I'm learning Welsh - Dysgwr Cymraeg ydw i! It does seem a bit of a slog but, stating the obvious, learning a language is difficult. In my 6th year now of evening classes I recently attended a 2 day intensive new year revision course at Cardiff University motivated by the new year and accompanying resolutions. I even made it to my first Clonc Yn Y Cwtsh. This week I had better do some homework.
Intensive/ immersive is the way to go I think if you want to develop the skills quickly and efficiently, and if you have the time, admittedly for a little longer than the two days I managed and those were tiring enough! The tutors were very good and it was also good to meet more fellow Welsh learners. The primary feeling at the end of the two days however was exasperation that I hadn't had the opportunity to learn Welsh in school when it would have been much, much easier! At least this angle seems to be covered in Wales now. Saying this, I would probably have been one of those individuals who 'lost' the language after school and had to come back to study again anyway when their interest was renewed, as was the case with some of my course peers.
Anway, below are a few resources I find/ have found useful. I wanted to tie these together for my own reference and as we seem to be lacking any decent portal for Welsh learners centralising such information:
- Cysill Ar-lein (http://www.cysgliad.com/cysill/arlein/) - I've only had a quick play but looks great for the experienced learner or fluent speaker as it allows you to check whole chunks of text. This from the Language Technologies Unit of Canolfan Bedwyr - Bangor University's centre for Welsh language services, which seems to be the dominant such establishment in Wales. There is also an offline application for purchase (Cysgliad), though there is no indication of price on the website/ no ability to order online. A quick google indicated a price of £40 for Windows and that the Mac version was available for free(!).
- Porth Termau/ Terminology Portal (http://ap.termau.org/) which provides a simple web interface to the underlying databases
- The BBC Welsh dictionary (http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/welshdictionary/en-cy/) which again is a web view on the Bangor database(s). Also see their other resources, e.g. Pigion and Catchphrase. I may well return to more general resources like these, Hwb, SSIW, Yr Bont, etc. in another post. 03/02/13 (thanks to Esyllt): also available via the dictionary pages the
- Google translate (http://translate.google.co.uk) - which I use often and seems pretty good, albeit I'm only Canolradd so my judgement might be questionable. It has some nice tools not available on other solutions. It's also embedded into Google's Chrome browser - it will recognise the language and offer to translate whole pages should you use this browser. There are a number of other web browser plugin tools which I may return to at a later date, though I don't tend to use them.
- Geriadur.net (http://www.geiriadur.net) - the dictionary from Trinity Saint David. I haven't used it much but know of others who prefer it.
- 'Ap Geiriaduron' (http://www.bangor.ac.uk/canolfanbedwyr/ap_geiriaduron.php.en) All the above are online resources ... no good in the Kymin in Penarth during my lessons as connectivity is non-existent. For offline apps best served are Android and Apple users with 'Ap Geiriaduron'. Hopefully this will make it to other platforms as well in the not too distant future.
- Geiriadur yr Academi 03/02/13 (thanks to Esyllt): another from Canolfan Bedwyr, though not listed in the Language Technologies Unit Websites page.
In summary, Canolfan Bedwyr seems to be dominating the market! Personally I used to use the BBC view on the database(s) but after buying a Nexus 7 this has largely been replaced with 'Ap Geiriaduron' and I also frequently use Google Translate. I should also, I think, give Cysill Ar-lein more of a go in terms of a learning aid.
Digon ar hyn o bryd. I may return with a list of some more general resources at a later date. Feel free to suggest some and I will collate. Similarly if I have missed any dictionary resources you like, please leave a comment via the below. Or if you know of any good web portals for Welsh learners as I've struggled to find one. So maybe I'll make one.
Chris.
Additional:
21/01/13: Glosbe - the multilingual online dictionary (http://glosbe.com/); also I've been using Google translate and it's not quite as good as I thought - gets a bit confused with the more complex ...
17/04/13: Gweiadur - I haven't delved into much and there a few 'inconsistencies' in this beta site, but looks to be an interesting project.
17/06/13: Just spotted Eurfa which also includes a downloadable dictionary.