Spoiler Alert! Sgwrs 15 (Advanced Content)

Welsh General / Questions
#21

so here’s my comment on this, so it’s not only two people talking to each other anymore … :smiley:

I listen to the sgyrsiau every week and my understanding differs a lot each time, depending on accents and topics.

I usually listen the first time when I find some time on the weekend to go for a walk, so there I’ve got nothing distracting me, and this week I got the gist of everything at the first listen, great feeling! I did the south wales course, but now I’m only listening to all those gogs and I’m finally starting to understand them :open_mouth:
I got all the r&r stuff, but it probably helped that I watched the episodes they referred to and most about the shop. I think my highlight was when I not only understood “beth ydi ‘enthusiasm’ yn Gymraeg”, but even knew the answer!

Afterwards I read the transcript and mark words I don’t know (without looking them up at that stage) and this week there were very few red marks on the transcript, compared to e.g. last week, where I had whole paragraphs which looked… well, quite red :smiley: Actually, even if after the first listen I feel I understood almost nothing, I’m usually surprised when reading the transcript how much I actually did understand :slight_smile:
This week, it just added some details I didn’t catch and it always gives me new words which I can figure out when reading them (e.g. I knew ‘cyfuniad’, from someother sgwrs, so when reading ‘cyfuno’ I could figure out what it meant and I got it when I listened again).

I then do the 2nd and 3rd listen while cycling to uni during the week. I usually listen at 1.5x speed, which works quite well for me, not only because my commute is only 20 minutes (well, that was the main reason for starting to do it…), but also because I’ve realised that after the first listen and reading of the transcript I already know pretty well what’s going on, and at normal speed I get distracted more easily when listening a second time - weird how the brain works…
So this week, I really understood almost everything the 2nd time, because there weren’t that many words I hadn’t seen before and the 2nd listen wasn’t that long after reading the transcript (I think at least for me it makes a huge difference if I leave it for 2-3 days, but sadly I don’t always find the time).

Afterwards, I finally do look up the unknown words and write them down for me, and it always makes me smile when I hear some of the words again a couple of weeks later. This week, I only wrote down 14 words, which feels like my vocab has improved a lot. Can’t wait for Beca to shatter my illusions on Friday :smiley:
I don’t always read the full translation, this week I only looked at some paragraphs where I wasn’t sure, and it turned out, that I had to read the English sentence twice as well (be it for the lack of context or whatever).

Today, I listened the 3rd time and it almost felt like listening to something in English/German. It definitely wasn’t like that last week :smiley:

I think these sgyrsiau are a great ressource and I feel like my understanding of spoken Welsh has definitely improved a lot over the past couple of months. I try to listen to radio Cymru in between and I’ve started to follow most of the conversations (I think I almost always at least get the topic, and quite often, when I’m familiar with it and the accents aren’t too crazy, I understood most of what’s being said).
Since I don’t live anywhere near other Welsh speakers and at the moment my schedule is a bit crazy with uni and theatre rehearsals, I don’t have a lot of time to talk to people on slack, so the sgyrsiau and Radio Cymru are my main resources. But yes, I am making progress, and I still can’t believe how much I understand of a language, I couldn’t say/understand a word in about a year ago.

Wow, I got a bit carried away here, sorry!
The short version: @beca-brown, your sgyrsiau are great, SSiW is brilliant, I feel like I’m making progress and it’s just great. Diolch yn fawr iawn

8 Likes
#22

Thank goodness I don’t have to reply to @gisella-albertini ! :smile:

Wow it sounds like you have made huge progress - most people would cycle slower but no, you listen quicker! :wink:

So you are a bit ahead of me.

For some reason - there are little bits of this one which I am finding tricky.

Reaaally interesting to hear your progress.

Rich :slight_smile:

1 Like
#23

not really an option when I have to teach a class at 11:30 and leave the house at 11:05… :smiley: (yes, I could leave earlier, but… no).

1 Like
#24

Actually, I’ve pinned it down - Manon gives some very long answers at several points in the Sgwrs and it is these I find difficult.

I think it is a combination of the challenge of being able to process a continuous steam of rapid conversation without even a tiny gap, plus, there are little flurries of sentences within these long answers - that get whipped through rapid fire.

These seem to be sentences which are sort of ‘setting up’ sentences where the person isn’t thinking consciously / considering what they are going to say whilst speaking …other sentences where the Manon is obviously considering and choosing what to say as she is saying it, causes her to slow down and speak in a more measured way (clearly!!!).

Incidentally, I don’t think it is the speed as such - more that the words run into each other - less distinct beginnings and ends.

It is interesting that you have steered away from the translation too. Obviously people will be at different points and have different needs but I too have tried to do the same…

…on the earlier ones, having read the translation, I started to think I could remember the English on the paper as I went through the various sections, rather than hearing the words - it is virtually impossible to shake that once it has happened except by going back later when the memory has faded.

If I have not seen the translation I feel that I have to hear the words to know what is said.

( There is something a little bit weird about that because I don’t visualise the Welsh on the paper even though in some cases I have slaved over it, to figure it out - a bit like chess players who can look at a game in progress and recreate it via the relationship of the pieces?..who knows).

Am I any further forward as a result…probably not ! :crazy_face:

Obviously I need to keep going - tbh each time I listen to it, I can feel myself catching and translating more of the words…

So, for me, it is an exercise which keeps on giving…

…until the next one comes out. :smile:

3 Likes
#25

As long as you did one ‘fresh’ listen before the transcript (and one listen after reading the transcript but before the translation) you’ll always squeeze the most value out by adding the reading bits (the transcript also helps improve your reading skills, as a bonus!) - it’s the principle of ‘comprehensible input’ if you want to follow up on it, and we’ve seen it as a very consistent thing in a number of ways over the years… :slight_smile: The fact that your final listening feels compromised genuinely isn’t a bad thing - it’s a sign that you’re attaching blocks of meaning more efficiently to the content… :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#26

Oooo. I see. Thanks.

1 Like
#27

My nominations for…

Phrase of the week:

Hollol champion = absolutely fine (fantastic!)

Abbreviation of the week:

Ista = eistedd (I get it - it sounds like that!)

Rich :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#28

Hollol champion was great!

And I’m not even being scolded again for answering you!
But I can’t check other potential nominations right now cause I’m kinda overwhelmed by live Welsh in Wales until next Tuesday :scream:

1 Like
#29

Oooo…that sounds exciting - you are in Wales???

#30

Maybe :wink:
IMG_20190131_182258

3 Likes
#31

I hope you haven’t painted that on the road Gisella, the Italians won’t like it!

3 Likes
#32

Sounds great actually…should be good for a bit of snow tonight I think!

1 Like
#33

That’s a good idea :laughing:
(And about the weather…Been snowing a bit already!)

#34

I know exactly what you mean by this. It’s not exactly true understanding - more like a bridge to understanding. Your brain knows from the trawsgriff what is being said and now recognises the audio passages that match what you know. I think (hope) it’s a step to the real thing!

2 Likes
#35

Hi all! Have loved reading all your messages - will reply in more detail later - I’ve just returned from a lovely village on the border between Wales and England called Presteign, which I learnt on arriving (and seeing the sign!) is Llanandras in Welsh. #youneverstoplearning!

1 Like
#36

Croeso nôl. :thinking:

3 Likes
#37

Ahh, that’s what you were talking about. I filed it as ‘Beca’s been somewhere else I’ve never heard of’… :joy:

1 Like
#38

I’d heard of it but had no idea where it was, and certainly didn’t know it was Welsh for Presteign!!

1 Like
#39

Loving that you and @gisella-albertini love “hollol champion” - it is a good one!

2 Likes
#40

I think this is a good evaluation of the speech patterns here - long sentences, rushed bridging bits and more ponderous parts that are probably easier to understand.
The interviewer cutting across doesn’t help…! (My bad - note to self - STOP TALKING, WOMAN!) - but then people do talk across each other… (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it…:blush:)

2 Likes