Croeso cynnes and welcome to Ymlaen! This is the new blog for all of you who are in the process of learning Welsh  – Cymraeg!!! – and would like some company on the way.

Learning any language can be a slow, confusing and sometimes also a very lonely experience, and learning Welsh is no exception. Especially when you haven’t got the time or opportunity to join regular classes. I know. I’ve been there. And most of my students have, too. Which is where Ymlaen comes in.

What can you expect from Ymlaen?

Ymlaen will bring you easy-to-digest bits and pieces of grammar, useful words and phrases, short articles in easy Welsh, book reviews, and some more general advice on the tactics of language learning. Most of it will be in English, some of it will be in Welsh, and hopefully all of it will be of use for some of you out there. So stay tuned and make sure to watch this space!

By the way: At the bottom of all my posts you will find the necessary Welsh vocabulary.

Who’s this writing anyway?

Susanne ydw i – neu “Siw”. Dw i’n byw yn yr Almaen heddiw, ond mi oeddwn i’n byw yng Nghymru yn y 1990au. Fe astudiais i Gymraeg, Anthropoleg ac Astudiaethau Celtaidd yn Aberystwyth a Llanbedr Pont Steffan. Dw i’n gweithio fel newyddiadurwraig ac fel tiwtor Cymraeg (a Saesneg…) mewn canolfan addysg i oedolion yn Wolfenbüttel.

Dych chi’n gwybod ble mae Wolfenbüttel? Wel, edrychwch ar y map:

If you did understand that, you will now know that I (Susanne or Siw) live in Germany today, but was living in Wales in the 1990s. I studied Welsh, Anthropology and Celtic Studies in Aberystwyth and Llanbedr Pont Steffan (Lampeter). I work as a journalist and as a tutor of Welsh (and English….) at an adult education centre in Wolfenbüttel.

 

Iawn? Wel, diolch am eich diddordeb! Wela i chi nes Ymlaen!

 

Hwyl fawr,

Siw

 

Geirfa / Vocabulary:

addysg – education

(yr*) Almaen – Germany

*And yes, you definitely need the definite article before Almaen. In Welsh it’s “the Germany”!

anthropoleg – anthropology

astudiaethau – studies

ble – where

blwyddyn – year

byw – to live

canolfan – centre

Celtaidd – Celtic

croeso  (i) – welcome (to)

Cymraeg  –  Welsh (language)

Cymru – Wales;

yng Nghymru – in Wales

cynnes – warm

diddordeb – interest

diolch – thanks

edrych – to look

gweld – to see

Wela i chi! – See you!

Wela i chi nes ymlaen! – See you soon!

gweithio  – to work

gwybod – to know

iawn – alright, okay

Can also mean “very” as in da iawn, “very good”.

map – map (And who said Welsh was difficult????)

newydd – new

newyddiadurwr – journalist

newyddiadurwraig – a female journalist

oedolion – adults (one adult would be oedolyn)

tiwtor – tutor

ymlaen – onward, forward

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Croeso Cymraeg Croeso