I have found it hard to find the time to post any entries this last little while. Probably mainly a function of getting close to Christmas so lots of work to finish off and the usual preChristmas jobs too. But I suspect that's not all of it. I think I have yet to work out a pattern for making the entries that works for me . We are not a household where the computer is always on - indeed I often take the role of environmental nag - turning off the comptuer at the mains when it has been on for a little while and not used - so perhaps that doesn't help. But I also think that maybe it needs a regular time slot from me. I'm not sure how others find it........blogging 'feels' like it is a bit more spontaneous than would be suggested by the regular slot - and this would not fit with the going for it when you have something to say approach. So still finding my way on this one.........
I have recently found myself reading the transcripts of the Welsh soap opera I listen to on my PDA. I don't do this very often - the whole point of the Brynaber (name of the hospital where it all happens...) episodes for me is that I can listen to them on my bike and they are accompanied by grammar points and vocabulary. But I have had a short bad run with the bike and hence was on the bus and reading. For some reason I read one of the episodes that I had already heard and I was really surprised to find that there were words in the transcript that I didn't know and sections I didn't quite understand. I really hadn't been aware of this when listening. I had clearly filled in the gaps myself, making-meaning and constructing the narrative quite successfully from the context - to the point where I had not realised that there were bits I had not understood. So it seems to me that having both the audio and written versions is really interesting and complimentary. For me, the South Wales accent in the audio is sometimes problematic, as I am used to a North Wales voice, and also of course, the text allows for looking and relooking at words and pondering about them in a way that just doesn't happen with audio.
I am still wanting to build my vocabulary up - and am impatient and wanting to do it fast of course. One device I have tried with some success is to listen to the news in Welsh on the web and write down all the words I don't know as I hear them - however I often then fail to follow it up by looking them up as there are too many. But it does focus the mind on trying to isolate the word. And for those who don't know Welsh it is not straightforward as there are numerous mutations - so often it is the mutated word that is being heard.
Over Christmas I thought I would concentrate on reading though. One thing with reading for language learning as opposed to just for pleasure is I find I need to be very eclectic in my reading given that there is a limit to what is available that is accessible to me. I now have a small pile on my table including two Blodwyn Jones 'diaries' (think Welsh Bridget Jones); Heather Jones's autobiography (singer who learnt Welsh) and two others from the contemporary novels for Welsh learners series. As a nature and wildlife lover I also have "Blwyddyn Iolo" - "Iolo's year". Iolo is a Welsh naturalist. This latter is really interesting - and a bit of a challenge. Apart from not being geared to learners, which most of the others are, not unsuprisingly it has a lot of specialist language for species not found in the Welsh dictionary. Nearly time for Christmas and Sion Corn (Father Christmas) so, Nadolig Llawen!
Friday 21 December 2007
Monday 10 December 2007
Resources and mobile learning
I am currently making quite a lot of use of my PDA,. Using it for learning Welsh started when my cheap MP3 player broke. I used that a lot when cycling; especially in the winter as it can get pretty boring cycling for 40 minutes in the dark. I decided to try to use the MP3 player on the PDA (handheld device) which is a bit of a circuitous route. I download MP3 files from one of the excellent BBC langauge learning sites http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/catchphrase/ysbyty_brynaber
This one features a soap about a hospital and the audio files you can download are the weekly omnibus. I think this has a number of good features as a resource: firstly, it is in fairly small chunks (20 minutes or so) hence very do-able "bites" (takes me two to cycle home) and secondly because it has a strong (if improbable!) story line, the narrative does provide some motivation to keep going with it to find out what happens next. Thirdly as it is created for learners it introduces vocabulary in a paced way and repeats it - and each episode also comes with a transcript, so if anyone finds it difficult to hear or can't work out the accent, it is there in print. Finally it also introduces some grammatical and other points each week and discusses them (in English) - and these are illustrated in the episode.
So it's a great resource for learning on the move - though I have some issues with the usability of the PDA........but that can wait for another post
This one features a soap about a hospital and the audio files you can download are the weekly omnibus. I think this has a number of good features as a resource: firstly, it is in fairly small chunks (20 minutes or so) hence very do-able "bites" (takes me two to cycle home) and secondly because it has a strong (if improbable!) story line, the narrative does provide some motivation to keep going with it to find out what happens next. Thirdly as it is created for learners it introduces vocabulary in a paced way and repeats it - and each episode also comes with a transcript, so if anyone finds it difficult to hear or can't work out the accent, it is there in print. Finally it also introduces some grammatical and other points each week and discusses them (in English) - and these are illustrated in the episode.
So it's a great resource for learning on the move - though I have some issues with the usability of the PDA........but that can wait for another post
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Weekend School
I have just been away at a weekend school (Cwrs Penwythnos) in Abergavenny (Y Fenny) and once again (I have been once nearly two years ago) found it great to have some intensive periods of concentrating on my Welsh though given that I am re-learning it is difficult to know what level to go to (there are classes of various different levels). I went to the 4th class and that seemed about right and helpful for my grammar though I think (unsurprisingly) my speaking is more fluent and confident than some of the others in the class. They pack a lot in in a weekend (13 hours tuition) and everyone is encouraged to speak Welsh at coffee breaks and lunchtimes too. So I was very encouraged by others who suggested I might go to class 6 next time (the highest) though I think I would struggle with some of that, so I am resolved to try to learn some grammar and will have a go at class 5 next time which I hope will be March.
Speaking of (or writing about) grammar, I notived that some other learners are really fascinated by the structure and how the grammar works - and also concerned to get it right. Leaving aside for now that this is completely over simplicstic, I wonder whether there are two kinds of langauge learners: those who want to master the structure and grammar and get it right - and get frustrated by classes encouraging them to speak when they are unsure - and those more like myself who find the grammar a pain to tell the truth and just want to be able to talk and to read. Of course I would like to be reasonably grammatically correct - and especially for writing - but find learning the grammar tedious. I got thinking about this talking to a couple of learners from class 6: who were very engaged in thinking about some of the structures formal Welsh - which apparently has to be used in instructions and guidance in exam papers etc etc, and, I suppose in the legal system and so on - but is rarely used every day. Though (I think) we (i.e. the Welsh) do still use the subjunctive.
I was really amazed at my last weekend school and at this one at the variety of learners and the reasons for learning. Last time I met a woman in her nineties who had lived in the valleys all her life and had been a teacher but had never learnt or spoken Welsh which I think was frowned on as an everyday language at the time. But having contributed to various local history projects about life in the past in her village was determined to write a final book in Welsh. She was pretty good too. Another student came from the Welsh speaking area of Patagonia and spoke with a delightful Spanish accent - she was in Cardiff doing Welsh and English and her Welsh was much better than her English. Many learners are from Welsh families who are not Welsh speaking - but can often trace the last Welsh speaking members to their grandparents, and so are somehow recapturing and reclaiming the language. I'm also struck by how many people are learning Welsh - 120 on this course: mainly a mixture of people now living in Wales; Welsh people or people from Welsh families (like those described above).
Speaking of (or writing about) grammar, I notived that some other learners are really fascinated by the structure and how the grammar works - and also concerned to get it right. Leaving aside for now that this is completely over simplicstic, I wonder whether there are two kinds of langauge learners: those who want to master the structure and grammar and get it right - and get frustrated by classes encouraging them to speak when they are unsure - and those more like myself who find the grammar a pain to tell the truth and just want to be able to talk and to read. Of course I would like to be reasonably grammatically correct - and especially for writing - but find learning the grammar tedious. I got thinking about this talking to a couple of learners from class 6: who were very engaged in thinking about some of the structures formal Welsh - which apparently has to be used in instructions and guidance in exam papers etc etc, and, I suppose in the legal system and so on - but is rarely used every day. Though (I think) we (i.e. the Welsh) do still use the subjunctive.
I was really amazed at my last weekend school and at this one at the variety of learners and the reasons for learning. Last time I met a woman in her nineties who had lived in the valleys all her life and had been a teacher but had never learnt or spoken Welsh which I think was frowned on as an everyday language at the time. But having contributed to various local history projects about life in the past in her village was determined to write a final book in Welsh. She was pretty good too. Another student came from the Welsh speaking area of Patagonia and spoke with a delightful Spanish accent - she was in Cardiff doing Welsh and English and her Welsh was much better than her English. Many learners are from Welsh families who are not Welsh speaking - but can often trace the last Welsh speaking members to their grandparents, and so are somehow recapturing and reclaiming the language. I'm also struck by how many people are learning Welsh - 120 on this course: mainly a mixture of people now living in Wales; Welsh people or people from Welsh families (like those described above).
Thursday 29 November 2007
Novels for learners
One resource I am currently using quite a lot is novels in Welsh written for learners. The advantages of these seem to me to be that the narrative pulls me along and engages me in continuing with the book and at the same time it is much more accessible than Welsh books 'in the wild' as it were. Also, they come with some notes and vocabulary - so cann often be read without a dictionary to hand. Of course the downside is that as with most 'teaching' material - which in some sense the teacher/designer has to decide/guess what level the learner is at. In this case, this means deciding which words are likely to be unfamiliar and therefore need translating. For me, it is often the case that I know some of these words but don't know others in the text. However, there is of course another advantage of the novel as a way of building up vocabulary and generally being immersed in the language and that is that it is often quite possible to guess words from the context.
I don't know how it works in other languages but in Welsh there are commissioned series of such books and many are written by acclaimed authors - so there is the benefit of having a book written by a good author. The other thing that works really well is that you have a light, handy resource - in this case low tech (more on technology based resources in future posts!) which is idea for taking on a bus, as I did this morning. (Not good for cycling which is my main mode of transport) And great for a train which I will be on this afternoon. Currently my way of working with these is mainly to read and highlight new words and sometimes also write in the translation in pencil. I do find acquiring new vocabulary hard but another advantage of these is that they repeat new words - so in my current book one of the characters is having driving lessons so I may just remember the words for instructor, driving test etc by the end.
I guess the main disadvantage is that unless as a learner I look for ways to actively use the language from the boom - e.g. write something or talk about it, I am not getting experience and practising in using but in reading (but this is true for any reading). It also means being open to reading all kinds of stories that one might not ideally choose as the choice is much more limited - so I have found myself reading about highwaymen ((NOT my usual choice of reading); pirates; the trials of small businesses (that brought in some useful vocabulary) and so on.
I don't know how it works in other languages but in Welsh there are commissioned series of such books and many are written by acclaimed authors - so there is the benefit of having a book written by a good author. The other thing that works really well is that you have a light, handy resource - in this case low tech (more on technology based resources in future posts!) which is idea for taking on a bus, as I did this morning. (Not good for cycling which is my main mode of transport) And great for a train which I will be on this afternoon. Currently my way of working with these is mainly to read and highlight new words and sometimes also write in the translation in pencil. I do find acquiring new vocabulary hard but another advantage of these is that they repeat new words - so in my current book one of the characters is having driving lessons so I may just remember the words for instructor, driving test etc by the end.
I guess the main disadvantage is that unless as a learner I look for ways to actively use the language from the boom - e.g. write something or talk about it, I am not getting experience and practising in using but in reading (but this is true for any reading). It also means being open to reading all kinds of stories that one might not ideally choose as the choice is much more limited - so I have found myself reading about highwaymen ((NOT my usual choice of reading); pirates; the trials of small businesses (that brought in some useful vocabulary) and so on.
Wednesday 28 November 2007
Getting started
I have finally decided to have a go at blogging about my language learning. I am brushing up my Welsh which I first learn when I was 4 - so it is my second language but I have forgotten so much of it over the years having been away from Wales for 35 years or so. I think I have two challenges: the first is grammar: that I was never taught grammar (because I was treated as a 'native' speaker at school as apparently my Welsh was too good to be allowed in the learner classes when we did our compulsory Welsh O levels); and the second is BIG gaps in vocabulary. When I was in Wales there was no Welsh TV, or parliament and I never learnt the terminology commonly used in the news etc - but I can talk about farm animals quite happily! Despite not being in the learner class in school, my grammar was not very good and hence I never passed my Welsh language O level - so maybe a challenge for the future.
So I want to reflect on my (re-) learning, perhaps be in contact with other Welsh learners and re-learners - and take some tentative steps into blogging.......................
So I want to reflect on my (re-) learning, perhaps be in contact with other Welsh learners and re-learners - and take some tentative steps into blogging.......................
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