Mae - Byw

The following exercises are meant to help you sharpen your accent. Be sure to read through the word lists before you listen to the recording. Remember also to play the recording a number of times to ensure you get the sounds 100%.

mae           byw

cae            cyw

ffrae          llyw

bae            rhyw

Ŵy ac wyau!

Ŵy           pwy          mwy                  dwy        gŵyl      llwy
wyau       pwys        mwyn                dwys       hwyl      llwyn
Ŵyr         pwynt      mwyar duon      dwylo      nwy       llwyd

Eira mân, eira mawr!

Tiny snowflakes will produce a great amount of snow - according to the old          saying!                                                                                                                        

Ffliwchio - when large snowflakes are being buffeted by the wind ... the snow

                    appears to be dancing!

Lluwchio - when the snow is drifting and causing snow drifts.


   "O ... ma' hi'n bwrw eira!"

   "Ydy - ma' hi'n siwr o luwchio heno!"

   

Gwybodaeth - Information .

Read the text in bold print out loud.


Bydd y wers olaf y tymor yma ar ddydd Mercher y pymthegfed o Ragfyr

The last lesson for this term will be on Wednesday the 15th of December.


Bydd y wers gyntaf y tymor nesaf ar ddydd Mercher y pumed o Ionawr. 

The first lesson for the next term will be on Wednesday the fifth of January.


y wers olaf - the last lesson
y wers gyntaf - the first lesson

y tymor yma - this term
y tymor nesaf - next term

ar ddydd Mercher - on Wednesday

Ionawr - January
Rhagfyr  - December   N.B  o Ragfyr  (the "h" has disappeared!)

pymthegfed - fifteenth!

10 = deg,     11 = un ar ddeg,     12 = deu ddeg,     13 = tri ar ddeg,  
 
               14 - pedwar ar ddeg,       15 - pymtheg = fifteen!

Sut 'dach chi?

  Try to listen and understand the following before reading the transcript below :






Helo, sut dach chi?

Da iawn diolch. A chitha - sut 'dach chi?

Go lew wir. Dywedwch i mi - lle 'dach chi'n byw rwan?     (tell me)

Dwi'n byw yn y Felinheli yn ymyl Bangor.

A lle 'dach chi'n gweithio 'rwan 'ta?

Dw i'n gweithio yn y llyfrgell ym Mangor.          (library)

O da iawn, hwyl fawr.

Hwyl!

Geiriadur - Dictionary

A very useful on-line Welsh/English or English/Welsh dictionary can be found here.

                                        http://www.geiriadur.net/

  

N.B,   gair - word                geiriadur - dictionary

          cyfrif - to count         cyfrifiadur - computer

Pwy 'dy hi?

Pwy 'dy hi?  Be' 'dy ei henw hi?   Listen to the h in the second question and note how the 
                                                                              underlined  words are  pronounced as one sound!
 
O Gwen Tomos 'dy hi. Mae hi'n gweithio yn y coleg ym Mangor.

Tybed o le mae hi'n dod yn wreiddiol?         Tybed = (I) wonder

O mae hi'n dod o Fethesda yn wreiddiol ond rwan mae hi'n byw mewn fflat ar lan y mor yn Llanfairfechan.

Dyna braf!

Now, after learning the questions,have a go at changing the lady's name and the place names and you can come up with a completely different story! 

O Eirian Evans 'dy hi ac mae hi'n gweithio ar y til yn Tesco yn Llangefni.

Mae hi'n dod o Ben Llyn yn wreiddiol ond rwan mae hi'n byw mewn 

bwthyn bach del yn Llandegfan. 

bwthyn bach del = cottage/little/pretty - pretty little cottage!

Pwy 'dy o?

Who is he indeed?                  Listen to the nice young man as he tells his tale.
Where is he from originally?                        O le mae o'n dod yn wreiddiol?
Where does he live now?                              Lle mae o'n byw rwan? 
What does he do?                                         Be' mae o'n neud?
With whom does he work?                           Lle mae o'n gweithio?




Of course Sion's speech could be an convenient means by which you could talk about yourself.

  Helo, --------------------   dw i a dw i'n dod yn wreiddiol o -----------------

ond rwan (but now) dw i'n byw yn  ------------  yn ymyl ---------------.

Dw i'n gweithio fel ----------------

A new beginning?

The recent recordings were a calamity from my point of view as they were almost inaudible which was such a pity as I had two excellent volunteers who offered to do the readings. However I'm sure that I will sort things out soon -  before next term if not earlier! 
Now a word about last night's lesson.
Ydy Bil yn gweithio?   Nac ydy, ma' Bil  wedi ymddeol.   
Does Bil work?                                         No (he does not!)  - Bil has retired.

NOW INSTEAD OF REPEATING THE BIL IN THE ANSWER YOU CAN REFER   TO  HIM AS "o"

Ydy Bil yn gweithio?    Nac ydy,  mae o wedi ymddeol.      ... he has retired.

Ydy Gwen yn gweithio?     Ydy, mae hi'n gweithio fel nyrs.
                                                         .......  she       works as a nurse.

Also note how Ydy  and Nac ydy match up!

The ydy affirms that he or she is doing something.

Ydy Robin yn byw ym Mangor?  Ydy!    Yes - he does live in Bangor.

Of course nac ydy will tell you that someone is not doing something!

Ydy Shelley yn byw ym Mangor?      Nac ydy, mae hi yn byw yn Sir Fon.

Does Shelley live in Bangor?                                                            No she does not,          she lives in Anglesey

  Feel free to make a comment or ask a question!
  

More recordings - but remember to turn up your speakers!

For this series of recodings I'll just publish the text and let you get on with the reading and the listening!

1.   Pwy dach chi?                  (Who are you)

      Sian dw i.                           (I'm Sian)
     Braf  eich cyfarfod.     (Lovely to meet you)
     Hwyl! 
 

2.  Be ydy'ch enw chi?        (What's your name?)
      Huw dw i.                           (I'm Huw.)
     Gareth dach chi?            (Are you Gareth?)
      Naci                                      (No)


3.   Lle dach chi'n byw?                    (Where do you live?)
      Dw i'n byw yn Abertawe.       (I live in Swansea.)

Pnawn da!

Well it may not be afternoon when you read this but this post is to help you get the pronunciation of Pnawn da.
I've asked the speaker to recite -

chwech, saith, wyth, naw - pnawn da, pnawn da

      6           7          8        9
so that the aw in naw (9) will help you get the pnawn right.
I think you may need to turn up your speakers for this recording!

Combined vowels

If you turn to page three of your textbook you will see a list of twenty words which include two vowels next to each other. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to read out the letters of each word - in Welsh of course!
I've been very fortunate to have succeeded in persuading a very lovely lady to record all these words for you! Listen to the words in groups of five: 1-5, 1-10, 1- 15, 1-20 and repeat each word after you hear it.
Don't do this just once but go over the exercise several times until you are able to pronounce every word with confidence.
 

Pronunciation!

Click on the player and you will hear the following :

• A - araf
• E - Elen
• O - moron
• I -  Idris
• Y - Yn ... Yr
• U - unig
• W - pwll
• y - Bryn,  Rhys, Ynyr

Explanation!

The title of the blog should read Cymraeg efo Bil

                         Cymraeg   (Welsh)   efo  (with)     Bil    (me)!


I think the title Cymraeg 'da Bil suits the class so it will remain as it is!  Hwyl!

Croeso

Croeso mawr i chi gyd!  (A big welcome to you all!)

A very warm welcome to you all to the first lesson this evening.

Hope all goes well!

Bil