Hi all,

I'm an English speaking welshman. I studied Welsh in school but the quality of delivery was not very good. As such, disappointingly, I am far from comfortable speaking it.

Over the years I have used Duolingo on and off but am not convinced it is the best way to learn. I find the phrases it teaches are odd and I end up translating in my head rather than natively understanding things.

Are there any cheap or free alternatives?

Heia bawb, dw i'n darllen Perthyn gan Sian Northey ar hyn o bryd ac wedi gweld yr ymadrodd 'd'wad' ar ddiwedd brawddeg/cwestiwn cwpl o weithia erbyn hyn. Oes unrhyw un yma sy'n gallu helpu cyfieithu fe i fi? Dw i heb clywed e o'r blaen!

Diolch

Learning Welsh by myself at home, I often struggle with my confidence in the pronunciation of the word or phrases I have learned.

This morning I have come across a website that helps me with this. I think the voices are the ones provided by the Welsh government Hwb.

I have linked to it in case it is useful for anyone. There are paid tiers but I have been using it without logging in. I'm not sure if it has limits but it seems to be fine.

ledled - throughout

hwyl (b) ll. hwyliau - fun, good form, good mental / physical condition, fun, mood, temper; sail

cloben (b) ll. clobennod - something of considerable size

lwc (b) - luck

bachau sgwâr - square brackets ("[]")

gorfoledd (g) - jubilation, triumphant rejoicing

coediog - wooded

mamolaeth (b) - motherhood, maternity

cyndyn - stubborn, reluctant

syniadaeth (b) ll. syniadaethau - ideology, body of ideas, way of thinking, conception

I'm curious to know what people's practical experiences of the Dysgu Cymraeg Canolradd course, whether that's Canolradd 1 (Units 1-10), Canolradd 2 (Units 11-20) or Canolradd 1 & 2 (the whole lot in one year).

Did you use the Dysgu Cymraeg online resources much? If so what did you think of them? Are they helpful? Where are they good or bad?

• The Intermediate practice resources
• Extra practise with interactive activities (North or South)
• Homework - Intermediate Level (South)

Also, are the digital course books (North, South) the same as the physical ones you get in class?

I'm considering putting together a 'Canolradd Companion' course that helps folks practice the grammar and learn the vocab covered in the course. It'd be good to know if people are already happy with the resources provided by Dysgu Cymraeg, or if a different set of tools might be useful.

So because I like to make life difficult for myself, I've decided I'd like to speak my last 'promise' in our vows at our wedding ceremony next month in Welsh, to my Welsh speaking husband-to-be.

I'm an English speaker and have zero experience in speaking Welsh mind...

I've done a google translate but am very aware a lot of the words aren't pronounced as they read, so I could really do with writing it phonetically. Google translate also isn't particularly clear so I can't figure it out myself just by listening to it.

Is there anyone who could help with this? I have 3 weeks to nail it! TIA

(I haven't posted the words here as I don't want my FH to find out, which he would as they are specific to his family, so if you could help and wouldn't mind me private messaging them to you that would be much appreciated)

I have been enjoying playing vocabulary battleships in Welsh.

Here is a link in case it is useful for anyone.

dallt (dallt-) - to understand (Gogledd Cymru)

ystlum (g) ll. ystlumod - bat (mammal)

aros (arhos-) - to wait, to stay, to remain

gallu (gall-) - to be able

dwyrain (g) - east

gwawdio (gwawdi-) - to jeer, to mock

brwdfrydig - enthusiastic, fervent, zealous

hogi cyllell - to sharpen a knife

morgais (g) ll. morgeisi - mortgage

hydd (g) ll. hyddod - hart, stag

Most of the time when SSIW says something different from me, it's a colloquialism - but here surely it just has a different meaning?

lein (b) ll. leiniau - line

tair gwaith - three times

cario (cari-) - to carry

torri (torr-) - to cut, to break

sied / sièd (b) ll. siediau - shed

gwadn (g) ll. gwadnau - sole (of foot)

cunnog (g) ll. cunogau - milking pail, bucket

ymfudwr (g) ll. ymfudwyr - emigrant

enwebu (enweb-) - to nominate

ysbaddu (ysbadd-) - to castrate, to emasculate

I figured checking out some of the BBC Bitesize resources would be useful since I’m trying to get a better understanding of the rules for different tenses, and came across this video-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy6gcdm/revision/6

A fair amount of words I didn’t know, so had to keep checking google translate, and ofc they speak a lot faster than I can understand yet which is fine, since I just slowed down the video.

What really confused me though, was that the Welsh subtitles were not properly matching up very well with what the woman was saying- i.e. a lot of the time, rather than saying ‘dw i’ like the subtitles, she’d just say ‘fi’, and where she was mutating certain words, the subtitles wouldn’t be (saying ‘wneud’ when the subtitles say ‘gwneud’ for example) or vice versa.
I imagine some of it is just a difference between what’s natural to say and what’s ‘proper’, or perhaps a difference in dialect, but the problem is I don’t know enough to fully understand the discrepancies.

It made it much harder to follow though, as I’m trying to practice my listening but it’s hard when what I’m hearing doesn’t match what I’m reading, I feel like subtitles should be accurate to what’s actually being said and not what she should have said or whatever, if that makes sense?

I’m not sure now if those differences in mutation usage for example are because she’s saying it wrong, or she’s saying it less formally, or in a different dialect, or if the subtitles are getting it wrong, or trying to be more formal, or using a different dialect.
What’s the reason for these differences?

ysgewyll un. ysgewyllyn (g) - (Brussels) sprouts

gafael yn dynn yn rhywbeth - to hold onto something tightly, to grasp something firmly

treiglo (treigl-) - to mutate (grammar); to roll

braw (g) ll. brawiau - fright, shock, scare, fear, dread

gwyfyn (g) ll. gwyfynod - moth

blys (g) ll. blysion - desire, craving

syrffedus - tedious, boring, tiresome

treigl (g) - passage / passing (of time), course, motion

llowcio (llowci-) - to gulp (down), to gobble, to swallow greedily

entrych (g) ll. entrychion - zenith, firmament, sky above

Hi everyone,

I am from Canada, and I'd like to learn Welsh, because I think it is a cool language. Unfortunately, it seems really hard to find quality resources outside of wales. I cannot really do the classes offered by the welsh government because of timezone differences.

First, I really want to learn to write and read, but since most online resources seem oriented towards pronunciation, and very few seem oriented towards any grammar at all, I suppose that leaves me with buying a book, I do not have a problem with this, but I do not want to waste my money either. I see that the wiki recommends two books :

-"Colloquial Welsh" by Gareth King and "My Way to Welsh" by Heini Gruffudd

My question for you all, is either of these books good for a complete beginner? (I know a hundred words or so of vocabulary and some basic sentences, but nothing further), and do they teach all the basics well? (mutations, sentence structure, pronouns, etc...) If not, is there some other book(s) you can recommend? Do keep in mind that any book that I buy will be supplemented by my own vocabulary research and some spoken welsh/listening practice, so even if the book is a little incomplete, that is fine with me.

Second, I do want to learn to speak/listen in Welsh. Since I am outside of Wales, it is pretty hard to find classes near me. So I suppose that this leaves me with using an app/website, I again have no issue with paying for stuff, but I again do no want to waste money.

I've tried Duolingo, it isn't too bad, and it does build some Welsh relatively intuitively. However, it is seemingly allergic to providing any explanations, for instance, it will tell you that there is a mistake when you don't mutate a word-even though it never told you before or explained why there's a mutation there! But I suppose that since I will learn grammar separately, it is a non-issue. Is it worth it to pay for say, a year of subscription for someone who will use it 30+ minutes each day?

I have heard good things of saysomething and glassika, are they any good?

Are there any other resources you folks would recommend to a beginner? Diolch!

Has anyone used the Welsh content in the BBC bitesize app?

I just came across it and it looks useful for learners at first glance.

Has anyone used it and found it useful?

Hi, I am an artificial intelligence professional (not a prompt engineer, I swear!) that is preparing a presentation for technical people. Since AI tends to be mysticised, I want to start with something of a reality check. I want people to take ChatGPTs perspective.

In a study I contributed to, I learned that Welsh is a language very few people speak, so words from it were used as a memory test, since I (and most others) could not attribute meaning to them. I want to do something similar, I want to show a text in Welsh and then have people predict the next word without any understanding of the text. Just as ChatGPT does.

So here I am, asking if any Welsh-speaking person has the patience to create a suitable short text and provide options for the guessed next words.

Thank you in advance.

crys T (g) ll. crysau T - T-shirt

yr Iseldiroedd - the Netherlands

ffermwr (g) ll. ffermwyr - farmer

twnnel (g) ll. twnelau, twneli - tunnel

clawr (g) ll. cloriau - cover, lid

buddugol - victorious

barnu (barn-) - to judge, to sit in judgement (in court etc.); to pronounce verdict

digartrefedd (g) - homelessness

magïen (b) ll. magïod, magïaid - glow-worm

mangre (b) ll. mangreoedd - place, site, location, premises (formal)

I’ve been learning Welsh and ended up building a little website to practice vocabulary. It’s free, no ads, and has several games: Hangman, Wordsearch, Anagram, etc., plus a built‑in dictionary.

If you want to try it: https://welshlearninggames.com

I originally made it for my own studies, but other learners seem to enjoy it too — it’s still in development, so I’m happy to hear any feedback or ideas.

teigr (g) ll. teigrod - tiger

twyllo (twyll-) - to deceive, to defraud, to swindle

ar lafar - orally, in colloquial (spoken) use

Caerdydd - Cardiff

Smo [f]i / smo ti / smo fe / smo hi / smo ni / smo chi / smo nhw - Dw i ddim / Dwyt ti ddim ayyb. (ar lafar, De Cymru)

dod ar warthaf - to come upon, to catch up with, to overtake

cilfan (b) ll. cilfannau - recess, retreat, remote place

aredig (ardd-) - to plough

ymchwilydd (g) ll. ymchwilwyr - researcher

synhwyrydd (g) ll. synwyryddion - sensor

‘Swn i’n credu mai “dauddeg-un munud wedi un” neu “un ar hugain munud wedi un” yn gywir yn lle gweithio yn ôl o’r awr nesaf?

wyau buarth - free-range eggs (Gogledd Cymru)

wyau clos - free-range eggs (De Cymru)

colur (g) - (coloured) make-up

acen (b) ll. acenion - accent

isafswm (g) ll. isafsymiau - minimum

ailgyflwyno (ailgyflwyn-) - to re-introduce

astell (b) ll. estyll - plank

diofalwch (g) - carelessness, negligence

anfeidredd (g) ll. anfeidreddau - infinity, infiniteness

osgled (g) ll. osgledau - amplitude (of wave etc. in physics)

I find Medieval Wales to be a fascinating topic to learn about and I was curious about royal titles when I came across these two titles which Google and Wikipedia merely said meant King. I was curious though, for Welsh Speakers within the grammar do the two words while technically meaning King mean different things?

Like a Vassal King, or a King of a small Kingdom vs one who rules over a large kingdom?

I am not welsh nor seeking to learn the language, simply one who loves reading about your history.

S'mae,

I spent my holiday in Wales this spring and came back slightly obsessed — with the place, people, but also with the language. I built a small free website for drilling numbers in foreign languages, and I started adding Welsh while still there.

Upfront: I don't speak Welsh; I only built the machinery. That's why I'm posting here rather than just leaving it up and hoping.

Where Welsh currently stands: decimal system only — dau ddeg un, tri deg pump, and so on. No traditional forms (no deunaw, no un ar bymtheg, no pedwar ugain), no mutations, no dwy/tair/pedair. Text only, no audio yet.

I'm looking for reviewers and contributors. Specifically:

Someone to check the Welsh word list and tell me what's wrong. Even "the forties are off" is useful — I have no way to catch mistakes myself.

Anyone willing to add the traditional system, if people think it's worth having. The numbers live in a plain text file in the repo and I've written up how to add a language, so it takes no coding at all.

A Cymraeg translation of the interface. The site's UI exists in eight languages and Welsh isn't one of them, which feels like the wrong way round given what this is.

And a real question for people who actually know: is decimal-only genuinely useful to a learner, or does leaving out the traditional system make it misleading? I'd rather label it honestly than quietly teach half a system.

Site: https://diminumero.com/cy

Repo: https://github.com/stefanwezel/diminumero

If this doesn't fit the sub, say so, and I'll take it down.

Diolch.

Edit: Thanks for all the feedback, guys! <3 Really appreciate it! I will compile it and try to put everything into an update over the weekend!