Category: Travel

Taith hir

By Simon

A i i Iwerddon yfory i ddysgu mwy o Wyddeleg yn Oideas Gael, Sefydliad Diwylliant Wlster yn Donegal. Bydda i’n cymryd mewn yr ysgol haf mewn iaith a diwylliant am wythnos, fel mi wnes i y llynedd. Yna a i i Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, coleg Gaeleg ar Ynys Skye i wneud cwrs mewn caneuon Gaeleg. Ar y ffordd yn ôl i Fangor, treuliais i dau ddydd efo fy rhieni yn Sir Gaerhirfryn.

Bydd y daith yn un hir a chymhleth – a i a’r trên i Gaergybi yn cyntaf, ac yna i Glencolmbcille yn Donegal ar fferi, trên a bysiau trwy Dulyn a Thref Donegal. O Donegal i Skye a i ar bysiau, awyren, trên a fferi trwy Belfast, Glasgow, Mallaig ac Armadale, ac bydda rhaid i mi aros yn Glasgow un noson.

Dw i’n edrych ymlaen yn fawr at y daith ac at y cyrisau.

Turas fada

Rachaidh mé go hÉirinn amárach níos mó Gaeilge a fhoghlaim in Oideas Gael. Beidh mé ag glachadh páirt sa Scoil Shamhraidh i dTeanga agus Cultúr mar a rinne mé anuraidh. I ndiaidh sin, rachaidh mé go Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, coláiste Gàidhlig san Oileán Sciathanach cúrsa amhráin Gàidhlig a dhéanamh. Ar an mbealach ar ais go Bangor, caithfidh mé cúpla lá le mo thuismitheoirí i Lancashire.

Beidh sé turas fada agus casta sa traein go Holyhead ar dtús, agus ansin i mbád go Dún Laoghaire, sa traein go Baile Átha Cliatha agus ar an mbus go Gleann Cholm Cille trí Baile Dún na nGall. Ó nDún na nGall go dtí an Oileán Sciathanach, rachaidh mé ar an mbus, san eitleán, sa traein agus i mbád trí Béal Feirste, Glaschú, Mallaig agus Armadale, agus beidh orm oíche a chaitheamh i nGlaschú.

Tá mé ag súil go mór leis an turas agus na cúrsaí.

Bangor

By Simon

I’m currently in Bangor, Gwynedd in search of a new place to live – I plan to move here soon and will be starting an MA in Linguistics at Bangor University in September.

Bangor is one of the smallest cities in the UK and is an attractive place with views across the Menai Strait to Anglesey (Ynys Môn) and along the North Wales coast. Students make up a significant proportion of the population, at least during term time, and at least half of the permanent population speak Welsh as their first language, which is one of the reasons why I chose the course in Bangor.

Welsh has now ousted Mandarin as the dominant language (apart from English) in my head. Mandarin dominated for many years, even after I left Taiwan. Now when I try to say things in languages other than Welsh, they come out partly in Welsh, or with Welsh word order, which tends to confuse people. There aren’t many people around, as far as I know who can follow a Mandarin/Welsh mixed conversation. Well, I do know one person who could.

On the train on the way here today I heard some people talking in an unfamiliar language. As I usually do, I tried to work out which language it was. At first I assumed it was Spanish or Portuguese as I saw Iberia Airlines tags on their bags and they looked Hispanic. When I listened more closely, I realised it wasn’t either of those languages, though there did seem to be a few Spanish loanwords, which made me suspect it was maybe Quechua or one of the other indigenous languages of Latin America. Unfortunately I didn’t have a recording device to hand, otherwise I could have posted a recording here to see if any of you recognised the language. I suppose I could have asked the people what language it was, but where’s the challenge in that?!

Yn ôl ym Mrighton

By Simon

Cyrhaeddais i yn ôl i Brighton nos Sadwrn diwethaf ar ôl taith hir iawn ar y trên. Arhosais i ym Mhwllheli nos Wener ar ôl i mi orffen y cwrs yn Nant Gwrtheyrn. Darllenais i y nofel Blas y Cynfyd gan Islwyn Ffowc Elis bron i gyd ar y trên.

Dim ond saith dyn roedd ar y cwrs, a fi roedd yr un ifancaf. Roedd y llaill yn dod o Gymru, neu yn byw neu yn treulio eu gwyliau yno. Cyd-dynnon ni’n dda efo’n gilydd, a siaradon ni Cymraeg bron drwy’r amser. Roedd tua phum awr a hanner o ddosbarthiadau y dydd ac roedden nhw’n ddiddorol ac yn ddefnyddiol. Heblaw cryn dipyn o eiriau, ddysgais i ddim llawer o bethau newydd, ond roedd hi’n wych cael cyfle i ymarfer yr iaith.

Un o’r lleoedd harddaf a thawelaf dw i erioed wedi ymweld arno ydy Nant Gwrtheyrn. Roedd y bwyd sydd wedi darparu yng Nghaffi Meinir yn flasus ac yn doreithiog, ac roedd y tywydd yn braf trwy’r wythnos hefyd, heblaw tipyn bach o law ddydd iau.

Ar ais i mBrighton

D’fhill mé ar ais i mBrighton oíche Shathairn seo caite i ndiaidh turas an-fhada sa trén. D’fhág mé i bPwllheli oíche hAoine agus mé indiaidh an cúrsa i Nant Gwrtheyrn a chroichnaithe. Labhair mé an chuid is mó de úrscéal Breatnaise sa trén.

Níl ach seachtar fear bhí ar an cúrsa agus ba mise an daoine is óige. Ba ón Bhreatain Bheag na daoine eile, nó i bhur gconaí nó ag ceatheadh ár leathanta-saoire ansin. Reitigh muid go maith le cheile agus labhairt muid as Breatnaise beagnach an t-am ar fad.Bhí cúig uaire a chloig go leith ceachtana againn gach lá, agus bhí siad suimúil agus usaideach. Ach oiread cuid mhaith focalaí, ní d’fhoghlaim mé go leor rudaí nua, ach bhí sé go hiontach.

Is áit iontach álainn agus suaimhneach í Nant Gwrtheyrn. Bhí an bía a raibh ar fáil i gCaffi Meinir an bhlasta agus flúirseach, agus bhí sé go bréa an seachtaine ar fad, ach amháin giota beag baisteach ar Déardaoin.

Return to Brighton

By Simon

I arrived back in Brighton last night after an enjoyable week of studying and using Welsh in Nant Gwrtheyrn. There were only six others on the courses – all men – and I was the youngest. Most of the others were Welsh, or had Welsh connections, or at least make regular visits to Wales. Most of us were roughly at the same level, but there was one bloke from the Rhondda who spoke Welsh almost like a native speaker, and another who could read and write Welsh very well and had a huge vocabulary, but who couldn’t speak Welsh all that well.

A view of Nant Gwrtheyrn

We had about five hours of classes a day, which were interesting and useful. There were also a couple of organised evening activities, and an afternoon trip to Caer Gors, former home of one of Wales’ best known Welsh language authors, Kate Roberts (1891-1985), after which we had a look round Caernarfon. The rest of the time we spent chatting (mainly in Welsh), stuffing ourselves with the delicious food provided in the on-site restaurant, Caffi Meinir, and admiring the spectacular views.

Nant Gwrtheyrn is in a very isolated, beautiful and peaceful spot on the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales. It’s surrounded on three sides by mountains with the sea on the fourth side. The nearest village, Llithfaen, is three miles away up a narrow, winding and very steep road. On a clear day you can sea Anglesea, and on a very clear day you can apparently see Ireland.

A view of Nant Gwrtheyrn

Apart from a bit of rain on Thursday, the weather was fine and fairly warm, and the sun made quite frequent appearances. I was expecting a lot more of the wet stuff to be falling from the sky, so was pleasantly surprised.

There are a few more of my photos of Nant Gwrtheyrn on Flickr.

Nant Gwrtheyrn

By Simon

Tomorrow I’m off to Nant Gwrtheyrn, the Welsh Language and Heritage Centre in North Wales, where I’m going to learn some more Welsh. I’ll be there for a week and probably won’t have internet access, so won’t be able to answer your emails. I’m also going to turn off comments to prevent the usual flood of spam that inundates this blog.

In the meantime, here’s a recording of a poem in a mystery language. Can you work out which language it is? I’ll give you the answer when I return from Wales.

Gwyliau

By Simon

Yn ddiweddar, dw i wedi bod yn meddwl am le i fynd ar fy ngwyliau eleni. Dw i wedi penderfynnu gwneud cwrs Cymraeg yn Nant Gwrtheyrn ym Mis Mai. Yna ym Mis Gorffenaf, a i ar yr Ysgol Haf Iaith a Diwylliant yn Oideas Gael yn Glencolmcille yn Iwerddon. Ar ôl hynny, bydda i’n mynd i Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (Ysgubor Mawr Ostag), y coleg Gaeleg ar Ynys Skye, i wneud cwrs caneuon Gaeleg. Mae dwy wythnos o wyliau eraill ‘da fi, ond dw i ddim wedi penderfynnu lle i fynd eto.

Laethanta saoire

Le déanaí tá mé ag smaoineamh cá bhfuil mé ag dul ar mó laethanta saoire i mbliana. Chinn mé ar Breatnais a fhoghlaim i Nant Gwrtheyrn sa Bhreatain Bheag i mí na Bealtaine. Ansin i mí Iúil rachaidh mé go Oideas Gael i nGleann Cholm Cille an Scoil Shamhraidh i dTeanga & Cultúr a dhéanamh. I ndiaidh sin déanfaidh mé cúrsa amhránaíocht as Gaeilge na hAlban i gColáiste Sabhal Mòr Ostaig san Oileán Sciathanach. Tá dhá seachtaine saoire eile agam, ach na chinn mé cá bhfuil mé ag dul go fóill.

Holidays

Recently I’ve been thinking about where to go on holiday this year. I’ve decided to do a Welsh language course at Nant Gwrtheyrn in Wales in May. Then in July I’ll be off to Ireland for the Irish Language and Culture Summer School at Oideas Gael in Glencolmcille. After that, I’ll go to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic College on the Isle of Skye, to do a course in Gaelic Song. I have two more weeks of holiday left but haven’t decided where to go yet.