Welsh Learners Chat and Support Thread

[alexpolismum]

Diolch cardibach for the idea!

I'm just getting started as a learner so that's my limit in Welsh so far!

This is where we can chat, use our Welsh as we are learning and give each other help/ advice/ encouragement, etc.

Helo Panadbois!

I hope your noson rieni went well. (and that you enjoyed your beef stew! )

I have been glued to the news, to see whether we have a government and are in or out of the euro, for a couple of days, so haven't been doing much Welsh, I'm afraid. Time to get stuck back in again!

I'm going to spend the afternoon reading a Welsh novel (and probably making notes!), so I should soon get back on form!

erm, one thing I need to ask. I'm not sure exactly how it is, I've only heard it, not seen it, but what is "ondife"?

Hi alex! You are certainly living in interesting times in Greece! I have no idea what 'ondife' is, sorry. However, in trying to find out for you I used this dictionary . Have you come across it before?

'Ondife' - isn't it - it's South Walian and not a proper word iyswim. NWs would say something like 'yn te'. I'm trying to think of a sentence in which you'd use it but can't and I'm not sure what the original words would be either . I'm sure it's quite a regular word on 'Pobol y Cwm' (daily soap opera based in SW).

Thanks to you both.

cardi I have that dictionary bookmarked!

mejon I thought it must be a tag like that, tucked onto the end of a sentence. It seems the more I learn, the more differences I discover between north and south! Does it matter if I mix them up? I mean, as a learner, it's not easy to keep track of what's used where! So if I say tydi e ddim yn hoffi rather than dyw e does it matter? Or if I use medru in a southern construction rather than gallu, is it going to sound really odd?

No that's perfectly fine. I'm a mongrel with a NW mother and SW/Cardiganshire father so I use a mixture and only very rarely will you get a word that one or the other won't understand.

diolch mejon.

I have another question, I'm afraid! I want to be able to say "let's" as in "let's go out" or "let's eat chicken today" or whatever. What should I use?

Hmmm - gadewch i ni fynd allan / gadewch i ni fwyta cyw iar heddiw. Gadewch > gadael.

Hello! Shwmae!
Sut wyt ti? It's my first time posting in this topic.
I only know a few words in welsh.
I'm thinking of sending my boy to a welsh school and if I do, I'm going to start an adult education class to learn Welsh. So I can talk to him and help with his homework, as well as it benefiting me.
I'm from Cardiff by the way :-)

Helo Reenypip! Croeso!

I think it's a great idea to send your son to a Welsh language school. He will grow up bilingual.

If you want to make a start at home before you go to a class, then try this website you can get a whole set of free lessons and various resources if you click on the forum. There are audio files you can download, I have found them incredibly helpful.

Helo pawb

This is going to be a tricky one so bear with me and mae'n ddrwg gen i am y gamgymeriadau

Heddiw mae penblwyd fy mab. Does dim parti neu dathliadau. Awstistiaeth (had to get that one from google translate) ydy o, a dydy o ddim yn hoffi popeth am y dydd.

Mae'n galed iawn i mi achos dw'in eisau gwneud cacan a canu penblwyd hapus ond os rhywyn yn dweud rhybeth am y dydd arbennig mae o'n mynd i (meltdown) mawr. Dydw i ddim hyd yn oed yn wedi ysgrifennu cerdyn. (Mae ofn arna??) llawer o blant hefo'r awtistiaeth am penblwyddiau. Pan mae'r plant arall yn wedi ifanc, dydn nhw ddim yn deall pam dydy ein frawd ddim yn eisau cael llawer o caderiau. Rwan maen nhw da iawn yn wir hefo fo. Bob blwyddyn (er) am y dyyd hwn dw'in teimlo ychydig yn drist

This is meant to say the following

Today is my son's birthday. There isn't a party or celebrations. He is autistic and he hates everything about the day.

Its very hard for me because I want to make a cake and sing happy birthday but if anyone mentions something about the special day he goes into meltdown big time. I didn't even write a card. Lots of autistic children are frightened of birthdays. When my other children were small they didn't understand why their brother didn't want lots of presents. Now they are absolutely brilliant with him. Every year on this day though I feel a bit sad.

Oh eatyourveg - cymer ((((cwtch)))).

eatyourveg so sorry to hear about that :( [hugs]

It can be so hard with the other children too. My children don't understand why my younger son gets "special treatment" either. I'm hoping it will smooth out as they grow up.

diloch i chi (both) - llawer gwell rwan. mae'n ddwrg gen i am y blip. mae hi'n heulog iawn yma heddiw a dw'n eisau (get) allan y pwll (paddling) yn yr ardd ond rydyn ni'n cael drought order yng Nghaint. Alex rych chi'n hoffi'r poeth yn Groeg?

please can someone tell me what get out is in nw? is it bring out (dod â allan) or take out (cymryd allan) or something else entirely. diolch

ydw! dw i'n hoffi y tywydd yng Ngroeg fel arfer. Ambell waith mae hi'n rhy boeth, a mae rhaid aros yn y (shade), ond dw i'n hoffi'r haul!

Heddiw, dw i wedi mynd i'r mor (the seafront area) gyda fy mab ifancach. Mae rhaid iddo fe gerdded, a mae'n hyfryd yna, dw i'n hoff iawn o'r mor. Wnes i brynu hufen ia i fy mab, a wnaeth e gerdded iawn heddiw, dw i'n falch ohono fe.

eatyourveg dw i ddim yn gwybod sut i ddweud "get out", ond efallai ti'n gallu defnyddio "mynd a" neu "rhoi"? "dw i eisiau mynd a'r pwll i'r ardd"? (I think my children would love a paddling pool, but it wouldn't be very practical on a balcony! I do wish I had a garden!)

Heno dw i'n trio dysgu llysiau yn Cymraeg. Dw i wedi ffeindio "wylys" - sut wyt ti'n i ddweud e? Ydy'r y fel "ee" neu "uh"?

My guess would be wylus = oow/ uh / l / uh / s say it quickly and I think you'll get willus - it looks similar to eglwys, church so perhaps the y pronunciation is similar?

Someone who knows what they are talking about will be along before too long

Beth ar y ddaear yw 'wylys'??!!! Never heard the word before I must admit. I guess you'd prn. it as wy-lis with the 'wy' as in egg - but North Walian wy which is more of a 'ooo-ee' than the SW prn. which is 'wee'. Clear as mud? Though so!

eatyourveg for 'I want to get the pool out' I'd say dwi isho/eisiau cael y pwll allan or dod a'r pwll allan or mynd a'r pwll allan.
Cael=get
dod=bring
mynd=take

mejon I found wylys listed as "aubergine". What would you call an aubergine in Welsh?

Gadewch i ni chwarae rhywbeth. Pob dydd, gadewch i ni bostio un gair/ un (phrase) newydd, and try to put it in a sentence.

Let's play a little learning game. Every day, let's try and post one new word or phrase and try to put it in a sentence.

Today's word: grawnwin = grapes

Dw i'n hoffi gwin coch, sydd wedi gwneud efo grawnwin!

Pan mae teulu yn dathlu dydd arbennig dw'in gwneud Zita Jones pudding (long story how it got its name) Its our favourite dish

Mae rhaid i chi rhoi grawnwin gwin mewn (dish), nesa mae rhaid i chi gnweud haen o mefus
Ar ol mae rhaid i ei gynnwys hefo rataffia
yna mae rhaid i chi rhoi y hufen sur ar y brig
Thaenelledwch hefo sigwr tywyll
Gadaelwch yn y (fridge) am y nos neu 4-5 awrau

Scrummy yummy! Bit more than a sentence or phrase though but a good lesson in cooking ingredients. Had to use the dictionary for most of it

Not too hot on the imperative form of verbs wch and a I think are the endings but not sure if thats universal for all verbs

alex - I'd probably just call it an aubergine since we don't eat them that often (only when I'm making moussaka!). I'm guilty of using the english words for lots of things really - carrots instead of moron, sausages not selsig, chips not sgoldion.

Grawnwin - blasus iawn!
Gwin - ok (I can take it or leave it)!

eatyourveg mae'n debyg yn flasus iawn!

mejon we eat loads of aubergines, because my PILs grow them in their garden!

I was just talking to a (Greek) friend, and she asked me what "I'm about to start" meant. It occurred to me that there is no such expression in Greek. You might say "I will start soon/ in a minute/ now" or "I'm ready to start" but there is no direct equivalent of "about to". So how about in Welsh?

I'm about to start = Dwi ar fin dechrau or dwi bron a dechrau. Bron is more of a nearly than an about though.
I will start soon/in a minute/now = mi wnai ddechrau cyn hir/mewn munud/nawr
I'm ready to start = Dwi'n barod i ddechrau

My keyboard is playing up since DH tipped his tea over it earlier in the week so I'm taking ages to type even the simplest thing so apoloies for the brevity.

Tywydd hyfryd yma heddiw - ychydig yn rhy boeth i fi efallai!

Diolch, mejon. Ydy "cyn hir" fel "yn fuan"?

Today's word: penderfynu = decide

Ddoe wnes i benderfynu ddechrau i sgwennu geirfa bach Cymraeg-Groeg i fy ngwr!

Ydyn mwy neu lai.
Cyn hir = before long
Yn fuan = soon

Dwi wedi penderfynu gwisgo ffrog heddiw gan ei bod hi mor boeth!