Hoping to find time to post to this blog soon. So now to try putting a photo on
Finally had a go at one of the recipes from Paned a Chacen. Hmmm. Need more practice!
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Experiment
Just trying out the blogger app on the mobile
Hoping to find time to post to this blog soon. So now to try putting a photo on
Finally had a go at one of the recipes from Paned a Chacen. Hmmm. Need more practice!
Hoping to find time to post to this blog soon. So now to try putting a photo on
Finally had a go at one of the recipes from Paned a Chacen. Hmmm. Need more practice!
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Welsh books to be bought start of list
Welsh books on my to buy list:
(1) Author: Ifan Morgan Jones
Title: Yr Argraff Gyntaf
Publication date August 2010
Publisher: Y Lolfa, Tal-y-Bont
ISBN 9781847712677
(2) Author: Bethan Gwanas
Title: Yn ol i Gbara
Publication date October 2010
Publisher: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, Llanrwst
ISBN 9781845272838
Having borrowed most of the books I have read recently, I feel a little guilty after reading a couple of pleas from Welsh writers for us to buy their books. The potential audience is not so large - and apparently Welsh speakers are not big book buyer - so if we want our favourite authors to continue we need to support them. Hence I have identified some books to buy as opposed to borrow
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Back to work and weekend course coming up
We're at the end of the Christmas holiday period now and although I've had over a week off, I was ill for quite a few days so did less of nearly everything than I had hoped to. I had finished the novel that Jim had found me (Omelet) just beforehand and had T Llew jones's autobiography (Fy Mhobol I) at home with me (on interlibrary loan). I finished T Llew Jones - though some of it was a bit of a struggle, especially the chapters on the eisteddfod that talk about the entries - and give examples of the poems. The poems themselves are not that easy to follow or understand (for me, anyway) but he was a fascinating and very energetic man. I've now read a few of his children's books too - which are very good.
I also started and finished a Welsh classic by Daniel Owen - probably (this might be showing my ignorance) the first modern Welsh novelist. Styled as an autobiography it gave a really interesting account of the restricted life led by many people in small villages and towns in some parts of Wales - also the strength of religion at the time - and the fear around it.
But now I am out of books that I have not already read - except for ones that I have given up on - and may try yet again. I booked into the Pontypool course in the end so we'll see how it goes - I'm looking forward to it though a bit apprehensive as it isn't residential so I have the delights of the holiday inn (or something similar can't remember). And apart from a Welsh boost I should also be able to buy some new books
I also started and finished a Welsh classic by Daniel Owen - probably (this might be showing my ignorance) the first modern Welsh novelist. Styled as an autobiography it gave a really interesting account of the restricted life led by many people in small villages and towns in some parts of Wales - also the strength of religion at the time - and the fear around it.
But now I am out of books that I have not already read - except for ones that I have given up on - and may try yet again. I booked into the Pontypool course in the end so we'll see how it goes - I'm looking forward to it though a bit apprehensive as it isn't residential so I have the delights of the holiday inn (or something similar can't remember). And apart from a Welsh boost I should also be able to buy some new books
Friday, 11 December 2009
New Year courses
I am hoping to get to at least one short course in the New Year and dithering between a weekend course in Pontypwl (good because don't need to take leave from work - but bad because rather a long journey........) and one in Bangor - mid-week (so would need to take leave); faster journey but more expensive course (with no food provided). Hmmm. Perhaps I should have had the foresight to realise that I would want to get back to my Welsh before I moved to England and so far away from any opportunities to speak Welsh. But this was many many years ago.
But at least I am relearning in a digital age with access to SC4; radio cymru on the web and podcasts to listen to whilst I am cycling. I am struggling to find enough audio in Welsh though and had to resort last week to listen to quite a long programme on Highland cattle whilst I was cycling home. Nothing against highland cattle - I like them - but it would not have been my choice of listening, not for a whole 40 minutes.
And I am going to try harder to keep writing in Welsh. Though I am now in the position where I email a few people in Welsh and talk on the phone sometimes so I am not just reliant on writing in the Welsh blog.
But at least I am relearning in a digital age with access to SC4; radio cymru on the web and podcasts to listen to whilst I am cycling. I am struggling to find enough audio in Welsh though and had to resort last week to listen to quite a long programme on Highland cattle whilst I was cycling home. Nothing against highland cattle - I like them - but it would not have been my choice of listening, not for a whole 40 minutes.
And I am going to try harder to keep writing in Welsh. Though I am now in the position where I email a few people in Welsh and talk on the phone sometimes so I am not just reliant on writing in the Welsh blog.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Still here....
I haven't posted to either this blog or the welsh one for a little while - but this doesn't mean I have been doing no Welsh. I went to the Welsh summer school in Abergavenny at the end of July and had a really good week. And part of the benefit is in being able to buy more Welsh books, so I came away with a small pile, once again.
Gareth has lent me two books, one a novel and one of short stories. The novel is by Dafydd Llewelyn, entitled Tocyn I'r Nefoedd (ticket to heaven) and is both very funny and rather sad - an odd story about a minister in a very small conservative minded village who is pilloried for inadvertently having helped a family win the lottery - which enables them to take their daughter who has leukemia for treatment to the States. Sadly, the treatment does not work - and neither does his relationship (or job) work out - but for once the suggestion on the back cover that the reader will be crying and laughing in turn is not far from the truth.
I also finished Mared Lewis's Y Maison du Soleil - about relationships between a group of friends on their annual French holiday. And I have just finished Y Stryd (The Street) - a detective novel which was really good. And also Chris Cope's book about learning Welsh (Cwrw am Ddim) Perhaps more on that in another post.
I intend to really learn the new words as I go along - but often get caught up in the book itself though I often do go back and make a list of the translations I pencil in on the pages for the unknown words. I hope that by reading the new words in context I will remember them - but acquiring new vocabulary seems to take a long time.
It's often interesting though as I have noted before to see what the Welsh word for something is - take Barrister. It's literally "Bar - solicitor" - nice and easy to remember (assuming you know solicitor - bar is the same as in English as it happens).
So now I need to be disciplined to keep going not only on the reading but also on the vocabular and grammar as there will be a gap before the next course. There is a day school in Caernarfon I hope to get to in November and likewise in London - but that is a long way away.....
Gareth has lent me two books, one a novel and one of short stories. The novel is by Dafydd Llewelyn, entitled Tocyn I'r Nefoedd (ticket to heaven) and is both very funny and rather sad - an odd story about a minister in a very small conservative minded village who is pilloried for inadvertently having helped a family win the lottery - which enables them to take their daughter who has leukemia for treatment to the States. Sadly, the treatment does not work - and neither does his relationship (or job) work out - but for once the suggestion on the back cover that the reader will be crying and laughing in turn is not far from the truth.
I also finished Mared Lewis's Y Maison du Soleil - about relationships between a group of friends on their annual French holiday. And I have just finished Y Stryd (The Street) - a detective novel which was really good. And also Chris Cope's book about learning Welsh (Cwrw am Ddim) Perhaps more on that in another post.
I intend to really learn the new words as I go along - but often get caught up in the book itself though I often do go back and make a list of the translations I pencil in on the pages for the unknown words. I hope that by reading the new words in context I will remember them - but acquiring new vocabulary seems to take a long time.
It's often interesting though as I have noted before to see what the Welsh word for something is - take Barrister. It's literally "Bar - solicitor" - nice and easy to remember (assuming you know solicitor - bar is the same as in English as it happens).
So now I need to be disciplined to keep going not only on the reading but also on the vocabular and grammar as there will be a gap before the next course. There is a day school in Caernarfon I hope to get to in November and likewise in London - but that is a long way away.....
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Not sure this blog is quite dead
My intention for my Welsh was to move this year to only blog in Welsh. http://aildysgu.blogspot.com/
I have indeed tried to do this and will keep going. The main problem I think is that the main thing I do in Welsh (apart from watching TV and sometimes listening to the radio) is to read books. I'm finding it very hard to effectively post up mini book reviews in Welsh - and I'm also finding it much harder to write in Welsh than I do to speak.
I haven't given up yet - I will try to see if I can keep going all year. But I may need to broaden what I post about - and just not worry about the level of the Welsh. The practice can only help...........
I have indeed tried to do this and will keep going. The main problem I think is that the main thing I do in Welsh (apart from watching TV and sometimes listening to the radio) is to read books. I'm finding it very hard to effectively post up mini book reviews in Welsh - and I'm also finding it much harder to write in Welsh than I do to speak.
I haven't given up yet - I will try to see if I can keep going all year. But I may need to broaden what I post about - and just not worry about the level of the Welsh. The practice can only help...........
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Last post in this blog? Or is it? What is fluency? and challenges of a new blog for 2009
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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