Pump am y Penwythnos / Friday five 15/02/1972

Welsh General / Questions
#1

Pnawn da bawb! I hope everyone is well and looking forward to the weekend!

  1. I’m currently sitting in the kids karate lesson, the dojo walls are full of motivational quotes. Which is your favourite quote in any language?

  2. Talking of childhood classes, what did you enjoy learning as a child, either in school or extra curricular?

  3. If you had the resources to sign up for any new learning experience now, what would you choose?

  4. Do you have a certificate/medal/trophy or any other object celebrating an achievement which you’re particularly proud of?

  5. list up to five obscure or unexpected skills which you’ve learnt in your life through the jobs you’ve done or classes you’ve taken.

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#2
  1. My favourite quote is in the dialect from the Forest of Dean - “All the long eared uns byunt allays vour legged”
  2. I’m going to take childhood as pre-teens (to help narrow the list down a bit!). I enjoyed most things in school but Swimming Club and Brownies/Guides were my main things.
  3. Welsh clog dancing, without a doubt.
  4. My gold medal from the 1985 Home International Regatta
  5. a. I can coil and throw a rescue rope 10mtrs in less than a minute.
    b. I can stand on one leg for a long time.
    c. I can tie a Highwayman’s Hitch knot.
    d. I can show someone how to properly fit a rucksack.
    e. I can lift a shell racing scull from the water and roll it onto my shoulder.
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#3
  1. I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.
  2. Always enjoyed Maths
    3.Cave diving is what I would learn.
  3. My ticket stub from the first UK gig The Cramps did. RIP Lux Interior.
  4. Recognition of firearms and explosives
    I can wheelie a motorcycle
    I can operate one half of a two man chainsaw
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#4

  1. Not really motivational I suppose, but I’ve always been fond of the Bishop of Peterborough’s reaction to the Licensing Act of 1872, “Better England Free than England Sober!” :slight_smile:

  2. I used to take elocution lessons as a kid, which probably accounts for the ‘posh Northern’ accent I’ve been told I have. I always enjoyed learning languages even when small. I loved watching the BBC Muzzy videos for kids, “Ciruelas, ciruelas, ciruelas”. I bought them for my kids and now they love them too.

  3. Learning money and resources are almost always allocated to languages, so, more languages? Japanese, Catalan, Swedish and Basque pretty high on the wishlist. If it has to be a new experience… erm, I’d like to be able to knit. I enjoy cross stitch and embroidery but never got the hang of big needles! Maybe to be able to ride a bike because I can’t do that either which is weird in a city like Berlin where everyone can.

  4. My driving license! I took my test four times before I passed and I thought I never would. Still not fond of driving but ever so pleased that I managed it in the end.

  5. I can play the balalaika a bit and I own an electric balalaika. I can explain in layman’s terms how an aeroplane engine works. I make pretty good pizza and know how to make a cheese stuffed rim. I can pour layered cocktails. I can tell you the major characteristics which identify a gothic novel.

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#5

Sorry, don’t remember one …

Playing piano howver due to our family not having the money to buy one at the time, I never learnt to play it well … I can’t play it nowdays especially as I never learnt to play by music sheets … they were always too small for me to read …

Apart from wish to speak at least about 50 languages I’d surely buy me a very fast and powerful computer which could handle out all my rendering ideas in whatever animation and 3D modeling program and I’d surely go to learn multimedoa properly … especially animations of all kinds and graphic design and handling …

If I’d be young(er) I’d go for whatever includes music and dancing (you probably still remember my teen wish to have the performing group of 1000 artists who’d travel around the world performing). And this doesn’t include just music and dancing but figure scating, rollerscating, surfing and handling fire too. (ja, this will never happen bur we’re talking a bit about imaginations and dreams here, aren’t we?)

No, not really. Everything I did and know is half learnt, and half finished … I doubt I’d ever reach any crertificate in anything though.

Going (working) wht the computers from dos/basic to windows … And this is what I’ve thought I’d never be able to do due to my only one eye with quite bad sight …

English through (written) conversations on the messengers and through translating (kids) Bionicle books into my mother tongue. I’ve learnt that if you’re about to do a good translation you have to give your heart into the work/story you’re translating … and that’s where my heart was at the time - in the Bionicle world. Just to the notion to those who bought these toys for their kids maybe … you might not know that there was the huge story behind the toys line which consisted of about 60 or 70 books in total and the outcome of the story was something not even one even so imaginative kid would think of …

(end of my boring breefing.

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#6

1) I’m currently sitting in the kids karate lesson, the dojo walls are full of motivational quotes. Which is your favourite quote in any language?

‘Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.’

Marcus Aurelius

2) Talking of childhood classes, what did you enjoy learning as a child, either in school or extra curricular?

Swimming.

3) If you had the resources to sign up for any new learning experience now, what would you choose?

I’d like an audio-based course for every language I feel like learning.

4) Do you have a certificate/medal/trophy or any other object celebrating an achievement which you’re particularly proud of?

My RLSS Bronze Medallion… :slight_smile:

5) list up to five obscure or unexpected skills which you’ve learnt in your life through the jobs you’ve done or classes you’ve taken.

Um. I can count in Vedda. [It’s, er, quite easy. You hold up the necessary number of fingers and say ‘metai’. If it’s more than about 20, you just say ‘metai metai’. So now you lot can all count in Vedda as well, so I’m not sure it counts as a skill for me any more].

Ooh, I can open a bottle of beer with another bottle of beer. Very useful skill in rural Africa.

This is frustrating. I was under the impression that I’d learnt more, to be honest.

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#7

15/02/1972?! I didn’t even get to sit in the Delorean!!

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#8

I was 5 years 1 month and and 7 days old. :slight_smile: It was my first year in the institution for blind and half-blind children in which I’ve lived most of my childhood for additional 8 years …

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#9

[quote=“catrinlliarjones, post:1, topic:11069”]

  1. I’m currently sitting in the kids karate lesson, the dojo walls are full of motivational quotes. Which is your favourite quote in any language? [/quote]

It’s not a motivational quote but a line from a song:

“Mae ddoe wedi mynd, mae heddiw eiddo ni”

[quote=“catrinlliarjones, post:1, topic:11069”]
2) Talking of childhood classes, what did you enjoy learning as a child, either in school or extra curricular? [/quote]

I loved history. My dad used to take me to castles, reenactment events, battlefields etc. One of my favorites was Maiden Castle in Dorset. It’s an amazing example of a Brythonic Hill Fort. They found remains of Roman legionnaries there too. Another was a beach in Cornwall, I think it was Whitsands, that had a Second World War pillbox. I was over the moon when Iestyn took us to Castell HenLys on bwtcamps.

[quote=“catrinlliarjones, post:1, topic:11069”]
3) If you had the resources to sign up for any new learning experience now, what would you choose? [/quote]

I would sign up for a history course through the medium of Welsh. I always want to find hobbies that happen to be in Welsh rather than Welsh learning events. This would tick both boxes.

Work related, I want to go on a talent management / career development / personnel development course. I want to help people reach their potential in their careers and help them plan their progression. I think it’s so important to help people develop their paths in careers. It keeps people motivated and gives them so much more from work. Job satisfaction is so important. We’re in work at least 8 hours a day and spend a long time thinking about it. Therefore, if you’re satisfied imagine how positive that would be for your mental health?!

[quote=“catrinlliarjones, post:1, topic:11069”]
4) Do you have a certificate/medal/trophy or any other object celebrating an achievement which you’re particularly proud of? [/quote]

To be honest, just to be nominated for the Welsh language award at work was brilliant! I’m still buzzing from that and I haven’t won yet!!

I can snatch and clean and jerk (see Olympic Weightlifting for reference)
I can do a muscle up (very basic gymnastic skill on rings)
I used to be able to walk on my hands (it’s a bit of a fluctuating skill, comes and goes)
I can help a child with severe brain injuries progress through the process of standing
I can teach people how to use the stairs on one leg.

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#10

  1. Most overused quote at present, especially in Welsh class: ‘Dw i’n rhoi’r fidl yn y to’ - ‘I give up.’

  2. Primary school - playing with water and sand - I forget what we were meant to be learning. Secondary school - history and English, because they were taught by two of the most inspiring people in my life so far.

  3. Kayaking. And I will.

  4. I got a medal from the Mayor of Albertville. I gave a speech in the Town Hall during a school exchange, after drinking rather too much wine to give me courage. I was in front of him, so couldn’t see him crying with laughter. I was the only person to get a medal; the Mayor said he had never been so entertained at a municipal function. I thought it was a compliment.

  5. Giving a convincing impression of knowing the difference between good and bad road substrate, so as not to be cheated by contractors. Talking my way through military checkpoints. Restoring vintage wooden jigsaw puzzles. Radio soap opera star in the Maldives. Leaping 5-bar gates.

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#11

Oh no no no, you can’t just leave it at that! Story please… :slight_smile:

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#12

Seing her performance at bootcamp (short and very much to the point and entertaining at the same time) this really demands a story behind it. I bet you were excellent @BronwenLewis ! (curious, curious …) :slight_smile:

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#13

I was training primary school teachers there (well, someone had to do it). Basic English was taught at primary level, so we made a twice-weekly soap opera in English to help teachers and children on the outer islands, where tourists weren’t allowed, and there was little access to the outside world. Especially for girls, who didn’t go out fishing - imagine living on an island less than half a mile long, with 100 or so other people, and, in a few cases, no other land visible in any direction…

I played Sally, a hapless tourist who did things like wandering into mosques bare-headed and wearing sandals ( practising ‘You should… You mustn’t’ etc). All went well until I went to one of the outer islands on teaching practice with my students. The head asked me to say a few words. As soon as I opened my mouth, the children’s eager expressions turned to complete disdain, as they realised ‘Sally’ had arrived…

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#14

  1. Which is your favourite quote in any language?
    Carpe Diem! (Seize the day!)

  2. What did you enjoy learning as a child, either in school or extra curricular?
    Surprisingly enough - Welsh! :wink:

  3. If you had the resources to sign up for any new learning experience now, what would you choose?
    University level Archeology/Anthropology

  4. Do you have a certificate/medal/trophy or any other object celebrating an achievement which you’re particularly proud of?
    Walt Disney World Half Marathon medal. Did it at 50 years of age.

  5. list up to five obscure or unexpected skills which you’ve learnt in your life through the jobs you’ve done or classes you’ve taken.
    Wow, that’s difficult! - The only thing I can think of is Highland Sword Dance (although I’d probably cut my feet to ribbons if I attempted it now),

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#15

  1. “You throw it - I’ll catch it” (Barry John to Gareth Edwards)

  2. Doing hard sums and making smells and bangs in the school science lab

  3. It’s gotta be Russian. I started learning with Maureen when she was carrying our son 38 years ago and we learned a Q & A - “Are you Pavlova? No, I’m a sportswoman.”

  4. You’d be safe with Aran and me in water because I also got my bronze medallion. But my most treasured prize is the Oscar I received from @CatrinLliarJones - not sure, what for, though - oh, and I got a lovely sws and cwtsh from Nia Parry :smile:

  5. I can play the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata but always find something urgent to do before the second (difficult) movement.
    I can always win at Nim
    I can tap my head up and down and rub my tummy round and round at the same time.
    I can beat out 2 beats to the bar with my left hand and 3 beats to the bar with my right hand simultaneously.
    (Is it any wonder I’m in such demand at parties? :laughing: )

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#16

1) I’m currently sitting in the kids karate lesson, the dojo walls are full of motivational quotes. Which is your favourite quote in any language?

This is a bit trite, perhaps (well, it came from Jonathan Ross…), but I like it:

“It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice”.

Slightly more highfalutin, perhaps:

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” - Attributed to Mark Twain

2) Talking of childhood classes, what did you enjoy learning as a child, either in school or extra curricular?

My sister used to go to elocution lessons, and at a certain point (I’d be about 9 I think), my mother thought I should go as well. I don’t remember any lessons as such, but what I do remember is a long series of rehearsals for a short play, including other children of my own age, culminating in a final performance, outdoors in the nice garden of the place we were at (it was summer).
The main thing I remember was (as part of the performance) having to kiss a particularly pretty girl.
I was incredibly embarrassed about this, but I have to say, I also did enjoy the process. :slight_smile:

(and unfortunately, it was many years before I got another chance to kiss a pretty girl (and that wasn’t in an elocution lesson… :slight_smile: ).

3) If you had the resources to sign up for any new learning experience now, what would you choose?

I keep thinking I should sign up to study drawing properly. I’ve done a reasonable amount of drawing, learning from books (e.g. “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”), but I might get more benefit from learning from a teacher in person.

4) Do you have a certificate/medal/trophy or any other object celebrating an achievement which you’re particularly proud of?

Um, not really.

5) list up to five obscure or unexpected skills which you’ve learnt in your life through the jobs you’ve done or classes you’ve taken.

When I was a computer operator, I began to learn the machine-code of the IBM-360-compatible mainframe that we used to work on (with the help of an engineer who used to run diagnostics based on machine code). When I moved to another job, that used an actual IBM-360, I continued studying machine code, and also 360 assember code & macros. I’d also taught myself FORTRAN. I eventually managed to move into systems programming, ending up on various UNIX & Linus machines. (My one regret is that I never managed to learn the machine code or assember languages of those type of machines. It was mostly things like C, Perl and Korn shell programming.

I also got into Regular Expressions, which is a fairly esoteric area, which most programmers have some knowledge of, but it has a fantastic amount of power which casual users are probably unaware of. There is a great book, in several editions called “Mastering Regular Expressions” by Jeffrey Friedl. Highly recommended, if you are that way inclined.

5 Likes
#17

Oh, what a lovely story… diolch! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#18
  1. My favourite quote from the Bible is “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 | NIV”

My favourite quote other than the Bible is by my mum and is handed down through her side of the family:-
“Can’t was my grannies name and she Could if she tried hard enough.”

  1. I spent a short while learning the violin and played in the school orchestra during rehearsals. Then we moved to Wales and life improved immeasurably.

  2. I’d like to train as a surgeon. There are uncountable numbers of people surgeons can benefit…

  3. I can now drive Class One HGVs, the ones that can bend and I’m enjoying working for a company who’s philosophy is get there and back safely. And I’ve come (almost) full circle:- my first employer was a Welshman called Glyn Williams and my current employer is a Welshman called John Williams…

5a) I’ve had to be flexible when I was teaching Maths. When my tutor group arrived one morning having read a story in the local press about paedophiles being given new identities and houses in a local community, their reaction to it was so powerful I ended up deciding to junk the usual PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) session that I had planned and instead chaired a debate on the revelation. It went well and my tutor group were ready for learning when first lesson time arrived, but other tutors hadn’t made the same choice and my first Maths lessons starter activity went by the board as well, as my class were too pre-occupied as well. Unfortunately the Head of Department slated me for wasting time…

5b) I can tie a dolly knot.

5c) Given a 200ASA film, a shutter speed of 125, an overcast sky (NFW - normal for Wales :shushing_face:) I can tell you that your f-stop needs to be f8. Change that to 100ASA film and you’d need f5.6, giving slightly less depth of field. Using a Zorki 4K gives you the advantage of no click-stops on your exposure ring, allowing infinitely more adjustment. Couple that to a selenium light-meter and you have really accurate exposure control.

5d) When 90-degree reversing onto a dock in between two already-parked artics, aim to put the rear of your trailer 4-5 feet away from the corner of the right-hand artic and wait until the second axle is level with that corner before jacking hard round.

5e) Close your eyes before removing a fuse from a live 440V AC supply and pull the fuse away as quickly as possible. That way you only suffer temporary blindness if it arcs when breaking contact…

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#19

Could that be attributed to diet? :wink:

Or “arctics” as they are properly known. :smile:

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#20

I want to do this! Can we organise it together? Llyn Tegid yn y Gymraeg?

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