Glaw

Happy New Year!

The year got off to a bang with thunder, lightning, wind and rain just after midnight. It rained most of the day so we didn't get to visit Dee as we'd planned, but we took the opportunity to sort out a few more things to take with us.

I'll be missing a few Welsh lessons whilst we're away so I've posted my homework to the Welsh school.

I've been learning Welsh for about four years now. I started with the Wlpan course, which I would highly recommend. It's quite different from learning Welsh at school. The focus is on being able to converse, and within a few weeks you get the impression that this might actually be possible. The second year I moved on to Pellach, this consolidates a lot that was learned in Wlpan and introduces some new grammar.

It makes a huge difference to be able to practice the language. I had two years with no classes but fortunately had the chance to practice, thanks to colleagues at work who were prepared to encourage a learner.

I was also advised to listen to Radio Cymru as a way of staying in tune with the language. Thanks to them I discovered a lot of music in Welsh that I enjoyed - even without knowing what the lyrics meant. Listening to the same songs repeatedly makes for an interesting way to learn Welsh. Having found songs that I liked the sound of I then began to tune into something of what they meant.

It's interesting that you don't need to understand a song in order to enjoy it. I suppose this is obvious, people have been enjoying Au Fond Du Temple Saint, or Volare for years. Somehow it never occurred to me that the same might be true of songs in Welsh.

One of the first songs that caught my attention was Cymru USA by Meinir Gwilym. So then I bought Smôcs, Coffi a Fodca Rhad, followed by Dim Ond Clwydda and Sgandal Fain. Later I also discovered Elin Fflur, Gwyneth Glyn and Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion.

Having Welsh music around the house has been an inspiring and enjoyable adjunct to the formal and informal opportunities for learning.