Back the Bid – Or Die

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg are holding a large rally up in "Aber" (for us southerners) here is more info. Hopefully it'll pave the way for a new Welsh Language act, in get this Wales. (Sweet lord, who would have thought it!) =p. Well enough sarcasm on my part. It's a good move, lets hope Welsh is recognised as Wales' official language.

Oh and other learners like myself, i'd recommend signing upto the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg newsletters, keeps you informed of the "happenings" of Welsh.

In other news my foundation level Welsh course ends in about three weeks! I've learned alot, but theres plent more to learn. Especially in vocabulary.

da boch chi pawb! Mae hi'n boeth heddiw, mmmm heulog yn Cymru. Shocker!

Ail- Luniad: Caerdydd Launched!

Well I finally finished it off for the project i have on the side, the map is as accurate to the real thing as i could get, little differences in terrain height will be added as i actually build cardiff in-game, but all in all, i think it's pretty damn accurate considering most of it was hand terraformed, painstakingly tile by tile (there are over 160). Let the games begin!

 want to see more? Recreation: Cardiff. Rebuilding the Welsh Capital

My battered Welsh dictionary

What's so interesting about a dictionary you may ask? This is the one in question:

It's abit tired looking now, worn on the edges, as you might expect from being a few years old, and I really had not counted on buying it to begin with. I bought it more on impulse, you could say I bought it out of a sense of pride. Pride? What pride can you possibly get out of a dictionary? Especially being the only one wedged between Yiddish and some other language. Being in a foreign country certainly helps, noting that some other place is aware of this small country and even smaller the minority who speak it. Have I held you in suspense enough? So where did i buy this particular dictionary? None other:

The United Nations building in New York City. Lodged between Yiddish and another language was my dictionary, So while we may not "legally" be a nation on an absurd archaic historical legal term. At least our language is recognised by the United Nations, even if we do have problems making it "official" in Wales. Perhaps one day, we'll have our own seat in the general assembly, not just the one in the bay.

Fflŵff a’r Pysgod

Well, long time no see folks! As you can see, i've given the place a bit of a clean up. I added my own custom header image. It's is Cardiff, I took it last year during summer. Some other crap on the right (Mewnosod crap yma). Unfortunately the flickr widget for this particular wordpress theme isn't working yet, but rest assured i'll be adding it to the side bar as soon as I can.

 In other news, since Rhys asked =) I won second place for the "sgets/deialog/cyfieliad" category at the Pontypool learners eisteddfod for http://www.clwbmalucachu.co.uk/short_stories/level_1_pysgod.htm "Fflŵff a'r pysgod" which i vigorously memorised over the course of three weeks, I didnt do too badly considering it was quite a hefty amount of words that i was unfamiliar with, pfft who cares!

There was just two lines that threw me during the performance: "Mae pwll yn rhewi ac mae'r pysgod yn nofio dan y rhew. Mae fflŵff yn gwylio'r pysgod y nofio yma ag acw." They threw me because (to me at least) the rythum and the structure of each, are remarkably similar, especially the ending's which i had to keep going over to make it sink in. Grêt though, I had a nos bendegedig. (Hows that for Wenglish?) =p

In other unrelated news, i quit my job at the infamously bad "hotel" in central Newport. Note to everyone, they will rip you off! =p Slander! 

Ail- Luniad: Caerdydd #2

So, I havent posted in here for a little while! I have been modelling as you can see, the poll turned in favour of me modelling city hall over the pierhead building (narrowly i must say), theaccurate scale map of Caerdydd is coming along very well, almost entirely terraformed (yes when it’s done i’ll show you). Right now I’m gonna work ALOT on city hall, I have alot of spare time coming up soon, so plenty of time to work on this. As you can see the front of the building is mostly complete, but the neo-classical designs are gonna be a beyatch! Wish me luck

oh and life is going just fine right now, I’m planning to take a TEFL coursevery soon (depends on my wage packet), so i can kiss my crappy job goodbye, then it’s off travelling and working at the same time *hopefully*. The only downside is that my continuation of learning Welsh may be hindered. Although i have heard cases of people teaching themselves, and if i do become a qualified TEFL teacher, there is no excuse! =p

Gah! Anti-Welsh sentiment online (how fun)

Okay, So I joined this online political game at http://www.particracy.net All went dandy initially, I picked my party name and looked forward to a bit of debate and an excuse to waste half an hour, although it turned  sour in the first day.

One of my first proposals (which have to be passed by a majority of the other parties) was my “Preservation of Native Language’s” bill, which entailed exactly the following:

“The stated departments of education shall henceforth protect and promote the use of our native languages, and to ensure that our native languages do not become extinct due to the internationalisation of the English language. Children in our nation should be raised bilingual, educated in both English and specific language, to ensure our ancient heritage and culture is passed onto our children and their childrens children.”

Now I don’t see anything particularily offensive there at all (let me know if anyone else thinks otherwise), and my chosen party name was hardly controversial “The Welsh Eudaimonic Party”, but within hours I got this response:

“What is it with the welsh why do you want to learn a language wich absolutly no one on earth speaks and then write your sign posts in it. (dont accuse me of being anti welsh as i visit frequently and love Bullet for my vallentine and Funeral for a friend)”

I mean seriously was there any need for it? What’s funny is that his choice of music is somehow a guarantee that he isn’t anti-Welsh. I really don’t understand that. Well, being the complete Welsh whackjob I am, I had to reply =p

“No-one on Earth? There is over 3 million Welsh speakers across the world! I want to speak Welsh because it’s my birthright, my heritage and MY language, and the language of my forefathers. We write OUR signposts in bilingual text because, GET THIS. THOSE SIGNPOSTS ARE IN WALES *shock horror*. Your comments are as illogical as offensive. It’s like saying signposts in England shouldn’t be written in English!

I really don’t see your argument against this bill, if you’d like to propose an actual REASON, why children should NOT be raised bi-lingual than please propose that, instead of going off on one about bilingual signposts in Welsh and English in Wales.

This bill ensures that our native languages can continue to prosper for our future generations.

Also, I think you should look into the Welsh colony in Patagonia. Lots of Welsh speakers down in that part of the world.”

Okay, I may have exagerrated the number a bit, but since when is a language only a language if it has a certain critera of speakers? What a complete toss-head. Unsurprisingly he was from Yorkshire. Go figure that one folks.

This was the funniest bit later in the argument though:

 ”Dammt I wish Yorkshire had a langage.”

I could have been cruel and told him that Yorkshire had a dialect of Welsh at one time, but I’ll take the higher ground

Read the horror for yourself, if you’d like:

http://80.237.164.51/particracy/main/viewbill.php?billid=56297

Hedd Wyn – We Salute you!

I had the opportunity to see this film for the first time a day ago. One of my classamtes from Welsh gave me it a while ago, and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since (due to work). I finally got my arse around and saw it. The fact that I understood little of the actual to-and-fro of dialogue (due to me not being fluent, or the fact it was of the North Walian variety) was not an obstacle at all, I just sat by reading and picking up on phrases and words I did know and continued enjoying the film. It was certainly a ride! Sure some of the filming and sound techniques look old now, but you can see quite clearly how and why it won awards, It’s a great film for those out there who believe violence is never the answer, or war for that matter. Hedd Wyn the central charcter could be said to be a kind of metaphor for Wales “Land of poets and minstrels…. Harp of my country still survives” implying that the Welsh’s favourite weapon of choice is artistic rather than imperealistic.

Hedd Wyn avoids enlisting in the army as world war one beckons until there comes a point where he has to go to war. During this period he has a string of romances and writes poetry, aiming to win the noble seat at the national Eisteddfod. I wont ruin what happens, safe to say it’s a bit of tear jerker, that will leave you moved.

St Davids Day Photos

Eventful march, nice to see some open Welsh patriotism for a change (or at least thats my perception), despite the cold they went on! Did Dewi Sant proud =)

More of my photos are located here

Happy Saint Davids Day!

I shall be heading into Cardiff later today to see the parade and take a few photos of the parade itself and the assembly building. topping the night off with plenty of alcohol

Until then! . G’night!

P.S I just made that signature banner about five minutes ago. Feel free to use it, just credit me if anyone asks!

New Photo’s

Added some pictures to my flickr account today, have a look