Slight odd question. When I read in Welsh, I try and read out loud (if I’m at home) or out loud in my head (if I’m on the bus/train/at work). I’ve found this helpful as I’ve then start recognising those words I’ve read out loud outside of SSIW, eg. on S4C.
Many of the books I’ve been reading, and the majority of the books in my ‘to read’ pile, are written in a more Southern Welsh dialect, and use things like mae e, yw, dyn ni, dych chi and mae gyda fi rather than mae o, ydy, dan ni, dach chi and mae get i. I’m finding that I’m consistently stumbling over these, but able to read the remainder of the sentence much more readily.
When you read out loud, do you substitute the appropriate words from the dialect you use/are learning, or do you read everything as is?
Firstly I want to say good on you for reading out loud! It’s something that took me a long, long time to get the hang of, and I still can’t ‘sight read out loud’ as quickly as I can in English.
I read everything as is - to be honest it never occurred to me to substitute dialect words, but that may stem from having Welsh teachers and learning material from all over the place when I started out (which wasn’t through SSiW).
Yes I change the words and decided not to worry about it as I tend to read for meaning. It’s why I can’t spell for toffee! I also have no idea what characters are called or the name of the book I’m reading!
I suppose that we are all different, but personally, I would read the word that is written, in the same way as I would in an English dialect or older form of the language.
What an interesting question, which I had never thought of, although I also try to read out loud, actually and in my head (when on the bus, etc). Like you, I’m doing northern, and I read “dyn ni” as “dan ni” and “dych chi” as “dach chi”, but I don’t go as far as changing the “e”'s to “o”'s, or the “gydy fi”'s to “gen i”'s. So I sort of compromise.
Good on you for reading out loud though. I’m sure it’s a good exercise, and I wish I could get myself to do it more than I actually do!
When I read to the kids, yes, usually - unless it’s particularly relevant/important (ie I’ve actually noticed!) that the character is meant to be southern…
If I read to my daughter in Welsh, I tend to read the words mostly as they are written. She does too, when she’s reading to herself, with the result that her dialect is fairly fluid depending on recent influences! (How I speak can come out differently after reading a northern book too, but it surprises me more from the kids. It’s a slightly odd position for them, because despite speaking Welsh fluently at school it’s still clearly their second language, and they don’t have any single strong accent influence.)
It’s funny how the written form can seem odd, but when spoken it makes perfect sense. I was reading a book and came across “anl dwfn” - I looked up anl in the dictionary and nothing and so eventually I asked my daughter - she answered straight away “breath deeply” (take a deep breath) and I was like , oh yes, but I just didn’t associate anl with a contraction of anadl.
I now tend to read out-loud in my head - if that makes any sense at all.
Although I don’t read out loud (but will now try it), where I recognise a southern term I do change it to a northern one in my head. I think that there is a twofold benefit; first I am recognising and understanding the alternative and will hopefully do so when hearing it in the wild, secondly I am reinforcing the use I am familiar with and will sound consistent when speaking.
I read out loud for at least 10 minutes every night. I’ve always done it as it adds to the enjoyment of the book somehow. When I first attempted a book with a lot of northern Welsh conversation in it, spelled that way as well, I used to read it aloud and imagine Aran or Catrin saying it. That was my only hope of understanding some of it!
I read a Tintin when I had maybe just done Level 1, and I just kind of battled through it, finding some if the forms really rather weird. I had another look at it recently, and (apart from just finding it easier) realised that Tintin is given some fairly colloquial Southern Welsh (which explains the weirdness) while Professor Sarcophagus is similarly Northern. I read 'em both as they’re written, although having chosen so far only to do the Gog courses I’m doubtless reading the Southern expressions out in my best approximation to a Northern accent.
That’s interesting about your children not having an accent for their Welsh because it is a second language. I once work with a man who was born in Russia and knew 5 languages. He learned English when his family immigrated to England, but later moved to the US. His English is now a standard Mid-West central type American English. His English accented English changed over fairly quickly. The only way you can tell he is not a native English speaker is if you listen carefully to him. You can get a hint of a very faint Russian accent on a few vowels if he speaks quickly. Totally fascinating how people learn accents.
Regretfully I am not a chef but, realistically, that’s probably a good thing.
My forum name is also my work nickname; one which I acquired over thirty years ago but is still going strong. It is a corruption of my surname, which a colleague was trying to say while distracted by the menu he was reading. It stuck.
That is, of course, the formal form. The familiar form is just ‘Steak’.
