Hi there, I do a lot of this. I basically watch pobl y cwm and rownd a rownd plus other things on s4c clic. if I have time, I put welsh subtitles on and pause each sentences try to analyse each sentence. If its just one word i dont know i use a dictionary app on my phone to look that up, if its a bit more then I flick to the english translation. To use subtiltles and flick between them load up a program on catch up or bocs sets, it doesnt work on live tv. At the bottom middle there is an image of a keyboard, if you click that you can choose Captions off, English and Welsh, each time you need to flip,click the keyboard and click the other language. You are at a stage in your welsh now where you just need exposure to the language, as much as you can. Read it, write it hear it. I mix it up, I still watch somethings with english subtitles, I sometimes try without any but most often I do the above practice. All of these ways help you. When you finish say something in Welsh you haven’t climbed the mountain, you have put your boots on and set off on your journey and you have now reached base camp. You have found out you can hike, you slipped off the path sometimes, you know your boots work and you have reached base camp safely. Now it is time to start on the main mountain, but this time you are more prepared and you know you can do it.
Thanks for your reply Marcus. I was starting to doubt my way of learning. Your ‘base camp of the mountain’ analogy makes a lot of sense and I am now more confident of the way forward.
Diolch yn fawr
Great thanks Stephen. As it happens, I just came across it in Gareth Kings MWG last night. Also Marcus and Nia had explained this to me some time ago but it mustn’t have sunk in. Also I’m getting my head around the Pe bawn type constructions.
It seems the more you learn, the more you realise you still need to learn
At a basic level, when it’s a “completed action” in the past, it’s nes i/nes i ddim (I did/didn’t - although we translate it as was/wasn’t, literally it’s did/didn’t’). When it’s a “state of being” in the past, it’s do’n i/do’n i ddim (I was/wasn’t).
Don’t worry too much about it though - eventually, usage and exposure will give you a more natural set of patterns about which you use when
Just a note - if you’re watching in the rest of the UK (not Wales) you’ll get it on BBC iPlayer, but they only do English or none. If you can get it on Freeview or live TV (or the S4C Clic site) then the advice from John should work.
I was wondering whether there’s a different way of saying ‘handmade’ in Welsh. I’ve found ‘wedi ei wneud â llawn’ but that’s quite a mouthful. If there’s a snappier alternative, I’d be interested to know what it is. Diolch yn fawr!
We’ve been watching shwshaswyn which is a lovely 7 minute show for children based on mindfulness. I was wondering if anyone knew who the narrator is? I couldn’t find it listed anywhere and there are never credits at the end unfortunately
Yes @AnthonyCusack , I work for Cwmni Da
I believe the narration for Shwshaswyn was done by Ows Gwynedd (the singer/musician - a very talented and lovely guy!).