Laa aashagh

Cha ren mee mooarane jea – beggan obbyr, baggan cliaghtey kiaull as beggan lhaihderys, shen ooilley. V’eh grianagh ‘sy voghrey, as mooirjeenagh ‘syn ‘astyr.

I didn’t do a lot yesterday – a bit of work, a bit of music practise and a bit of reading, that’s all. It was sunny in the morning, and cloudy in the afternoon.

Possan ynseydee çhengey

Va tree ain ec y possan ynseydee çhengey jea, as loayr shin ayns y Vaarle, y Vretnish as y Rangish. Ta doghys aym dy vee tooilley sleih ayn Jemayrt. Ny yei shen hie mee dys cloie enmyssit ‘I’m with the band’ ‘syn ollooscoill. Cloie mychione possan kiaullee lesh olteynyn voish Sostyn, Nablin, Bretin as Nerin Hwoaie enmyssit ‘The Union’ v’ayn. V’ad ry-cheilley rish foddey dy hraa, agh ren ad scarrey as daag y cloieder gitar voish Nablin – ogher earroo dys neuchommeeys Nalbin. V’eh aitt as symoil, as va resoonaght ny yei lesh y screeudeyr, y stiureyder as ny cloiederyn lesh Alun Ffred Jones, oltey jeh’n Çhionnal Ashoonagh Vretin son Arfon, ‘sy chaair

There were three of us at language learners’ group yesterday, and we talked in English, Welsh and French. I hope there’ll be more people on Tuesday. After that I went to a play called ‘I’m with the band’ at the university. It was a play about a band with members from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland called ‘The Union’. They were together for a long time, but broke up after the guitarist from Scotland left – a reference to Scottish independence. It was funny and interesting, and there was a discussion afterwards with the writer, the director and the actors with Alun Ffred Jones, Wales Assembly Member for Arfon, in the chair.

Laa braew

Va laa braew, grianagh ayn jea. Cha row agh jees j’in ayn ec y sheshaght chiaullee corragh riyr, agh ghow shin arrane ansherbee. Dobbree mee ‘sy voghrey jiu, as chloie mee ymmodee greieyn-kiaull ‘syn ‘astyr. Ta mee goll dys y possan ynseydee çhengey nis.

It was a fine, sunny day yesterday. There was only two of us at the crazy choir last night, but we sang anyway. I worked this morning, and played various musical instruments this afternoon. I’m going to the language learners’ group now.

Glances, glimpses and peeks

This week I discovered that the French equivalent of a glance or a peek is un coup d’œil (‘a blow/stroke of the eye’), and to glance/peek is jeter un coup d’œil (‘to thow a stroke of the eye’) which I thought was an interesting way of saying it. Other ways of looking in French include voir (to look/see), un aperçu (a glimpse) and entrevoir / apercevoir (to glimpse)

Welsh equivalents of a glance or glimpse are cipolwg, cipdrem and cipedrych which is made up of cip (a snatching), golwg (sight, appearance, view), trem (look, sight) and edrych (to look/see).

Are there interesting equivalents of glance, glimpse, peek or related words in other languages?

Do other languages making a distinction between looking and seeing?

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
les mains vide; bredouille empty-handed gwaglaw; llaw-wag beleg, glapez
(priser) le tabac à priser (to take) snuff (cymryd) snisin (prizenniñ) butun
moucher (une bougie/chandelle) to snuff out (a candle) diffodd (cannwyll) mouchañ (bouji(d)enn)
(donner/jeter) un coup d’œil (to) glance (taflu/bwrw) cipolwg (taoler) ur sell
un regard de côté/oblique a sideways glance cipolwg i’r ochr
au premier abord at first glance ar yr olwg gyntaf da gentañ penn
d’un (simple) coup d’œil at a glance ar gip/gipolwg; mewn amrantiad
couvert overcast (sky) cymylog; tywyll koumoulek
l’infirmière-chef (f) matron (in hospital) metron; penaethes penn klañvdiourez (?)
le sundae; la coupe glacée ice cream sundae hufen iâ a ffrwythau; syndi dienn-skorn gant frouezh
locataire (m/f) lodger (renter of room) lletwyr; lojar feurmour; lokitour
pensionnaire (m/f) lodger (with room and meals) lletwyr; lojar pañsioner

Possan coloayrtys yl-çhengagh

Ren mee reaghey arraghey ennym y possan coloayrtys yl-çhengagh jiu er yn oyr nagh vel ymmodee sleih oayllagh rish y fockle ‘polyglot’ (yl-çhengagh). Myr shen cha nel ennym y possan ‘Bangor Polyglots’ nish agh ‘Bangor Language learners’ (Ynseydee Çhengey Bangor). Ren mee arraghey laa as traa y possan myrgeddin ny yei resoonaght lesh olteynyn elley er Facebook. Ta dooghys aym dy jig ram sleih nish. Bee yn chied cruinnaght yn imbagh shoh ayns thie bee ‘sy vean y valley fastyr Jesarn, as bee cruinnaght elley fastyr Jemayrt ‘sy boayl cheddin.

I decided to change the name of the polyglot conversation group today as not many people are familiar with the word polyglot. So I isn’t Bangor Polyglots any more but Bangor Language Learners. I change the day and time of the group too after a discussion with other members on Facebook. I hope that quite a few people with come now. The first meeting of this term will be in a café in the centre of town on Saturday afternoon, and there’ll be another meeting on Tuesday evening in the same place.

Kiaull as ooylyn

Dobbree mee er m’ynnyd-eggey moghrey jiu, as va sheshoon kiaullee mie ayns shoh ‘syn astyr. Ren mee broie ooylyn ny yei shen, as ‘syn oie ghow mee arrane ‘sy kior pobble. Va ram sleih ‘sy kior – olteynyn noa as shenn olteynyn, paart jeu nagh daink dys y kior rish tammylt.

I worked on my website this morning, and there was a good music here in the afternoon. I stewed some apples after that, and sang in the community choir in the evening. There were many people there – new members and old members, some of whom who haven’t been to the choir for a while.

Cultural Immersion

When learning a language it helps if you can immerse yourself as much as possible in it. It also helps if you immerse yourself in the culture of the people who speak the language. One if the first things you learn might be the words to use to greet people, for example, but do you know whether to shake their hands, bow, kiss their cheeks, or do something else when you greet them? Do you know which topics of conversation are acceptable and which are best avoided? Do you know how close to stand to someone and how to take turns in conversation? These are all important parts of culture that differ from country to country, and even within countries. Some language text books touch on things like this, but few go into any depth.

There are books and websites that explain the cultures and etiquette of particular countries – I find the Culture Shock! series of books interesting and useful. You can also learn about culture, at least to some extent, by watching films and TV programmes, but the best way is probably to spend time in a country or region where your target language is spoken and to be observant, and to ask questions about any cultural practices that puzzle you.

You might end up adopting some of the cultural practices, even ones that seemed really strange at first. For example, after spending time in Japan I started taking off my outdoor shoes and putting on indoor ones when arriving home, and being prepared to do so elsewhere. This habit has become so ingrained that it feels somehow wrong to wear outdoor shoes inside.

Do you try to learn about culture as well as language? If so, how do you go about it?

Have you adopted any habits or customs from other cultures?

Laa kayeeagh

Va laa kayeeagh ayn jiu, ren ny cruink skellal roish as v’eh beggan feayr, agh cha row eh ro olk. Ren mee obbyr er ny duillagyn mychione yn abbyrlhit Kyrillagh as y Rooshish er Omniglot moghrey jiu, as ‘syn ‘astyr chloie mee kiaull, hie mee dys yn ard-vargey, as ren mee brishtagyn.

It was foggy today, the hills disappeared, and it was a bit chilly, but it wasn’t too bad. I worked on the pages about the Cyrillic alphabet and Russian on Omniglot this morning, and this afternoon I played some music, went to the supermarket, and made some biscuits.