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
https://www.duolingo.com/enroll/cy/en/Learn-Welsh
TOASTMASTERS
https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/01014712-voice-of-wales
TRANSLATE
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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