Working through the vocab units at the end of Course 1, and am really enjoying and finding these units an excellent way of concreting in what I have learnt in lessons 1-25 so far. I might even pluck up the courage to have a tackle at the monster sentences again at the end of lesson 22
Got a question on Geirfa: would like to try and supplement my vocabulary now by doing a bit of learning away from the listening format i.e. visually. I am wondering: does anybody know where could get vocabulary from please? Other than work through the dictionary methodically from A-Z (so I think I am perhaps being a bit lazy here ), I am wondering if there are anywhere about words that are grouped by subject matter etc⌠It is just that I remember lists of vocab in a Cymraeg Course I did with Swansea Uni a few years ago, and have also I encountered some picture and word association material on the ACEN website http://www.acen.co.uk/en/games.html, so if anyone knows a source of anything like this it would be much apprecited thanks.
You can have a look on Quizlet or Memrise - Iâm sure people have created vocab lists with Welsh words there. But I agree with @mikeellwood, reading is a great way to learn new vocabulary. You can start with the BBC Cymru Fyw website, that has the vocab tool which will translate every word for you. It has relatively short articles.
The bit i would add, is get a book/s on subject/s you find interesting, that is donât get a geology book if you are not interested in rocks. (each time i go to Wales, looking in second hand book shops is great fun, i have not found a geology book yet).
The âBlodwen Jonesâ trilogy is very much recommended and pushed for learners in classes in this, more Southerly part of Wales- being in Welsh and all that
I know a lot of people who liked them very much, and found them at a good level for learners, well written, funny and interesting.
They are not my cup of tea, but that means nothing- and is to do with the content and story, not the writing or vocabulary or dialect. A lot of learners down 'ere love them.
Some great suggestions there folks thanks, much appreciated. I like the idea of reading - can see now how be better to get the words in context, occuring in a particular scenario i.e. a story. As you say, am likely to learn more than just learning vocabulary in list form.
Learning vocabulary in a list form is the same as doing grammar exercises where you have to open the brackets - it trains your memory (or your bracket-opening skills) but doesnât really help speaking, because our minds fail to see the context where the new words can be used, and so, when a possibility occurs in speech to use the words, it canât naturally remember them⌠I raised a similar topic here some time ago, and people kindly wrote many wonderful suggestions.
Do, by all means, but have I missed something? Have you tried watching S4C? Where do you live? @tatjana will tell you how to get it in most parts of the world. Personally, I recommend starting with childrenâs programmes. You can probably get subtitles in English or Welsh to help. Then look for subjects of interest. Iolo Williams is good for âWhatâs outsideâ, there is quite a lot of hanes (history) as well as Y Gwyll for detectives, Byw Celwydd for political fiction and Pobl y Cwm and Rownd a Rownd for soap opera!!
Diolch Henddraig - I am a watcher of S4c, but have got a tendancy to be a bit lazy and put the English subtitles on thoughâŚto ensure I am following what is going on! I havenât thought of subtiltes in Cymraeg, so will try to get them switched on.
I am keen to experiment with the reading route: have people found the learning experience through reading a story a more intensive way of learning? I just wonder as having only the written word as the âportalâ to the Cymraeg, and the need to then imagine the situation to associate with the language just read could be quite effective.
Anyway - I will have a dabble with both and keep informed.
As far as I know on the net youâre not particularly able to choose the subtiles but have to go with what you get - with or without them.
http://www.s4c.cymru/en/international/ - hereâs everything available internationally on S4C, for all those who forgot or didnât notice the link elswhere. .
Well, I had tried reading âreal booksâ in Welsh and found them simply too hard. What I liked about the âNofelau Nawrâ series was that they were very approachable (at least for someone who has done a fair bit of SSiW). They are less than 100 pages, so seem like a much less steep hill to climb. And there is a vocabulary key at the bottom of each page (or most pages). You donât have to use it, but itâs there, and saves a lot of dictionary look-up. But you will probably find that not every âdifficultâ word on the page is given, and you will have the chance to work it out for yourself, or guess it, or look it up if you want to.
After I had read about half a dozen "Nofelau Nawr"s, I then had a bit more confidence to try reading âreal booksâ again (i.e. books not specifically written for learners). It was still a very slow progress, but I kept at it, and it slowly got a bit easier. Iâm not saying itâs âeasyâ now, and I still have to look up a lot of words (or just guess them, or skip them and keep going). But I seem to be able to âget thoughâ books now, eventually. By âbooksâ I mean usually things written in a modern colloquial style usually with lots of dialogue. (I havenât tried what you might call proper literature yet. ).
Another series that people recommend is the âStori Sydynâ series, but I donât have much experience with those. The only ones I could find were non-fiction which wasnât really what I was looking for, and I didnât much like the subject matter.
Anyway, I haver found that by reading I do seem to pick up a lot of words, and even if I donât necessarily remember their meaning, I often find that a word I picked up reading one day will come up on Radio Cymru or S4C another day, and just noticing it feels like progress. If I can remember the meaning as well, I feel Iâm getting somewhere. Welsh being a relatively phonetic language helps.
Well, I have to correct myself about this one as I found out that S4C on the net has subtitles option too, but I think only English ones are available.
Well, Iâve watched âCymoedd Roy Nobleâ yesterday and Iâve choosen to do so without subtitles. I somehow feel Iâve decided well. Actually whatever I once watched I did it without subtitles and mostly I found myself I understand at least the gist of it perfectly. Maybe itâs easier to watch something that way because you donât burden yourself with what did they say but just go with the flow.
The documentary was about Welsh Whiskey, Welsh school and Opera and at the end about sad story about the Aberfan disaster in 1966 when their youth school was literally burried into the mud and water slide. âŚ
I remember I once watched the documentary about Jonathan Davies (senior if I may say so) - the rugby player who is now comentator of rugby games on BBC very often and I say for him heâs my third eye because he explains everything so clearly and fine with so much passion and enthusiasm. The documentary was after one Welsh rugby match and if you leave stream flowing further it doesnât stop when the match is over but broadcast further program so I had a chance to practically watch this broadcast live as it happened. I wish Iâd be able to watch this documentary again. I bet Iâd understand more now and it would be great to compare my ability to understand from that time and now.
No one should ever make any joke about this. So many young lives were lost ⌠In the documentary a man was reciting a poem. Didnât understand it in whole but enough to cry ⌠Might search for it on the net when I feel ready for it to read it once ⌠not out of language knowledge but out of ⌠eh ⌠never mind.
I watched that episode on Friday - but with subtitles, I would not have understood enough without them. I was just about crying during the part about the Aberfan disaster.
On the subject of comparing ability over time: Last week I listened to a Beti a Phobol podcast (downloaded from the Radio Cymru site) that I had first listened to about 6 months ago. This particular one was an interview with Lowri Morgan, and I enjoyed it because I found her to speak quite clearly, and she seems to have a more southern dialect. I was surprised at how much more I could pick out (which isnât nearly enough to follow the whole thing, but I can get the gist of small sections of it now). So you might like to try something like that - you canât save a documentary to listen to again later, but you can save something like a podcast.
Yes I agree but actually it isnât about comparing that I want to see that documentary about Jonathan Davies once again but more about seing it. Heâs kind of special rugby person to me and since Iâve seen that documentary I hold him even more special. The documentary was partly subtitled although almost entirely spoken in Cymraeg so I could understand the whole thing much better but since I donât read so quick I just have to relay on my understanding abilities much more then on my reading ones âŚ
Even without subtitles it was a lot of tears in my eyes. That poem ⌠the man almost cried while interviewed âŚ
I agree about the âreal booksâ comment. I tried reading quite early on, but found it very frustrating as there are some grammatical forms that arenât used in speech - only in writing. So I kept coming across lots of verbs I couldnât process, and it was tying me up in knots. The specialist beginnersâ readers stick to the spoken forms, which is great for confidence and for building vocabulary.
Later on, I learnt the written forms too (not too complicated, really) and then I was off with âproperâ books, newspapers etc.
Another great resource for learners is âLingo Newyddâ, a monthly magazine. It has different sets of writing about the same subject colour coded for different language levels, with useful vocabulary lists. If you canât find a stockist locally you can order it online.