Omniglot - the blog

Here is a photo of a mystery city. Can you guess or do you know where it is, and which languages are spoken there?

Here’s a clue - this is the capital of a country in Europe.

Here’s a photo of a mystery city. Do you know or can you guess where it is and which language is spoken there?

Here’s a clue: this city is in South America.

The towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham in the county of Devon in the south west of England are marketed collectively by the local tourist board as ‘The English Riviera‘. Their website offers provides information in a number of languages - the usual suspects like French, German, Italian and Spanish, and also Dutch, Polish, Chinese and Japanese. Recently they’ve had part of the site translated into Welsh - a first for English holiday resorts, according to this article.

A spokesman for the English Riviera Tourist Board said,

“We are a popular destination for visitors from Wales. The Welsh language should be used more on publicity like this in England. It is a UK language.

The board’s director, who used to be in charge of tourism in Anglesey, doesn’t speak Welsh herself, but has a fondness and commitment to preserving the language.

There are also plans to provide downloadable MP3 walking tours for the area in Welsh.

Here’s a photo of a mystery city. Do you know or can you guess where it is, and which languages are spoken there?

Here’s a photo of a mystery city somewhere in Asia. Do you know which city it is, which languages are spoken there, and which alphabet(s) they use?

I arrived back to a wet and overcast Brighton this evening after a long, long journey from Lampeter (just under 10 hours door to door with a long wait in Swansea). One of the first things I did after getting home was to switch on Radio Cymru to give me a dose of Welsh, which I’m missing already.

Y noswaith hon cyrraeddais i nôl i Frighton, lle mae hi’n gwlyb a chymylog, ar ôl taith hir iawn o Lambed (tipyn bach llai na 10 awr o ddrws i ddrws gyda aros hir yn Abertawe). Ar ôl i mi gyrraedd adre, un o’r pethau cynta a wnes i oedd gwrando ar Radio Cymru - dw i’n methu clywed y Gymraeg yn barod.

There’s no language quiz question today, but I do have a question from an Omniglot visitor: What do you call tongue twisters in your language?

Another question from me: Is the word for tongue twister a tongue twister in any of the languages you know?

My Welsh course finished a midday today, after which we had the obligatory group photos on the steps outside the main entrance. We were then presented with certificates for completing the course which mention that we have earned 40 credits for it. Unlike many of my classmates, I’m not doing any of the online courses offered by Lampeter, so these credits aren’t much use to me at the moment.

Mae fy ngwrs Cymraeg wedi gorffen am hanner dydd heddiw. Wedyn mae rhywun wedi tynnu lluniau o’r grwp i gyd ar y grisiau tu allan y priffynedfa. Cawson ni ein tystysgrifau ar ôl hynny.

A number of speeches were made, then two new books were launched - Teach Yourself Welsh Conversation and Teach Yourself Welsh Grammar, the authors of which are members of the Welsh Department at Lampeter. A buffet lunch was also provided, after which most people made their escape, though a few are coming back next week for another Welsh course.

Mae nifer o areithiau wedi’u wneud, ac yna roedd dau llyfrau newydd wedi’u lansio - Teach Yourself Welsh Conversation a Teach Yourself Welsh Grammar - mae’r awduresau ohonyn nhw yn aelodau yr Adran Cymraeg yn Llambed. Roedd cinio bwffe ar gael, ac wedyn dihangodd y mwyafif y myfyfrwyr, ond bydd rhai ohonyn nhw yn dod nôl yr wythnos nesa i wneud cwrs Cymraeg arall.

I have really enjoyed this course and have particularly enjoyed speaking Welsh to other people. I’ll be returning to Brighton tomorrow and will be back at work on Monday.

Dw i’n wedi mwynhau’r cwrs yma yn dda iawn, a dw i’n wedi mwynhau siarad Cymraeg gyda bobl arall yn enwedig. Yfory dw i’n mynd nôl i Frighton, a bydda i’n gweithio un waith eto o ddydd Llun.

As I have no classes this weekend, I decided to go to Aberystwyth today. The bus took about an hour and a half to get there and went through some nice scenery and some pretty villages and towns along the way. I particuarly liked Aberaeron, a small town by the sea with attractive Victorian houses painted in many different colours.

Er nad oedd dosbarthiadau heddiw, penderfynais i i fynd i Aberystwyth. Treuliodd y daith ar y bws tua awr a hanner ac aethon ni’n trwy gefngwlad hyfryd ac trwy nifer o drefi a phentrefi pert. Mae Aberaeron yn arbennig o ddeniadol, gyda llawer o dai Fictoraidd lliwgar.

In Aberystwyth I spent quite a bit of time wandering around the town and bought some Welsh CDs, a new Irish course, and another book of tin whistle tunes to add to my collection. There are some good bookshops in Aber, including one with French-Welsh and German-Welsh dictionaries, and courses for learning Breton and Irish through the medium of Welsh. They also had a Cornish course and dictionary.

Treuliais i maith o amser yn grwydro o gwmpas y dre a brynais i gryno ddisgiau gan Siân James, Gwenan Gibbard a Swci Boscawen, Cwrs Gwyddeleg newydd, a llyfr o diwniau ar gyfer y chwiban. Mae nifer o siopau llyfrau da yn Aber, yn gynnwys un sy’n gwerthu geiriaduron Cymraeg-Ffrangeg a Chymraeg-Almaeneg, a chyrsiau Llydaweg a Gwyddeleg trwy gyfryng y Gymraeg. Mae cwrs a geiriadur Cernyweg da nhw hefyd.

After having a look around the castle, I walked along the prom, and then went up Constitution Hill on the cliff railway. The views from the top were amazing - I could see more or less the whole of Cardigan Bay from the Llŷn Peninsula in the north to the Pembrokeshire Peninsula in the south. The sun even came out for a while and the clouds cleared making the view even better.

Ar ôl i mi gael cipolwg ar y castell, cerddais i ar hyd y promenâd ac es i i lân y Graiglais ar y rheilffordd y graig. Oedd y golygon i lawr y bryn yn ardderchog - o’n i’n gallu gweld Bae Ceredigion braidd i gyd o’r Llŷn yn y gogledd i’r penrhyn Sir Benfro yn y de. Disgleiriodd y haul am sbel a gwasgarodd y cymylau hefyd ac felly, oedd y golygon yn well.

On a semi-related matter, I received an email today from Steafan MacRisnidh, a speaker of Scottish Gaelic who is currently working in Japan. He has set up a new blog with some Gaelic lessons in Japanese. He also has a number of other blogs in Gaelic. Just though I’d mention it here.

As we usually have a quiz at the weekend, I don’t want to disappoint you today, so here it is:

Which of the following places is the odd one out?
Caerhirfryn, Caerliwelydd, Caerlŷr, Caernarfon, Caerfaddon, Caergrawnt, Caergaint, Caerwysg, Caerwrangon

We were practising questions and answers in class today. There are no exact equivalents of yes and no in Welsh. Instead when answering a question, you repeat the verb in the appropriate form, or in some cases you use other words. For example, responses to the question Wyt ti’n mywnhau’r cwrs ma? (Are you enjoying this course?), could be Ydw (I am) or Nag ydw (I’m not).  It often takes me a few moments to work out the correct answer.

O’n ni’n ymarfer cwestiynau ac atebion yn y dosbarth heddiw, ac ddoe hefyd. Yn aml mae rhaid i mi feddwl am ychydig eiliadau i ddewis yr ateb cywir. 

This morning we also attended a local cyd - an informal get together of local Welsh speakers and Welsh learners. It took place in the one of the pubs in town, and we heard and spoke quite a lot of Welsh, so it was very useful.

Y bore ma, aethon ni i’r tafarn yn y dre i gymryd rhan mewn cyd - cyfarfod anffurfiol bobl leol sy’n siarad neu sy’n dysgu Cymraeg. O’n ni’n siarad llawer o Gymraeg gyda nhw, felly oedd hi’n defnyddiol iawn.

It started absolutely tipping it down after dinner and I thought there might be floods like there were here last week. Fortunately the rain didn’t last more than about half an hour.

Ar ôl cinio, cychwnodd hi’n bwrw glaw trwm iawn. Ond oedd hi’n gorffen cyn hanner awr ac nag oedd llifogydd fel yr wythnos diwethaf.

I have some more homework to do for tomorrow, so I’d better go now.

Rhaid i mi mynd nawr, achos mae gen i mwy o waith cartref i wneud cyn yfory.

I arrived in Lampeter yesterday evening after a long train and bus journey. After dumping my bags in my room - I’m staying in one of the university residences - I had wander around the town. There wasn’t many people about and only a few of the pubs and restaurants were open. I eventually found a fish and chip place that was open and had dinner there.

Cyraeddais i yn Lambed neithiwr ar ôl taith hir ar y trên ac ar y bws. Rhoddais magiau yn fy ystafell - dw i’n aros yn lety y brifysgol - ac yna es i am dro o gwmpas y dre. Doedd dim llawer o bobl ar y strydoedd ac oedd mwyafrif y siopau a bwyty ar gau. Or diwedd o’n i dod âr hyd o fwyty pysgod a sglods a ches fy swper yno.

This morning I meet the other people on the course - there’s about 25 of us, I think - and registered, which invovled filling in loads of forms. I was initially put in the intermediate class, but moved up to the advanced class in the afternoon.

Y bore ma, cwrddais i’r pobl eraill ar y gwrs - mae tua 25 ohonon ni i gyd, dw i’n meddwl - ac gofrhestriais i - oedd llawer o ffurflenau i lenwi. Yn gynta, o’n i yn y lefel canolbarth, ond yn y prynhawn, symudais i i’r lefel uwch.