For Elswyth and me and anyone who might care to join us
Ah, prynhawn da. Dw i ddim yn meddwl bydda iān medru dweud beth dw i eisau yn dda iawn, achos dw i ddim yn medru siarad Cymraeg, ond bydda iān trioān galed.
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I do apologize for all the missing mutations and eventual mistakes and/or unnatural collocations, I promise Iāll improve) I also apologize for talking to you, Elswyth, using the ātiā form, your beautiful way of writing inspires a more respectful form of addressing you, but alas, Iām not as familiar with āchiā as with ātiā. I suppose we can always switch to it later on?
Prynhawn da! Dwi ddim yn meddwl dwiān gallu siarad Cymraeg yn dda, ond dwiān moyn trio. Maeān rhaid i fi dechrau, beth bynnag!
Ti wedi gofyn am āMabinogiā. Dw iān hoffi stori Pwyll achos dwiān hoffi Rhiannon yn fawr. A ti? Pwy rhan oār lyfr wyt tiān hoffi? Wyt ti wedy gweld darluniau Alan Lee? Dw iān meddwl maen nhwān hyfryd yn fawr.
Wyt tiān hoffi llyfrau eraill am chwedlau? Wnes i dechrau hoffi mytholeg yn yr ysgol. Wnes i darllen llawer o lyfraw am chwedlau Gwyddelig bryd āny. Ac wnes i dysgu āhanes a damcaniaeth diwilliannauā (history and theory of cultures) yn y brifisgol, ac wnes i darllen chwedlau o LLychlyn, Ffrainc a Rwsia āna. Ond dwiān hoffi chwedlaw o Prydain odiaeth. Dwiān darllen llyfr diddorol iawn am chwedlau Cymraeg nawr, a bydda iān darllen llyfr am Cernyw nesa.
Bydda iān hapus i wybod rhywbeth am ti, os gwellwch yn dda)
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Tiān gwneud yn dda digon. (Youāre doing well enough.) Tiān gallu siarad Cymraeg; dim llawer, efallai, ond tiān ei siarad hi ;). (You can speak Welsh; not lots, maybe, but you speak it 
)
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That is quite all right - I only know how to use ti as well. Moreover, I know far less Welsh than yourself overall, therefore apologise if I all I write is repetitive, strewn with mistakes and answering the wrong question entirely.
Wnes i licio Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed hefyd, achos dw iān licio darllen am Annwn, a wnes i feddwl Manawyddan Fab Llyr [was most interesting - I know not how to structure that]. Dw i wedi gweld darluniau* Alan Lee, ond does gen i ddim y llyfr [with them in]. Wnes i ddechrau* licio dysgu am mytholeg achos wnes i ddarllen The Lord of the Rings a The Silmarillion pryd wnes i ifanc - dw iān serchuār Noldor. Dw iān gwybod tiān dysgu Cymraeg a Kernowek; wyt tiān dysgu iath arall hefyd? Dw i ddim yn medru ysgriffenu (?) yn y Gymraeg yn dda iawn - maeān ddrwg gen i!
'Tis frustrating having to write worse than a four year old might. Hopefully you shall forgive me until Iāve learnt better, yet this nonsense is all I can manage at present! I must say the books you mentioned sound quite splendid, and likewise did those you spoke of earlier. Forgive me if you have already said, yet might I ask the name of the one wherein thereās a fellow named Gwidion?
*I shall have to suppose that means drawings or illustrations, though I could be wrong.
*This must mean ābeganā, yet Iām not sure how to use the word; it likely doesnāt even soften as Iāve made it do.
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Oh please do not apologize, talking to you is such a pleasure! And I donāt know more Cymraeg than you do, my geiriadur does (I mentally thank Gareth King for this dictionary every day, I spend most of my time with it). And I make mistakes even in English, unfortunately, as itās not my mother-tongue. Maeān ddrug da fi, Rwsiaid ydw i!
The book about Gwidion is āA school in Carmarthenā by Anna Korosteleva. It is a delightful book about a school of magic in Wales, full of gentle humour and very interesting things about Celtic and Scandinavian mythology. But it is in Russian, Iām afraid. I could look for a translation into English (if it exists), if you wish? The other book I mentioned are āBritish goblins: Welsh folkloreā (itās available online and I strongly recommend it, if youāre interested in folklore ā it has lots of stories of elves, pixies and suchā¦).
Oh, ti wedi darllen Silmarillion, āte? Dw iān caru y llyfr āma! (yn arbennig Noldor a Feanor). Dw iān gwybod iaith Tolkien yn debig i Gymraegā¦ Wnes i foyn dysgu Quenya pryd wnes i ifanc. Dwiān cofio caneuon yn Quenya yn dal. 
Beth llyfrau eraill wyt tiān hoffi?
Dwiān deall tiān dysgu tafodiaith ogleddod (northern dialect)? Dwiān dysgu deheuol (southern). Does dim problem, gobeithio? Dwiān gallu deall beth tiān ysgrifenuā¦ *
Dw iān dysgu Cymraeg a Kernowek nawr. Ond dw iān gallu siarad Rwsiaid, Eiddaleg a Saesneg, a dw iān gwybod Ffrangeg (dw i ddim yn gallu ei siarad i yn dda, ond dw iān gallu cyfieithu (I donāt know how to say make written translations) A ti? Wyt tiān gallu iaith arall? Dw iān gwybod tiān dod o Lloegr, wyt tiān byw yna?
*I canāt help but quote āThe school in Carmarthenā once again here. āGwidion was from the North and Llewellis from the South, and at first they understood so little of each otherās accents that they were forced to speak Latinā (sorry for my sloppy translation) I hope it doesnāt happen to us.
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Ah, wnes i brynu llyfr [by] Gareth King heddiw, ond dw i ddim wedi darllen o dim byd [yet]. Dw iān meddwl tiān siarad Saesneg yn dda iawn (exceedingly well, and if I can ever speak another language so competently bydda iān hapus iawn).
My word, that does sound rather wonderful, yet I would not wish to put you to any great trouble having to look for a translation on my sorry behalf! I shall certainly seek out the other, as I am indeed dreadfully fond of that sort of thing.
Yndw, dw iān dysgu [the northern dialect]. My forebears were from Gwynedd. Pam wyt ti eisiau dysgu [the southern]? I must say, that did amuse me about having to resort to speaking Latin; hopefully we shanāt have that much bother.
Do, dw i wedi darllen Y Silmarillion! Dw iān hapus tiān licio fo hefyd. Dw i ddim wedi dysgu Quenya neu Sindarin, ond dw iān gwybod [a few words]. [About songs] Dw iān licio āNamĆ”riĆ«ā ac āA Elbereth Gilthonielā/ āAerlinn in Edhil o Imladrisā.
A dw iān licio darllen llyfrau am hanes ac yn y Hen Saesneg (wyt tāin dweud 'caniadau yn y Hen Saesneg? Dw i ddim yn gwybod, ond dw iān licio 'The Battle of Brunanburh, The Wanderer, The Fight and Finnsburh, Beowulf and so on).
Yndw, dw iān Seisnig* a dw iān byw yn West Sussex. Wyt tiān licioā¦ your homeland?
Dw i ddim yn medru siarad iath arall; wnes i ddim dysgu mewn(?) ysgol. Dw iān mynd i drio dysgu Kernowek a Gaelg (maeān ddrwg gen i - dw i ddim yn gwybod sut i ddeud o yn y Gymraeg). Dw i eisiau dysguā¦ Irish and Faroese, yet Irish orthography - though most lovely - is somewhat threatening.
The amount of languages you know is mightily impressive. Do I recall rightly that you are a teacher of languages?
*I have guessed thatās the way to say āEnglishā when speaking of the folk rather than the language, yet could be wrong.
(I apologise for taking so long to answer, might I add. Iāve had to be elsewhere and away from this wretched computer of mine for much of the time.)
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Diolch yn fawr, dw iān hapus my English is not bothering you too much. I love English, I read and practice it every day, and I even wrote some stories (stylized ghost stories) in it, but I always feel very self-conscious while talking to native speakers.
Beth ew enw llyfr Gareth King? (What is the name of the book by Gareth King that you have?) Mae āColloquial Welshā a āModern Welsh dictionaryā gyda fi. Dw iān cysgu, bwyta a yfed gyda y geiriadur āma. 
Dw i ddim yn gwybod pam dw i wedi dechrau dysgu tafodiaith deheuol (this means southern dialect, hopefully). Mae Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) yn Ne Cymru. (South Wales). A dw iān caru Caerfyrddin, dw Iān moyn mynd yno a gweld y dre āmaā¦ Ond dw iān athrawes. (teacher. so I donāt even hope to get a UK visa. weāll love each other on the distance, me and Carmarthen ) Wyt tiān gwybod llawer am dy deulu o Gwynedd? (your family from Gwynedd)
Dw iān hoffi āNamarieā (can Galadriel o āLord of the Ringsā, iawn? āAi! lauriĆ« lantar lassi sĆŗrinenā), maeān hyfryd. Dw iān hoffi āOndolindeā, hefyd. Mae hiān can yn Quenya. Mae cantores Rwsiaid wedi ysgrifenu y can āma.
Dwiān hoffi āBeowulfā yn fawr, a dw iān hoffi Hen Saesneg, ond alla i ddim yn darllen llyfrau yn Hen Saesneg yn dda. Dw iān hoffi āNibelungenliedā a āTristan et Yseultā a storiau am Brenin Arthur, hefyd. Wyt tiān hoffi y llyfrau āma? Dw iān caru Shakespeare, hefyd (I donāt know how to say āamong later literatureā)
Dw iān caru Belarws iawn. Ond mae teulu nhad (ma fatherās family) yn Greek a wnes i fyw yn Abhazia pryd wnes i ifanc, a wedyn wnes I fyw yn Eiddaleg. (I lived in Abhazia when I was a child and then in Italy. And I can say my heart is divided between lots of countries: Belarus, Russia, Abhazia and Italyā¦)
Wyt tiān hoffi West Sussex? Dw iān meddwl mae Lloegr yn hyfrydā¦
Is Gaelg Scottish Gaelic? Youāre so very brave, thenā¦ Dw I wedi trio dysgu Gwyddeleg ( Irish), ond mae hiān anodd iawn! I still have an Irish textbook and it makes me cryā¦ And Faroese, is it a live language? Please forgive my ignoranceā¦ Are you interested in Manx or Breton as well? (Brezhoneg)
I am a teacher, yes, though my degree is not in teaching. I teach English, Italian and Russian as a foreign language. Lle wyt tiān gweithio? (Where do you work, if Iām not mistaken)
Diolch yn fawr I y sgwrs āma, dwiān hapus iawn ymarfer Cymraeg a siarad a ti! Paid a phoeni, if you donāt answer quickly, Iām on holiday now so Iām mainly free to talk, but I can understand that other people can be engaged elsewhere!
This is the book I mentioned, which I hope you will enjoy. https://archive.org/details/britishgoblinswe00sikerich
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Maybe someday when you have time you could translate some of your stories into Welsh for us to read
Diolch yn fawr, I really want to read this book.
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I hope so, but itāll be in a very distant future, Iāve been studying Cymraeg for two months only.
Iām very glad there are people interested in this kind of books Iām planning to read after I finish this book another one about Welsh and Manx folklore and if you wish I can leave the link to it here too. Celtic folklore is truly amazing.
Yes, please. I love Celtic folklore
Oh, thatās wonderful I hope youāll enjoy them.
āCeltic folklore, Welsh and Manxā
Folk-lore of west and mid-Wales
I wanted to be a folklore researcher, when I was at school. And Iām still fascinated by it.
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Diolch yn fawr.
Mae gen i lyfr [called - a enwyd?] āBasic Welsh Grammarā. Hopefully it shall knock some sense into me.
The only people I know much about at all are those from very, very long ago - the line from Gwriad down through to Llewelyn Fawr, for example. For those of a less noble a lineage, it can be somewhat hard to find writings many about them!
Bydda iān trio darllen am Belarws, achos dw i ddim yn gwybod dim byd amdani/o (which is likely rather rude, and hopefully you shall forgive me).
Yndw, dw iān licioār freoedd* yn Sussex (the South Downs), ond dw iān ffafrio(?) y gorllewin - Dartmoor ac yn y blaen*. Iād like to move elsewhere, as there are too many people in south-east England and Iād dearly like to live somewhere with much more unspoilt countryside and a lot more rain.
'Tis Manx (in Manx, achos dw i ddim yn gwybod yr enw yn y Gymraeg). Dw i ddim yn meddwl bydda iān medru dysgu GĆ idhlig/ Scottish Gaelic, neu Gwyddeleg! Brezohoneg - dw i ddim wedi meddwl amdani llawer. Wyt ti eisiau dysgu Brezhoneg?
Aye, I think some folk still speak Faroese (I might guess around fifty thousand, though could easily be awfully mistaken).
Ah, beth wnest ti gwneud [at] prifysgol? Dw i ddim yn gweithio achos bydda iān mynd i* prifysgolā¦ in September. Dw i ddim yn medru gwneud rhywbeth beth dw i eisiau, ond felly mae yn de.
(I am doing some āvolunteeringā business now, however, hence why I am elsewhere a lot!)
Is a smashing book indeed, and I too would recommend the thing to @rickyfreeman. I most liked the Welsh accounts of everyoneās dealings with the Little People. I thank you most kindly for the link to the other you left for me, and I shall surely wander over to it ere long.
Maeān ddrwg gen i, if I have answered dreadfully. I am rather tired, thus do not think my mind is working especially well this evening!
*I think bre/ pl. breoedd is a word for hills/ 'highlands (although theyāre certainly not very high in Sussex, it must be said), and a feminine noun. Sorry if I am mistaken, however.
*I have seen so many ways to say āand so forthā Iām unsure which to use.
*I have only ever seen mynd iār (prif)ysgol written elsewhere, yet would that not mean going to ātheā school? I know not.
Iām used to ābrynā for hill (that does not mean i am right).
Uchldir for highland. Iseldir for lowland, ffermdir for farmland.
I seem to remember this is a feature of Welsh where at times it needs the (yr)
like āsiarad yr cymraegā speak the welsh.
Sorry if it feels like iām poking my nose in here but as a fellow learner iām finding the thread interesting.
Cheers J.P.
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Ah, I thank you sir. Worry not, might I add, for I am most grateful to be corrected and taught better when Iām in need of it.
P.S. Do forgive me for saying āwritings manyā instead of āmany writingsā. 'Tis to that sort of thing I meant to refer when I spoke of being appallingly tired.
ā¦ And so too for forgetting to soften gwneud after wnest ti. I am a dreadful fool.
Oh, so youāre of a very interesting and noble lineage! You must feel really proud of itā¦Are you trying to research it? (though I suppose it must be quite hard to research things so far away in the history) I donāt know as much about the true history of Cymru as I want to, I apologize, Iāve always been more concentrated on researching the folklore and the small habits and customs of peopleās everyday life. But Iām going to improve! Iāve given a link in another topic to a book Iām reading in Cymraeg now ā āStoriau o hanes Cymruā. It has parallel Symraeg-Saesneg texts, and is quite interesting
Mae Belarws yn hyfryd a maeān hanes ddiddorol gyda hi. But it has always been part of some other country (the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then Rec Pospolita, then Russian Empire) so Iām never surprised that people donāt know much about itļ But my hometown, Vitebsk, is a bit famous in the art world ā the painter Mark Chagall was born here.
Maeān ddrug da fi, dwi ddim yn gwybod beth yw oed ti ac wnes i feddwl tiān gweithio yn barod. Beth wyt tiān mynd I ddysgu yn brifysgol? Wyt tiān mynd I ddysgu yn West Sussex neu lle arall? Wnes i ddysgu āhanes a damcaniaeth diwilliannauā (history and theory of cultures). Bues i (I was) hapus iawn mewn brifysgol ā wnes I ddysgu hanes cerddoriaeth, hanes celfyddyd, llenidiaethā¦ (history of music, history of art, literature) Wyt tiān hoffi celfyddyd? Your profile picture reminds me very stongly of the Pre-raphaelite art.
Dwiān hoffi Iwerddon yn dda a o iān moyn dysgu Gwyddeleg, ond mae hiān amhosib! Mae gwerslyfr gyda fi, ond dwiān ei ofni e (Iām afraid of it) Ond dwiān gwybod ac dwiān gallu canu caniau yn Wyddeled ac Gaeleg yr Alban. Dwiān hoffi canuļ
Iām still interested in Irish, because Iām interested in all Celtic languages and everything that concerns history of the British isles, but the language certainly looks quite scary! When, as Aran promised, the courses in Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic are ready I will hang out here every day just to admire the people who are trying to learn these languages! Brezhoneg, on the other side, looks lovely and familiar and very similar to Cymraeg, and I would very much like to learn some of it later, if only for the fact that the population of the people who can speak it is getting older, and the younger people are not so eager to learn it, so itās endangered nowā¦
It seems to be a very interesting language, though itās Germanic and not Celtic. To my uneducated eye itās similar to German in lexisā¦
Maeān ddrwg da fi, maeān ysgrifen yn ofnadwy heno. Dwi wedi blino, dwiān meddwl.
Oh, and Iām glad we share opinion about āFolklore: Welsh and Manxā book. Do you like Scandinavian folklore too, or just the British one? I must admit I have a soft spot for Scandinavian tales as wellā¦
As for the missing soft mutation - please do not worry, I myself make so many mistakes that itās appalling, but Iām sure that our practising will do us good:) Itās a bit frustrating not to be able to express all the complicated things that I would be able to say in Englsih, but it will eventually happen, Iām sure of it.
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Please, feel free to correct (as youāre clearly more experienced in Welsh) or even join our conversation, if you wish:)
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