker Croeso! Great question! Iâll be interested to look into the responses in this thread.
In the SSiW Eisteddfod we just had, someone did a book review on a bilingual book about promoting Welsh language and culture. Itâs here:
These next arenât exactly what you are looking for, but maybe they would be of interest anyway, to you or someone else. They are short pamphlets about heroes and heroines of Wales that are published in Welsh and in English. They are separate pamphlets, not bilingual on the same page, but would be easy to compare. They are put out for learners by the Welsh government (Cadw) and are free to download.
Welsh versions
English versions
Pob lwc!
3 Likes
Unfortunately I donât, because now Iâve misplaced it. Only realised this as I was going through my stuff to try and get the publisher for youâŚoh well. My own fault, I suppose, for not keeping better track of my things! 
Lots of kids books do which I find very helpful - but I realise most people are more advanced/ more sophisticated than me!
This isnât quite what youâre asking for, but the website https://bliubliu.com/en/ does a very clever job of providing translation of online Welsh texts, using google translate so you can quickly find the meaning of words you donât know. I know that google translate is not our friend, but I found that bliubliu gave my reading an enormous boost - especially when you upload Welsh language kindle books into it.
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but I just came on this one by chance:
http://www.gomer.co.uk/index.php/books-for-adults/fiction-for-welsh-learners/ffenestri.html
âFfenestriâ by Lois Arnold. It is a bilingual collection of stories and poems.
"Details
Dyma storĂŻau a cherddi lliwgar (colourful) i ddysgwyr lefelau Mynediad, Sylfaen a Chanolradd. Mae llawer ohonyn nhw (many of them) yn ddoniol (funny), rhai yn drist (sad), ond maeâr cyfan (everything) yn addas (appropriate) i ddysgwyr. Ar bob tudalen mae geirfa (glossary) i helpu gyda geiriau newydd.
Gyda Ffenestri mae dysgu Cymraeg yn llawer o hwyl. Rhowch gynnig arni (give it a go!)"
This is in the Gomer category of âFiction for Welsh Learnersâ, which includes these:
http://www.gomer.co.uk/index.php/books-for-adults/fiction-for-welsh-learners.html
(the rest are not blingual, unfortunately for the OP, but might still be of interest).
The series âCyfres Cam At Y Cewri:â (Step to the Giants" looks fairly interesting. Simplified versions of classic books (not sure if they are all novels). I notice there are some cheap 2nd hand ones on Abebooks (and maybe elsewhere).
3 Likes
Iâm sure I must have searched on Gwales before and not found much, but anyway, if one uses their advanced search and chooses âBilingual and Other Books for Adultsâ and/or âBilingual and Other Books for Childrenâ, quite a few do come up. Iâve only looked at the adults ones so far.
Seems to be mostly non-fiction and a lot of touristy type stuff, but there may be something of interest.
One I noticed was about the Gwendraeth area, which I seem to remember people talking about on here a while back. Another is the story of Saunders Lewis, which should be of interest to lovers of the Welsh language.
Quite a mixed bag really, but perhaps worth a look if bilingual texts are what you want.
Iâve just been to the library to get out some Welsh books, and the edition of âSi Hei Lwliâ by Angharad Tomos that I picked off the shelf is bilingual - Welsh on the left and English on the right. It is published by Gomer also.
1 Like