Leeds

By Simon

Mi ddes i i Leeds ddoe i gymryd rhan mewn dathliad hanner can mlynedd o Astudiaethau Tsieinëeg a Dwyrain Asia ym Mhrifysgol Leeds. Mi wnes raddio o Brifysgol Leeds â gradd mewn Tsieinëeg a Siapaneg ugain mlynedd yn ôl, a dyma dim ond yr ail tro i mi mynd yn ôl i Leeds ers hynny.

Mae’r dinas a’r prifysgol yn dal i adnabyddadwy, ond mae cryn dipyn o newidiadau yma, yn cynnwys llawer o adeiladau newydd, a llawer o hen adeiladau wedi cael eu adnewyddu a dacluso, yn arbennig ar lannau’r afon, lle dw i’n aros mewn gwesty Holiday Inn.

Mi wnes i gadael Bangor bore ddoe tua deg o’r gloch, ac mi es i ar y trên i Leeds trwy Cyffordd Llandudo a Manceinion. Ro’n i’n yng nghanol grŵp o bobl o’r Almaen ar y trên i Manceinion, ac mi wnes i clustfeinio ar eu sgyrsiau wrth i mi darllen llyfr. Mi wnes deall bron popeth, pan ro’n i’n canolbwyntio arnynt.

Ar ôl i mi cyrraedd yn Leeds, mi es i i’r gwesty, ac yna mi wnes crwydro o gwmpas y dinas a champus y prifysgol am sbel. Yna mi es i dderbyniad ar gyfer myfyrwyr, athrawon, cynfyfyrwyr a chyn-athrawon yr Adran Astudiaethau Dwyrain Asia. Roedd dau cynfyfyrwr o’r un flwyddyn â fi, ac un cyn-chydweithwraig o Taiwan y ddaeth i Leeds dwy flynedd ar ôl fi. Roedd areithiau, a sgwrs, a bwyd a diod, ac mi wnes i cwrdd â phobl o bob math, yn cynnwys hogan sy’n gwneud doethuriaeth ym Mangor, ond sy’n byw yn Llundain.

Ar ôl y derbyniad mi es i i dafarn yn undeb y myfyrwyr efo rhwy bobl eraill, ac yna i dafarn arall ger y gyfnewidfa ŷd. Mi es i yn ôl i’r gwesty tua hanner wedi un-ar-ddeg.

I came to Leeds yesterday to take part in a celebration of 50 years of Chinese and East Asia Studies at Leeds University. I graduated from Leeds Uni with a degree in Chinese and Japanese 20 years ago, and this is only the second time I’ve been back since then.

The city is still recognizable, but there are quite a few changes here, including many new buildings, and many old buildings that have been renovated and done up, especially along the river, where I’m staying in a Holiday Inn.

I left Bangor yesterday morning at about 10am and went by train to Leeds via Llandudno Junction and Manchester. I was surrounded by a group of Germans on the train to Manchester, and I eavesdropped on their conversations while I was reading a book. I understood almost everything, when I concentrated on them.

After arriving in Leeds I went to the hotel, then wandered about the city and the university campus for a bit. Then I went to a reception for current and former students and staff of the Department of East Asia Studies. There were two former students from the same year as me, and a former colleague from Taiwan who come to Leeds two years after me. There were speeches, and chat, and food and drink, and I meet all sorts of people, including a lass who’s doing a PhD in Bangor but who lives in London.

After the reception I went to a bar in the student union with a few other people, and then to a pub near the corn exchange. I went back to the hotel at about half eleven.

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
la fête; le foraine; la foire (fun)fair ffair foar; kurioziteoù
le carême Lent Grawys koraiz
un jeu de hasard a game of chance hapchwarae; chwarae siawns c’hoari chañs
le cuivre (jaune); le laiton brass pres; efydd kouevret; laton
la fanfare brass band band pres; seindorf pres fañfar
le cuivres the brass (section) yr adran bres kouevrennoù (?)
les huiles top brass prif swyddogion; pwysigion; pobl o bwys
un self-made man;
un autodidacte		 a self-made man dyn a wnaeth ei ffortiwn ei hun desket drezañ e-hunan
les frais expenses treuliau mizoù
à court terme short-term cyfnod byr; tymor byr; byrdymor berr dermen

Leeds and neglected languages

By Simon

I’m in Leeds this weekend for an alumni reunion – it’s twenty years since I graduated from Leeds Uni with shiny new BA in Modern Chinese and Japanese Studies, and this is only the second time I’ve been back there since then. The East Asian Studies Department, where I studied, is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and there are various events to mark this.

I will be seeing old classmates and lecturers, and meeting others who studied in the same department at different times. It will be interesting to see where people have ended up and what they’re up to these days. I expect there’ll be some chat in Chinese and Japanese as well – my Mandarin is still fluent, but my Japanese is quite rusty.

On the train on the way here I was surrounded by Germans and was eavesdropping on their conversations. I could understand almost everything, when I concentrated, even though my German is perhaps even rustier than my Japanese. I did spend longer studying German, so perhaps it is more firmly embedded in my memory than Japanese.

Do you find that long neglected languages come back to you when you need them? Does it depend on what level you got to in them?

Sesiynau

By Simon

Prynhawn ddoe roedd sesiwn cerddoriaeth da yn fy nhŷ, ac ar ôl cinio mi es i i’r côr cymuned. Yr wythnos ‘ma mi wnaethon ni canu caneuon yn Saesneg, Xhosa a Georgeg. Ar ôl hyn mi es i adref, ac yna i sesiwn cerddoriaeth gwerin yn y Skerries. Dyma’r tro cyntaf i mi mynd i’r sesiwn ‘na. Roedd ffrindiau yna o’r grŵp dawns forys, a phobl eraill dw i ddim yn nabod eto – myfryrwyr ydy’r mwyafrif ohonyn nhw, dw i’n meddwl. Mi wnaeth llawer o bobl yn gadael tua hanner wedi deg, ac ro’n i yna hyd un ar ddeg. Bydda i’n ceisio cyrraedd yn gynharach yr wythnos nesaf.

Yesterday afternoon there was a good music session, and after tea I went to the community choir. This week we sang songs in English, Xhosa and Georgian. After that I went home, and then to a folk music session in the Skerries. This was the first time I’ve been to that session. Some friends from the morris dancing group were there, and other people I don’t know yet – most of them are students, I think. A lot of people left at about half ten, and I was there until eleven. I’ll try to arrive a bit earlier next week.

Cyngerdd

By Simon

Neithiwr es i i gynerdd yn y Caffi Blue Sky. Rhan o’r gŵyl barddoniaeth ydoedd, a dathliad cerddorol o waith Charles Causley, bardd o Gernyw. Yn anffodus mi fethodd un o’r perfformwr, Jim Causley o Ddyfnaint, yn dod, felly roedd dim ond dau berfformwyr – Julie Murphy a Ceri Owen Jones. Cantores o Essex yn wreddiol ydy Julie Murphy, a thelynor o Ganada yn wreddiol ydy Ceri Owen Jones, a maen nhw’n byw yng Nghymru bellach. Roedden nhw’n canu caneuon ac alawon hyfryd ar y telyn, y piano ac ar y trombôn, ac mae llais canu hyfryd gan Julie.

Last night I went to a concert at the Blue Sky Café. It was part of the poetry festival, and a musical celebration of a the work of Charles Causley, a poet from Cornwall. Unfortunately one of the performers, Jim Causley from Devon, was unable to come, so there were only two performers – Julie Murphy and Ceri Owen Jones. Julie Murphy is a singer originally from Essex, and Ceri Owen Jones is a harpist originally from Canada, and they both live in Wales now. They sang and played some beautiful songs and tunes on the harp, piano and trombone, and Julie has a lovely singing voice.

Cerddoriaeth a glaw

By Simon

Mi wnes i gweithio bore ddoe, ac ar ôl cinio mi wnes canu rhyw alawon ar offer gwahanol. Mi wnes i parhau sgwenu fy nghân newydd hefyd, ac mae gen i pedwar pennill, mwy neu lai, erbyn hyn, ond dw i ddim yn siŵr am alaw eto. Mi wnaeth hi’n bwrw glaw trwn yn y prynhawn, ac gyda’r nos mi es i i’r tafarn Groegeg i ganu’r iwcwlili. Roedd dim mond dau ohonon ni yna, ac mi wnaethon ni penderfynu na fyddan ni’n cyfarfod ar nos Iau yr wythnos nesaf yn unig, heblaw mae pobl sy’n methu dod nos Iau a sy’n eisiau cyfarfod ar nos Lun.

I did some work yesterday morning, and after lunch I played some tunes on various instruments. I also continued writing my new song, and I now have four verses, more or less, though I’m not sure of a tune yet. It rained heavily in the afternoon, and in the evening I went to the Greek taverna to play the ukulele. There were only two of us there this week, and we decided that we’ll only meet on Thursday night next week, unless anybody can’t come on Thursday nights and want to meet on Monday nights.

1,000 Words Challenge

By Simon

According to an article I found today in The Independent, “Everyone in Britain should learn 1,000 words of another language, a new campaign is urging, amid concerns that people lose out on jobs abroad because of poor language skills.” The 1,000 Words Challenge is apparently designed to do something about the UK’s reputation for being poor at foreign languages, and to try to ensure that British tourists “appear less arrogant and better able to put forward our ideas on the international stage”.

Apparently if you learn 1,000 words in a foreign language you will be able to conduct a basic conversation. There is no mention, I can find, of how you go about learning the words, or how just learning that many words will enable you to speak a language – what about grammar? If it was 1,000, or however many, phrases, then you could have a conversation, but words on their own would not be enough. Or maybe they would, if you used them creatively. What do you think?

Sgwrs a barddoniaeth

By Simon

Mi ddaeth ffrind o’r côr cymuned i’r grŵp sgwrsio ddoe, ac ro’n ni’n siarad am ac yn yr Almaeneg yn bennaf. Dw i ‘di anghofio llawer o fy Almaeneg, ond mae’n dod yn ôl erbyn hyn. Ar ôl hyn mi es i adref am dipyn o fwyd, ac yna mi es i Caffi Blue Sky am noswaith o farddoniaeth a cherddoriaeth – rhan o wŷl barddoniaeth rhyngwladol. Mi wnaeth tri band lleol yn canu, ac mi wnaeth bardd o Wlad Pwyl yn adrodd ei gerddi yn y Bwyleg efo cyfeiliant un o’r bandiau. Roedd y band cyntaf yn uchel dros ben llestri efo gitâr trydan yn sgrechian, ond roedd y bandiau eraill yn well.

A friend from the community choir came to the conversation group yesterday, and we talked mainly about and in German. I’ve forgotten a lot of my German, but it’s starting to come back. After that I went home for a bit to eat, then went to the Blue Sky Café for an evening of music and poetry – part of an international festival of poetry. Three bands played, and a poetry from Poland recited with poetry in Polish with accompaniment from one of the bands. The first band were way too loud with an electric guitar screeching away, but the other bands were better.