Yn wir!!
Original? Next Generation? Later versions? I am very rooted in the Original series, but am OK with their movies. Janet hates the movies, except the first (which I do not like). and likes Next Gen, but she is very loyal to Gene, whom she got to know pretty well, I liked some later stuff as SF, but not as Trek! Could I discuss any of it in Welsh? I doubt it very much. Would Vulcan still be Vulcan or Fylcan?
Original, Next Generation, Voyageur and the movies are all equally good topics for me, but I have a soft spot for Captain Janeway:) Iām sure that we could discuss our favourite characters and favourite moments a bit, unless we get very technical, and if we get very technical I wonāt be able to say anything in English or even in Russian!
I will try very hard to keep off my soapbox on the subject of so-called Scientific advisers! I became convinced they asked physicists about biology and, probably, botanists about physics! grrrr! (I had to go into work next day and be asked, āHow can you watch that rubbish? UV light safer than visible?ā etc.etc.!!)
Youāre making me think there was an episode filmed entirely through hidden cameras in Janewayās quarters.
Bachgen drwg!
Iām sure I would understand your remark if English was my first language, but since itās not I just apologize for any eventual mistake.
@henddraig, sometimes ignorance is bliss:) I know as much of botany as of physics, so nothing can get in the way of my suspension of disbelief when Iām watching sci-fi:)
Dave just means that there was a stray extra u in your Voyager, which made him think of the word Voyeurā¦
nods
Itās entirely a fault of my head rather than your language.
No criticism intended.
Oh, thank you! Thatās a bit strange especially since voyageur is an actual French word for traveler and the Canadians also write it this way, but I guess we all have our own associations:)
The joy of languageā¦
For which I would recommend this:
Le Ton Beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language
Thatās how I read it! I didnāt catch on to what caused Dave to write that or have that idea! Diolch @aran and, @dave_5, sorry if you werenāt being at all naughty!!
Just realized how off-topic I got - I apologize and promise to behave in the future!
@dave_5
Thank you very much, seems fascinating.
I have always been confused by the learning methods used in school and their ineffectiveness so I decided to try SSiW because the way you are learning Cymraeg here just seemed natural to me.
I knew itād work because I learned English by listening, listening and listening even more. The more I listened the more I understood without ever having to learn any rules or grammatical structures. After some time, I started spending (and I am still spending) my time in English class being the āliving dictionaryā for my classmates. Of course, I am still learning and I will never stop learning because you can ALWAYS learn more.
So, when I visited the SSiW website for the first time and read āWeāre going to play a word game. It will turn you into a Welsh speaker.ā, I immediately knew this was the ONLY way to REALLY learn Cymraeg.
Thank you so much for your feedback - and well done on throwing yourself into it all with such enthusiasm!
Hi -
Iām originally from London but been living in N. Wales (Maentwrog) for 11 years. When we first moved here my wife did a whole year at Bangor University learning Welsh, but had little or no opportunity to use or practice it. I tried to follow that course (CD based) but found it virtually impossible, and as our friends & neighbours - both English and Welsh speakers invariably spoke in English, we lost interest.
However, a couple of years ago, I went on a cycling holiday with my local club and I was the only non-welsh speaker out of a group of six - the following year I was one out of 20!! Not only did I find not being able to join in the chat (as understandably Welsh speakers have a tendenct to speak Welsh!!) unless I was specifically being spoken to, I felt it was time to try again and I was really determined to try and learn enough to get by - ready for the next trip in March.
After looking around for courses I found SSiW and I have to say for me its the best system I have found. OK, Iām only on section 1, lesson 16, but so far it works for me. I can listen to it at work in the background and also while driving & travelling. I like it in that there is nothing ādropped inā trying to catch you out, and that I can go over stuff I didnāt understand. I struggled a bit around the he/she did/didnāt for some reason (lessons 9,10,11 I think) then all of a sudden the penny dropped and I flew through to lesson 16. One thing I find - especially if Iām only listening and canāt see the vocabulary - is its sometimes hard to differentiate between Mās and Nās - but that might just be me.
I get a bit frustrated that I still canāt understand stuff spoken ar full speed - but the bits in the audio where you just listen does help. All in all Iām enjoying it and Iām able to do what I can, when I can, at my speed and its reinvigorated my interest and determination to learn welsh - in the three months since September '16 Iāve learned quite a bit I think. I canāt wait for the next holiday so I can hopefully wow them with my welsh!
If they are used to people learning at ordinary classes theyāll be staggered!
Welcome to the forum, Ray, and great to hear that youāre doing so well - keep at it, and you WILL get thereā¦
I had this thread come up as one of the suggested topics while browsing today, so Iāll gladly share what brings me to Cymraeg and the SSiW-Way.
I am from Germany (born and bred, and a native German speaker), but I came into contact with the english language quite early, because I grew up in Berlin when it was still divided, and my father used to work in the U.S. Armyās hospital at that time.
During school I learned english and french, and I also tried teaching myself spanish, back when teach-yourself audio tapes were still a thing (note to self: I should really check out SSiSpanish sometime!), and I also dabbled with a few other languages, but thatās not important right now.
My wife and I spent a few vacations on the British Isles, but other than being through Wales (on our way to Ireland via Holyhead), weāve never been to Wales, so last year we decided that weād be travelling around Wales in our own car this summer. And come christmas, my wife gave me a PC-based Welsh language course, but as I started using this program, I found it lacking in several ways. I wonāt go into details, but the major drawback is that, well, I have to sit down in front of a computer for this course. So I searched for alternative means and methods to learn Cymraeg, and I found SSiW on the Android Play Store. It had a good rating and good reviews, so I gave it a try. Been hooked ever since
I have to admit that SSiW isnāt my only resource for learning Cymraeg, but itās the one that made the spark turn to a flame.
Which is always a delight to hear - thank you so much for sharing your story, Hendrik!