Does anyone know of any Welsh stories (preferably for learners, but doesn’t necessarily have to be) that are available in both book/ebook AND audio format? I ask because, for other languages I’m learning, I’ve found that reading the printed book AND listening to the audio version of the same book massively improves both my reading and listening skills.
But I haven’t found anything like this for Welsh so far. I see plenty of printed/ebooks in Welsh, and some audiobooks, but I haven’t seen anything that is available in both formats. So if anyone knows of any, that’d be great.
I’ve been looking for those too, because reading is so complicated and slow such a struggle that I end up… not reading at all.
While reading and listening works great for me!
And someone in a Welsh-learning group on Facebook suggested me Cadw Sŵn.
It’s good for beginners, and called course because it’s actually presented as a course - not just a book+audio, because also includes questions, translations, and suggestions about how to use it to get the best out of it.
Anyway I got curious and I bought it and just listened+ read the first story the other day, now I have to listen to it again and answer the questions and see how it goes! https://www.cadwswn.com
p.s. buying directly from the site I could customize my order, since I didn’t care about DVDs or Audio CDs (downloads are enough) and would rather have a discount.
If you haven’t come across Lingo Newydd i’d recommend subscribing to that. It’s a bi-monthly magazine that you can get in hard copy. However, for your purposes if you subscribe to the download version it comes with audio too I.e. someone reading the articles too. They are short articles at different levels with a key for Welsh-English at the bottom. If you want to combine reading and listening and improve vocabulary in different areas this is a goodie.
Martha, Jac a Sianco, by Caryl Lewis. Not written for learners but I believe it is/was a school text. It’s available on CD and as a book. It’s also, somewhat adapted, a film available on YouTube. There is no happy ending, just to warn you.
Unfortunatelly not a happy story, rather a bit depressing one from the beginning to the end but it’s well written and also narated (I’ve experienced both thanks to @margaretnock who kindly gifted me with while visiting me in Slovenia). Here are moments which help you understand the pace of the story since English speach is narated (and written) in English so the book is a bit billingual.
The 3-part series on YouTube I’ve gathered in one playlist which you can find here:
Otherwise, yes, Lingo Newydd is great suggestion as it’s adapted to learners and the content is marked for what level it is suitable for. You can purchase copies in Golwg360 app which is available for Android and I believe for IOS aswell, but you can unfortunatelly not subscribe to the magazine through it. If you’re a bit slow reader like I am, then keeping an eye to the app every two months and buy single new copy when it comes out will just suit you well.
Thanks for letting me know about Lingo Newydd, Chris. That sounds very interesting and definitely the sort of thing I’d be interested in, particuarly the digital version with audio. I tried Googling it and wasn’t sure if what I found was the official website for it:
Though it seems it can be ordered via that link, so it seems to be the correct site.
Avery good idea. For those like me who find the advanced content too much to follow, then these books are a good start to listening to the spoken word. Yes for children perhaps but if it helps why not.
Brian
Bit of a delayed response! Hope you’ve cracked on with the listening stuff and got Lingo Newydd set up. You can download the Ap Golwyg and then get your subscription from there for Lingo Newydd
Hwyl, Chris
Hi Chris, yes I figured it was available via the Ap Golwyg. I purchased my first digital copy of Lingo Newydd a few weeks ago and I have to say it’s a great resource! I particularly like the fact that it’s got audio of the text on each page too. It’s proving to be extremely helpful in helping me improve both my reading and listening skills in Welsh. Thanks for letting me know about it. I’ll definitely purchase more editions once I get through this one. Diolch!
