The long long gap between this and my last blog is mainly because I broke my wrist badly in the summer, and ended up needing lots of hand therapy on it, though it is much better now and I can type reasonably comfortably again, though a bit slower than I used to. So, I got out of the blogging habit, but am now back (though maybe just for a while - read on!)
So, what has this meant for my Welsh? Well I have still been doing as much as possible – went to a weekend in Abergavenny in September when my arm was still in plaster, and to a day school in London in October, but unfortunately had an infection and missed the last weekend I was planning to go to.
So, this is probably a good time to reflect on where I have got to over the last few months, and I think on the whole, it's gone well. It's really hard to assess progress. I am doing different activities from those I did near the start: I listened to the Welsh soap downloaded from the website whilst cycling (this has been out, as I am not yet back to cycling..........); I listened to the lunchtime and after lunchtime news programme. I didn't have the welsh TV channel nor was Clic available on the web (the welsh channel 4's equivalent of watch again), so, I do much more tv watching, both live and catching up on the internet. I have kept up the reading, tackling a new novel and autobiography recently. And when I go to my Welsh courses, I sign up for the highest group, which for the course at the Hill, certainly requires you to be fluent. This has got me thinking about what fluency is – not straightforward. It can be different for different categories, as below:
fluency in understanding speech For me, this is pretty good, certainly fine in everyday conversation where there isn't too much unknown vocabulary - i.e. colloquial Welsh, I guess. Much spoken Welsh, like (I guess)many minority langauges living alongside majority languages has lots of borrowings from English – it is only in certain contexts that the correct Welsh term is used or in formal settings. (Indeed some of the Welsh words have only come into existence a little while ago). I am gradually building up my more formal vocabulary but it us slower so much slower than I would like.
Fluency in reading – well this is a bit like the category above, depending again on the vocabulary. But I am really enjoying my forays into Welsh literature.
The grammar doesn't usually get in the way in these categories – except in old literature – then forms are used differently
Fluency in speakiong = unfortunately this doesn't get tried out often enough – but it is not bad – I often can't think of the words I want but in speaking there is always the option of using a different one instead (if you can find one!)
fluency in writing – OK, this is where I don't do as well. I get no practice in writing - and hence, from now on, am going to practice through my blog. I am going to see whether I can set up a Welsh blog which facilitates the accents etc needed - if not, will simply set up a new one which will be mainly in Welsh, but my aim is to also provide an English summary - though this may not always happen - so do check it out
Here is the address for the new blog: http://aildysgu.blogspot.com/ Aildysgu - menas "re-learning"
I am also exploring writing a nature blog: http://newportnature.blogspot.com/
So, what has this meant for my Welsh? Well I have still been doing as much as possible – went to a weekend in Abergavenny in September when my arm was still in plaster, and to a day school in London in October, but unfortunately had an infection and missed the last weekend I was planning to go to.
So, this is probably a good time to reflect on where I have got to over the last few months, and I think on the whole, it's gone well. It's really hard to assess progress. I am doing different activities from those I did near the start: I listened to the Welsh soap downloaded from the website whilst cycling (this has been out, as I am not yet back to cycling..........); I listened to the lunchtime and after lunchtime news programme. I didn't have the welsh TV channel nor was Clic available on the web (the welsh channel 4's equivalent of watch again), so, I do much more tv watching, both live and catching up on the internet. I have kept up the reading, tackling a new novel and autobiography recently. And when I go to my Welsh courses, I sign up for the highest group, which for the course at the Hill, certainly requires you to be fluent. This has got me thinking about what fluency is – not straightforward. It can be different for different categories, as below:
fluency in understanding speech For me, this is pretty good, certainly fine in everyday conversation where there isn't too much unknown vocabulary - i.e. colloquial Welsh, I guess. Much spoken Welsh, like (I guess)many minority langauges living alongside majority languages has lots of borrowings from English – it is only in certain contexts that the correct Welsh term is used or in formal settings. (Indeed some of the Welsh words have only come into existence a little while ago). I am gradually building up my more formal vocabulary but it us slower so much slower than I would like.
Fluency in reading – well this is a bit like the category above, depending again on the vocabulary. But I am really enjoying my forays into Welsh literature.
The grammar doesn't usually get in the way in these categories – except in old literature – then forms are used differently
Fluency in speakiong = unfortunately this doesn't get tried out often enough – but it is not bad – I often can't think of the words I want but in speaking there is always the option of using a different one instead (if you can find one!)
fluency in writing – OK, this is where I don't do as well. I get no practice in writing - and hence, from now on, am going to practice through my blog. I am going to see whether I can set up a Welsh blog which facilitates the accents etc needed - if not, will simply set up a new one which will be mainly in Welsh, but my aim is to also provide an English summary - though this may not always happen - so do check it out
Here is the address for the new blog: http://aildysgu.blogspot.com/ Aildysgu - menas "re-learning"
I am also exploring writing a nature blog: http://newportnature.blogspot.com/
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