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Sunday, April 18, 2021

Welsh words to wonder at on stations and buildings in England and Wales and Photos Online - inspiring you to Learn Welsh on the Internet

 


 Flag of Wales. The red Welsh dragon.

Before Covid-19 I travelled every year to Wales to Writers' Holiday, in Fishguard. The train from Paddington passes through many stations. As you get near the border, even whilst still in England, you see a few Welsh signs. The train has bilingual signs.

I was reminded of that this year, 2021, the first year the Writers' holiday had to be cancelled.

I have plenty of time to practise my Welsh. I can learn on Duolingo. I could even attend a Welsh speaking Toastmasters group. Welsh is such a lovely sing-song language. Some words are similar to English or easy to learn. Others are memorable because they are so distinctive.

I looked at a photo of a Welsh hospital's Accident And Emergency entrance.

I saw three words. Two of the words were very long and hard to remember. But the middle word, presumably 'and' , was ac, starting with the same letter as and.

Just to be sure I had translated correctly, I went to translate google. ac was and. But was and ac?

It is well known to translators that you must translate back again to be sure. 

When I put in and, I found a and ac. Like a and an, I presumed, it is hard to say a in front of a word starting with a, so you add a consonant.


Welsh - English

a / ac - and

bach/fach - small

cawl - soup

coffi - coffee

dau - two

ond - but

sebon - soap

siop - shop

sosban - saucepan/pan

tri - three

y/yr - the

yn - in

yno - there


English Welsh

and - a/ac

but - ond

coffee - coffi

in - yn

one, two, three - un, dau, tri

saucepan/pan - sosban

shop - siop

small - bach/fach

soap - sebon

soup - cawl

the - y/yr

there - yno

three - tri (like triangle)

two - dau


Useful Websites

LEARN WELSH

duolingo.com

https://www.duolingo.com/enroll/cy/en/Learn-Welsh

TOASTMASTERS

https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/01014712-voice-of-wales

TRANSLATE

https://translate.google.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Welsh_films

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language


About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.

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Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 VC5
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Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers VP PR, IPP
Former Area Director S3. Club Coach for Nee Soon South Toastmasters Club
Member of TCA Toastmasters Club, Singapore Online Dynamic, Harrovians UK

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