The musings, struggles and observations of an Englishman learning Welsh.
All Posts
Search Posts
Donate! Buy me a coffee!
If you play and enjoy Help Hannah's Horse or like this site and you'd like to say thanks, please consider buying me a coffee on:
Search Results (2 posts found):
Happy New Year!
A new year, a new start, and some New Year's Resolutions (Addunedau Blwydden Newydd) to think about.
Actually I have four. One is a carry-over from last year as I singularly failed to achieve it!
1. Cycle across the Severn Bridge. The first / original Pont Hafren allows pedestrian and cycle traffic in addition to motor vehicles. It's been my plan to cycle over it for about three years now but I've not yet found the time to do it.
2. Make more of an effort to improve my Welsh. I've done very little in the past twelve months to actually improve my Welsh, and in some respects my ability has gone backwards in that words I used to know don't spring to mind in the same way they used to.
3. Write a short story. Just to prove to myself that I can stick at a task like that long enough to finish it.
I think that's enough for now. Number 1 in particular is something I'm itching to do, if only to take photos of the Second Severn Crossing (I refuse to call it "The Prince of Wales Bridge") from the first.
As an extra bit, I also want to take some photos of the Newport transporter bridge all lit up at night, but that's not really a resolution.
A new year, a new start, and some New Year's Resolutions (Addunedau Blwydden Newydd) to think about.
Actually I have four. One is a carry-over from last year as I singularly failed to achieve it!
1. Cycle across the Severn Bridge. The first / original Pont Hafren allows pedestrian and cycle traffic in addition to motor vehicles. It's been my plan to cycle over it for about three years now but I've not yet found the time to do it.
2. Make more of an effort to improve my Welsh. I've done very little in the past twelve months to actually improve my Welsh, and in some respects my ability has gone backwards in that words I used to know don't spring to mind in the same way they used to.
3. Write a short story. Just to prove to myself that I can stick at a task like that long enough to finish it.
I think that's enough for now. Number 1 in particular is something I'm itching to do, if only to take photos of the Second Severn Crossing (I refuse to call it "The Prince of Wales Bridge") from the first.
As an extra bit, I also want to take some photos of the Newport transporter bridge all lit up at night, but that's not really a resolution.
On Saturday I was crossing the Second Severn Crossing into Wales and, of course, I stopped at the toll booth to pay the crossing toll. The man operating the booth greeted me with a fairly cheery, "Hello" and I replied likewise, paid, thanked him and drove off. As we left, Lulu said, "Why didn't you say thank you in Welsh?" and I replied "Because I didn't know if he spoke Welsh".
I know I've mentioned this previously, but it still strikes me as odd. I'm entering Wales, but I can't guarantee that the (presumably) Welshman I'm talking to can speak the language of his nation. Later in the supermarket, the same thing. The (very clearly) Welsh lady greeted me, we had a chat about the weather and Cardiff in general, I thanked her and I left. Again, it would have been great to practice a bit of Welsh with her, even a "S'mae!" or "Prynhawn da", but again I couldn't be sure that she'd be able to speak Welsh.
Funnily enough I'd have been more confident that younger people spoke the language than older people, due to the push that's been made in recent years with teaching it in schools and some schools being entirely Welsh medium. This is in contrast to other indiginous languages of the UK, such as Scottish Gaelic, where the vast majority of speakers are older people and the languages are, quite literally, dying out.
The Welsh government is pushing for 1,000,000 Welsh speakers by 2050, and DuoLingo reports more users than that learning Welsh now, although I don't know how many live in the UK, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can know beforehand that it's safe to speak Welsh to a Welshman in Wales!
I know I've mentioned this previously, but it still strikes me as odd. I'm entering Wales, but I can't guarantee that the (presumably) Welshman I'm talking to can speak the language of his nation. Later in the supermarket, the same thing. The (very clearly) Welsh lady greeted me, we had a chat about the weather and Cardiff in general, I thanked her and I left. Again, it would have been great to practice a bit of Welsh with her, even a "S'mae!" or "Prynhawn da", but again I couldn't be sure that she'd be able to speak Welsh.
Funnily enough I'd have been more confident that younger people spoke the language than older people, due to the push that's been made in recent years with teaching it in schools and some schools being entirely Welsh medium. This is in contrast to other indiginous languages of the UK, such as Scottish Gaelic, where the vast majority of speakers are older people and the languages are, quite literally, dying out.
The Welsh government is pushing for 1,000,000 Welsh speakers by 2050, and DuoLingo reports more users than that learning Welsh now, although I don't know how many live in the UK, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can know beforehand that it's safe to speak Welsh to a Welshman in Wales!