#welsh:general

Okay, I will say that SSiW is by far my top recommendation, at least for getting started. Yes it's annoying to have to do those drills, no it's probably not perfect, but it does exactly what's on the label: teaches you to be able to say things in Welsh. That being said, it shouldn't be the only thing you use, and if you can't handle it then I totally understand. Here are some other resources I quite like:

Language Resources:

The Welsh government has a website for Welsh learners, it might take some digging but there's a lot of things there, even if you're not located in Wales

BBC Wales' Welsh at Home is deprecated but is still available in an archive version, and has lots of vocab and grammar (plus it's divided North/South, which is always good)

Clwb Malu Cachu is also very old but has lots and lots of good stuff

You can look at the BBC's WJEC Welsh as a Second Language review page if you need more materials to study from, although this isn't really a good way to learn the language

Reference Resources:

Geiriadur Bangor is the best online dictionary, it's very helpful and can unconjugate verbs and unmutate words to figure out what the dictionary root is if you're stuck. Also, if you look at the bottom left of the homepage there's a list of links to other dictionaries and resources, in case you want them.

Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar & Modern Welsh Dictionary by Gareth King are both excellent resources if you can get your hands on them (by any means necessary, I Do Not See). The dictionary is the cheaper of the two and I would highly recommend it because it has phrases in it as well, which is pretty much the only thing it has that the Geiriadur Bangor doesn't.

Listening/Reading Practice:

It has gone by many names but I think S4C Dysgu Cymraeg is the current one, you can also look at Hwb and there's a couple more in between as well, but this is basically Welsh television's learners program, and has media in Welsh that's been designed for learners.

Pigion: Highlights for Welsh Learners is a podcast with a similar purpose, it takes clips from Radio Cymru for learners and they also have vocab and little summaries for each clip on their website. This one is really a good way to get in your listening practice.

If you live in Wales (or the UK in general??) you can watch S4C. If you don't you can't, which is where I am suffering rn ahaha.

You can read the news on Golwg360 or BBC Cymru, Welsh followers let me know if you have other recommendations.

You can listen to BBC Radio Cymru live online, and you can also browse their listing of podcasts (fingers crossed that's the right link).

Hansh makes a ton of pop-culture-y internet content for teens/young adults, if you want something not too serious to watch.

General Websites:

Readlang actually has very good Welsh support, if you're serious and can afford it then getting pro might be worth it, but the free version also works perfectly well! You can also add it as a browser extension which is very useful for reading news sites.

Memrise courses: I like the 150 Welsh Verbs, 150 Welsh Adjectives, and All Around Confidence for a longer course if you'd like

I will say that Duolingo is one of my least favorite Welsh resources, if it's what you like then go for it but I'd recommend SSiW much more.

I was asked by @portugue for some dictionaries/terminology lists in different languages, but I realized when I checked that I actually only have them for 2 of the languages I study. If people have more minoritized language resources for LGBTQIA+ terminology, please add them on here! Let’s try to get as many as we can.

TERMCAT - Diccionari LGBT (Catalan): https://www.termcat.cat/ca/diccionaris-en-linia/256

Stonewall Cymru - Geirfa (Welsh): https://www.stonewallcymru.org.uk/cy/cymorth-chyngor/geirfa -UPDATE: This Google doc has corrections/improvements on the Stonewall Cymru list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bE8oVmZEhl6Wxqk6EEiEkv8z5xxq-cyQYjjigQPYKO0/edit

An Foclóir Aiteach (Irish): https://usi.ie/focloir-aiteach/

Celtic Students Blog - LGBTQ Terminology in the Celtic Languages (Welsh, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx, Breton): https://celticstudents.blogspot.com/2021/02/lgbtq-terminology-in-celtic-languages.html?m=1

Geidh.uk - Briathrachas LGDTCE+ (Scottish Gaelic): https://geidh.uk/briathrachas-lcdt/

GUILLEMELGAT’S CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD | Cymru (Wales)

A Mari Lwyd with her retinue at St Fagans in Cardiff (source). The Mari Lwyd is one of the most famous Welsh traditions. A ribbon-bedecked horse skull on a pole which is covered by a bedsheet, she comes knocking on doors and challenges anyone who answers them to pwnco, a rhyming battle (or sings them carols if it’s a gentler version).

A Plygain service at Capel Jewin, a Welsh church in London (source). Plygain is another very well-known Welsh Christmas tradition. The Plygain service was held early in the morning on Christmas day (the word plygain is said to come from the Latin for the cock’s crow, since it began before dawn). Because it was dark in the church, the people in the village would all bring candles to light up the space.

Two people singing Plygain carols at the church in Llansilin (source). Plygain services traditionally centered on the singing of carols, which would be performed a capella by one or two people. The services typically lasted until breakfast time. Many of the older carols were highly religious and almost a substitute for a sermon; modern Plygain is generally less intense. The tradition nearly died out, but several communities around Wales have maintained it for the unique singing rather than for its religious character.

A woman making Welsh treacle toffee (source). The night before Christmas, it was common to gather together and make Christmas taffy, typically during the hours before the Plygain service. The taffy was made over the stove and stretched by hand, usually while talking with family and neighbors. Another tradition in some areas was to cool off the taffy by dropping bits of it into cold water and to try to figure out who someone’s future spouse would be by seeing what letters the taffy looked like it had formed.

A greeting card with a song about Siôn Corn (source). The Welsh version of Santa Claus is Siôn Corn (‘[Chimney] Stack John’). The song on this card was written by J. Glyn Davies and is still commonly sung by children during Christmas concerts.

A box from Pembrokeshire which would be used to hold the captured wren, decorated on the outside with ribbons (source). The tradition on Twelfth Night in Pembrokeshire—or other days during Christmastide in other parts of the British Isles—was to capture the wren, a tiny bird. The wren was considered to be bad luck, and capturing it was a way to ensure a prosperous new year.

A modern group parading around the wren (source). Once captured, the wren would be brought from house to house, and people would pay to look at it within the box.

A sprig of holly, like that used for older St Stephen’s Day traditions (source). Up until several centuries ago, there was a tradition on the day after Christmas (Gwyl San Steffan) of groups of young men going around and beating the arms of girls with holly branches—or, in some cases, family members beating the last person up in the morning. This tradition, needless to say, has died out.

(posting this today because I didn’t start yesterday I didn’t want to spam your dashes)

The two languages I’m going to be working on in January are Welsh and Amharic. I’m going to be making the very interesting choice of attempting to study for 2 hours a day, which will probably last less than a day, but I’m going to try it all the same.

Welsh

Main goal: Have finished SSiW Level 2 and be able to comfortably have a conversation about any A1-A2 level topic with my friend

Daily goals:

Do one SSiW lesson

Practice vocabulary for 15min on Memrise or Duolingo

Weekly goals:

Talk with my friend

Listen to or watch something in Welsh

Try to read an article or a page of a book and look up unknown words

Content I will try to post:

Vocab lists from SSiW lessons

Grammar from SSiW lessons

Vocab dumps from reading practice

Amharic

Main goal: Have finished Colloquial Amharic and be able to tell my friend about what I’ve been doing in Amharic (and understand his replies)

Daily goals:

Take notes on chapter of Colloquial Amharic or do chapter exercises

Practice chapter vocabulary on Memrise

Weekly goals:

Message my friend

Write a page

Content I will try to post:

Vocab/grammar notes

Vocab dumps from conversations

Paragraph that I wrote

(Words which I didn't know from the first page of Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd)

brolio - boast

anesbionadwy - inexplicable

oherwydd - since, because

rwdlmi-lol - nonsense

cyfarwyddwr - director

cynhyrchu - manufacture

gwddf - neck

hynod o - remarkably

er - since, though

bron - nearly, almost

maint - size, extent

ymestyn - stretch, extend

cyfrinach - secret

hofn - jitters, fright, dread

petai - if he would (?)

cyfarfod - meet

da-i-ddim - no-good

arswydo - horrify

cymysgu - mix

(Words which I didn’t know from the second page of Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd)

tamp - damp

awgrymu - suggest, hint

cyn bo hir - before long

anniddorol - uninteresting

yn fodlon - contentedly

llusgo - drag

sgrechian - scream, screech (v.)

nerth - power, strength

asgwrn (pl. esgryn) - bone

sylwi - notice, observe, comment

brech - spotted (?)

cydio yn - take up

methu - miss, flop

lluchio - fling, throw

creision ŷd - corn flakes

arwydd - sign

This March I’m going to be continuing to study Romani and also studying a bit of Welsh on the side. The overarching goal for them is to reach a solid A2 and B1 respectively. I know I said at the beginning of the year that my goal was to expand my vocabulary, so that’s mainly what I’ll be working on for both. Here are my goals:

Welsh

Do @languagessi’s Langblr News Challenge twice a week and write down new words

Message my friend who’s also learning Welsh every day

Romani

Learn 100 new vocab words per week (finish my stack of 400 index cards by the end of the month)

Read 3 pages of my book 2 days a week

Write a page in my journal 2 days a week

Speak for 10 minutes every day