A while ago there was a discussion on the forum about a language learning website called bliubliu.com which basically uses google translate on-the-fly to help learners to build vocabulary using real world texts drawn from the web, or pdfs, or ebooks. I don’t know if many people persisted with it, but I’ve found it really useful as a next step after finishing the SSiW courses - so helpful in fact that I’ve started subscribing. Given that SSiW is the only other language tool I’ve ever felt inspired to subscribe to, I thought it might be worth flagging it again here.
As well as letting me browse a growing range of Welsh-language blogs (I’ve been emailing the site’s owner who has been adding new blogs as I’ve found them), I also read all my Welsh language eBooks using its interface as it lets you flag words you already know and highlight words you don’t. It’s a bit like a better version of the tool that used to be on the BBC Cymru website (can’t remember it’s name but it was removed when Cymru Fyw was launched).
Anyway, it won’t work for everyone, but the free version is pretty good, and it might be worth a look if you have a few minutes spare over the christmas break. Mwynhewch!
I guess it’s an each to your own thing really. The paid service lets you upload ebooks, which is what I use it for mostly, and I’d highly recommend it for that, but I use the other (free) options on the site that draw on other blogs. When it started bliubliu only drew on a couple of blogs (BBC News and Golwg I think). It’s a multilingual site and the developers didn’t know of other Welsh-language sites. But it’s drawing on a range of other blogs now so the content is more varied, which helps - there are a few I’m reading just for interest rather than as a vocab tool.
My general interest in bliubliu stemmed from the conversations that were had a while back about the problems of gaining enough vocabulary after the SSiW courses. I tried a range of options - memrise and the gold lists to name two - but the one that’s working best for me is to read stuff. I seem to absorb the words better when I see them in a context. It’s not the same as learning their sounds (as in spoken Welsh), but it’s a step along the way.
I’d be interested to know what other vocab learning tools people are using.
Thanks for raising this again. I looked at it a while ago and found it quite interesting, but didn’t use it regularly as I rarely sit down at a computer when not at work.
Do you know whether it’s possible to:
1 upload kindle ebooks? (I recently found one that I’m enjoying)
2 use it though a mobile interface, either ios or android?
Thank you!
Yes to the kindle ebooks. (You have to convert them to mobi format, but there are plenty of free online tools to do that, and the website owner has always responded very quickly whenever I’ve had questions about how to do things on the site).
Yes to the mobile interface. (I use the eReader on my andriod phone and tablet. There is an app, but I just link to the website. Not sure about ios).
Great, thanks v much! I’ll have to give it a try.
I’m afraid I can’t reciprocate by recommending anything else interesting though. (Cat Spanish from memrise just didn’t do it for me!) I’ve been using memrise proper quite a bit since the summer though, on your recommendation, and found it very useful. It’s great how technology like these are really starting to make a difference to the language learning process. (We still have to get down to actually learning it though!)