Welsh Language Made Easy, a method - Mae

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  • čas přidán 25. 08. 2024

Komentáře • 122

  • @edwardthomas6956
    @edwardthomas6956 Před 2 lety +22

    Excellent vivid piece just as I was getting bored with Duolingo. Good thoughtful pace of delivery, instilling respect for the senior language of our island

  • @larrydykes7643
    @larrydykes7643 Před 2 lety +30

    (Disclaimer: not an expert on Welsh, but as a person recently having started... )
    I find it useful to think of MAE as meaning "it is the case that" or "it's true that" or like a programming construct ASSERT - meaning that we are simply asserting that what follows is information. Thus BYDD is "it will be that" and ROEDD is "it was that" (something is true).
    I also find it useful to think of YN as meaning "in" but in the sense of being involved in an action or in being something, not in the sense of being inside something.
    "Mae o yn canu" is thus "it is the case that he is involved in singing" -- long but it works for "he sings / is singing". Don't know if this helps anybody.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +2

      Diolch iti am rannu. Thank you for sharing.

    • @Knappa22
      @Knappa22 Před 2 lety +2

      That’s a nifty way of thinking about it :)

    • @fhreire
      @fhreire Před rokem +1

      This is very good, it makes so much sense to me.

    • @synkkamaan1331
      @synkkamaan1331 Před rokem +1

      Does Welsh have a word to indicate the subjunctive mood?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +2

      We have a tense which conjugates into it, which is rarely used. Bwyf i / That I may be. Pan fo ddau (When two may be).

  • @amay3959
    @amay3959 Před rokem +7

    Using Duolingo is helpful and I am enjoying it but sometimes I just get puzzled wondering why there is a rule and then there isn't with certain questions. 'r i' r and why is Mae sometimes used and other times there is a substitute. This video was very good and clear and put together well. Nobody needs disturbing graphics when you want to learn you need to focus. Thanks very much. Diolch yn Fawr

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +2

      Diolch am yr adborth.
      Thanks for the feedback.

  • @michaelhalsall5684
    @michaelhalsall5684 Před 2 lety +9

    This video takes some of the fear out of learning a Celtic language. Welsh appears to be the easier Celtic language to learn if your first language is English. Welsh appears to have a three tense "past, present, future" verb structure like English. Welsh appears to have a very phonetic spelling system, although quite different from English, once understood makes it easy to guess the pronunciation of words too. I pity people trying to learn Scots Gaelic for this reason! A lot of nouns in Welsh have an ultimately Latin origin and that helps too (Senadd (senate) etc.

  • @Danny-vk4zj
    @Danny-vk4zj Před 2 lety +9

    Great Video; I am literally learning Mae at the moment, so this Vid has come out, just at the right time for me. I kind of see, wrongly or rightly Mae as a statement as opposed to Ydy for a question and Dydy as a negative.. (hope I got that right 😭) .. very useful and informative like all ur Vids.. and great to see some local landscapes too.. (I live nr Caernarfon). Im on day 422 on Duolingo, give me another 10 years and I may be confident enough to have a proper conversation in public 🤣🤣🤣

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +4

      Dal ati / Keep at it.

    • @FrozenMermaid666
      @FrozenMermaid666 Před rokem +1

      I just started learning Welsh, yesterday - am learning about 7 / 8 languages at the moment, including Dutch / Norwegian / Swedish / French / Italian / German and also trying to improve my Portuguese etc! I learned the numbers and some nouns and verbs yesterday, plus a lot of pronunciation rules! The W is considered a vowel in Welsh and is pronounced like the English W (so W sounds like an U) and LL is pronounced like a soft S with an airy sound and the CH is pronounced sort of like an H, from what I could hear, so it kinda reminds of Dutch when certain words are pronounced, and AU is pronounced AI / AY and, the U at the end of the words is pronounced like an I / Y, from what I can hear - and I also learned how to pronounce the name of the longest city in Welsh! Also, I couldn’t understand what mae meant yesterday, but I think I get it know, though! I’m trying to learn as much new vocab and grammar as possible!

    • @martinkullberg6718
      @martinkullberg6718 Před rokem

      Leuk dat je Nederlands leert! 😁

  • @mikeowen9440
    @mikeowen9440 Před rokem +3

    Most useful intro to Welsh I’ve seen .. thanks

  • @TheInternationalPrayerSociety
    @TheInternationalPrayerSociety Před 9 měsíci +1

    excellently explained...such a great help... you're a good teacher Ben..

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 9 měsíci

      A wonderful thing of you to say. Diolch.

  • @richardglaves9873
    @richardglaves9873 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Hi Ben Wenglish is a dialect I grew up in the valleys of south Wales where predominately Wenglish was used. It is seen as a dialect of English but can be seen as a separate language . John Edward’s book talk tidy. Welsh English (Welsh: Saesneg Gymreig) comprises the dialects of English spoken by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. This was the dialect I grew up with and it took a while to realise when I spoke to my English cousins that what I was speaking was not standard English . I can see that more English words are creeping in to the welsh language this can probably be see as a new form of Wenglish where welsh is the dominant language with English words thrown in like Jojo , Licio( this has been used for a long time) learners may throw in an English word if unsure to continue the conversation. Mutations are beginning to be dropped in some places but I am unsure how wide spread it is.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 10 měsíci +2

      I think a lot of the English being used in Welsh is down to lack of education over centuries in Welsh, and now lack of teaching Welsh properly. But, with English being as big as it is, there is no getting away from its influence. Welsh is changing under English influence into a new phase of the language in my opinion, which will be unintelligible to speakers of Welsh in past centuries, and make reading older Welsh very difficult for modern speakers.

  • @caveman__ogof
    @caveman__ogof Před 5 měsíci +1

    S'mae 😊 Nice channel. I've comitted to learning welsh this year. I would love to one day film my CZcams caving videos in welsh. Hwyl

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 5 měsíci +3

      Oh please do. We need more cynnwys (content) of all kinds in Cymraeg.

  • @fhreire
    @fhreire Před rokem +1

    This was a great explanation, thank you for that.

  • @tedi1932
    @tedi1932 Před 2 lety +1

    A very interesting simplification

  • @noir66146
    @noir66146 Před 9 měsíci

    really nice observation about languages and the verb "to do" / what and when.

  • @rocktapperrobin9372
    @rocktapperrobin9372 Před 10 měsíci

    That’s the clearest introduction I’ve seen the Welsh verb system. Diolch.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 10 měsíci

      Glad it was straightforward for you. Excellent.

  • @thenightraven60
    @thenightraven60 Před rokem

    This channel is a little mine of useful info. Glad I found it.

  • @martinkullberg6718
    @martinkullberg6718 Před rokem +1

    Dim parcio dros nos! 🚫🚘🌌 😁
    I saw this sentence while I went to wales for vacation a few years back.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +2

      It is funny the way random phrases stick with us.

  • @johnnydoe9874
    @johnnydoe9874 Před rokem +1

    This was great. I was confused when to use mae, dw I roedd and rydych. Now I have something to start with.

  • @deewesthill1213
    @deewesthill1213 Před 2 lety +4

    I read Spanish fluently. Spanish was so easy to learn, at least for reading.i know the Celtic language family has more similarities to Latin/Romance than to English and other German, etc. I'm interested in learning Welsh words that have cognates in Spanish.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +4

      ¡Adivina el brazo!
      Dyfala'r braich! (guess the arm)

    • @TerencePetersenAjbro
      @TerencePetersenAjbro Před rokem +3

      Lladron/ladron springs to mind. Canu/cantar, credu/crear. The word "nofio" (swim in Welsh) trips me up sometimes as the Spanish "novio" (boyfriend) is very similar. You get a lot of Latin loanwords in Welsh relating to the church and theological concepts too. Reading the Bible in Welsh is pretty hard-going though. Formal literary Welsh and the spoken language are alas very different.

    • @deewesthill1213
      @deewesthill1213 Před rokem +2

      @@TerencePetersenAjbro Interesting!

  • @lisareed5669
    @lisareed5669 Před rokem +1

    I needed this!

  • @user-vo1ir7rp5f
    @user-vo1ir7rp5f Před 5 měsíci

    Thank you Ben.

  • @localpm
    @localpm Před rokem +1

    Thanks for the explanation very helpful indeed.

  • @wooddragon55
    @wooddragon55 Před 11 měsíci +1

    Very helpful, Diolch!

  • @edmundoferreira-rocha7400

    Excellent!

  • @LuxDeLune
    @LuxDeLune Před 5 měsíci +1

    Very good advice thanks for sharing. You sound like Joaquin Phoenix and resemble him a little too!

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 5 měsíci +2

      Funny enough, not the 1st comparison to Mr. Phoenix!

  • @shelleyhcq
    @shelleyhcq Před rokem

    Thankyou for this, it was very helpful. I'm thoroughly enjoying learning Welsh!

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      It is a fun journey. Make sure you enjoy the process of growing in the language rather than focusing so much on a specific point in the future. You can do it.

  • @jamburga321
    @jamburga321 Před rokem +1

    That's nice

  • @freyaforestmusic
    @freyaforestmusic Před 7 měsíci

    So valuable thank you , diolch

  • @meljen8592
    @meljen8592 Před rokem

    Top marks Ben,thanks.

  • @mikeowen9440
    @mikeowen9440 Před rokem +4

    I found this really helpful in understanding how Welsh ‘works ‘ … is there any kind of follow up dealing with other areas .. questions for example or verb conjugation etc ?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +3

      See my video on Cael (to have). That may help. Looking at making more in the future. Diolch.

    • @aldozilli1293
      @aldozilli1293 Před 9 měsíci

      ​@@BenLlywelynReally useful for us learners, please do more you're a good teacher

  • @gandolfthorstefn1780
    @gandolfthorstefn1780 Před rokem +2

    Some advice for language learner's.Don't over translate back into your native tongue.If someone wants a document translated from Welsh to English then by all means attempt to be accurate with the English translation.But your not learning English,your learning Welsh so don't get hung up on what exactly it means in English.Try and use transliteration and keep the flavour and mentality of your target language alive.Your native tongue is only a tool to learn your target language.English is like a row boat you use to board the Welsh ship.Hoist the English anchor and don't let it stop you sailing the Welsh Ship or it's going to be a longer journey than need be.Try to grasp the mentality of Welsh,it's intention,and think of Verb,subject and compliment(object).VSO,VSO...even when it isn't VSO you'll still get a rough idea of sentences.Think in terms of 2 and 3 or even 4 word phrases and not word for word or you'll never understand this wonderful language.Hwyl nawr!

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +1

      Nice ship analogy.

    • @margedtrumper9325
      @margedtrumper9325 Před 2 měsíci

      I agree. Translating is only good as an exercise for those who intend to translate as a job but harmful for speaking a language. I am learning Welsh, but in life I teach other languages and it always puzzles me to get questions like 'why x language has a different way to express y?' with an almost annoyed tone. The beauty of languages is finding new points of view in life...

  • @Jenjenilou
    @Jenjenilou Před rokem +1

    Diolch yn fawr Ben!

  • @barbaracross7426
    @barbaracross7426 Před 2 lety +1

    The info is useful and the text clear
    The background images flit around and are getting in the way. Can you please just settle on one static image

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +3

      Thank you. It is a difficult balance between being settled enough for those of your temperment to relax and concentrate on one hand, and keeping imagery moving enough to keep viewer retention up for people who flip between videos if it gets to slow on the other.

  • @cameronclare5084
    @cameronclare5084 Před 8 měsíci

    This channel is helpful. Duolingo doesn't explain anything about how the grammar actually works.

  • @leegodsar
    @leegodsar Před rokem

    Thanks

  • @ENGLISHTAINMENT
    @ENGLISHTAINMENT Před rokem

    YN always means IN. It's just that sometimes it conveys the meaning IN THE ACT OF (OF actually is part of the next word). YN MYND (in the act of going) / YN GLANHAU'R TY (in the act of the cleaning of the house)

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      I happen to disagree with you there.
      Yn is not In, in most cases.
      And only for half of IN (definite as opposed to indefiniye) is Yn In.

    • @ENGLISHTAINMENT
      @ENGLISHTAINMENT Před rokem

      @@BenLlywelyn actually it does in fact mean IN - it does not mean 'particle' - it is a particle, but it doesn't mean 'particle', it means IN. The equivalents of Welsh WRTH (gwrth) to YN are used in the following languages: Scottish Gaelic RI (ri cluich / playing), Breton O (ouzh) (O TONT / coming), Cornish OW / OWTH / ORTH ( O TOS / coming). In addition, The Gaelic languages use A' / AG (at). ag dul (going). This latter A' is now also used in English. (a-going, a-swimming etc) WRTH is also used in Welsh: "wrthi'n lawrlwytho" (using WRTH & YN together)

  • @shadowdragon569
    @shadowdragon569 Před rokem

    Thank you! I started welsh on duolingo and it just started throwing mae in but not a reason for it and I was so confused

  • @beverleysmith8704
    @beverleysmith8704 Před rokem

    Diolch un fawr. 👍

  • @Bernaren60
    @Bernaren60 Před rokem +1

    Mae Ben yn athro da.

  • @kernowforester811
    @kernowforester811 Před 7 měsíci

    Nearest I can think mae means is 'it be that'. I see a lot of sentences begin with 'mae'. I don't see an equivalent in Cornish.. Bydd in Cornish is bys, as in Kernow bys vyken. From Cornwall.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 7 měsíci

      Yma is used in Cornish as a rough equivilent.

    • @kernowforester811
      @kernowforester811 Před 7 měsíci

      @@BenLlywelyn Cheers, yes I know the word 'yma', e .g. it is, there is etc, as in yma marth dhymm (I am surprised), should have known that! Use of mae makes sense now.

  • @AMOGLES99
    @AMOGLES99 Před rokem

    I struggle with the yn preceding some verbs but not others, for example Mae Megan yn hoffi coffi but Mae Megan eisiau coffi, rather than Mae Megan yn eisiau coffi

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      Eisiau (want) in Welsh is not a verb. It means lack of. So no 'yn' is needed.

    • @AMOGLES99
      @AMOGLES99 Před rokem

      @@BenLlywelyn thanks, that makes sense. Thank you for clearing this up.

  • @rbir2653
    @rbir2653 Před 3 měsíci

    Portuguese has two forms of to be. One for temporal and the other for permanant. Welsh must be twice as easy

  • @astonishing157
    @astonishing157 Před rokem

    whats crazy is I always think of the word "my" when i hear the word "mae" and and then i think of the word "yn" as the word "to be" so if some one were to say "Mae x yn y" i would think to my self "my x is y"

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      Once you lock in your head how 'to be' works in Welsh everything makes sense for word order.

  • @fredericosampaio6457
    @fredericosampaio6457 Před 2 lety +1

    It's interesting , when using" bod", the contrast between 'yn'(inconclusive, continuous, imperfect) and 'wedi'(conclusive, finished aka perfect).I wonder whether a Cymro/Cymraes thinks for 'gwneud' the perfect is implicit and for 'dod', 'mynd' , being both movement verbnouns, the imperfect is implicit, as all of 3 don't require yn/wedi. For habitual/every day activities, english doesn't require a continuous tense. I only learnt that for past tense in welsh people can use 'arfer' to express 'used to' as in english. Is it possible in welsh to say 'dw i'n arfer bwyta bara bob dydd" as i eat bread everyday, Ben?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +1

      You could say 'dw i'n arfer... ...pob dydd.' but it sounds a bit wobbly to me. The ' pob dydd' suggests arfer so you only need 1 of them.

    • @fredericosampaio6457
      @fredericosampaio6457 Před 2 lety

      @@BenLlywelyn Gwych! Diolch o galon!

    • @phyllisbiram5163
      @phyllisbiram5163 Před 2 lety

      @@BenLlywelyn Another way of saying what you habitually do is to use the future. For example, Bydda i'n bwyta bara amser te = I eat bread at tea time.

  • @gandolfthorstefn1780
    @gandolfthorstefn1780 Před rokem

    Mae is a variation of 'bod', to be. Bod is the cornerstone of the Welsh language.Diolch👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  • @user-iv3gd2lu9i
    @user-iv3gd2lu9i Před 3 měsíci

    Diolch in fawr ...

  • @jackthomas4748
    @jackthomas4748 Před rokem

    do colloquial welsh speakers always use the Mae or do they drop it sometimes?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      It is highly contextual and not a straight yes or now.
      Stress would 'often' but not always be on the connecting YN later in the sentence. That form is also used in short bursts of sarcasm suggest - Well why didn't you know what we were talking about?

  • @treespeak2848
    @treespeak2848 Před 2 lety +1

    Great video! I am learning Welsh via Duolingo. The program introduces Mae/Ydy/Dydy at the same time and I am struggling to determine when to use one or the other. Could you clarify, please?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před 2 lety +7

      If it is introducing a thing's name it is Ydy. If it is a question it is Ydy. But in some cases Mae / Ydy are near the same, almost a nuance, but they are different in presentation. Ydy is more pointing at something. Mae is more what something is or is doing. But Ydy is the answer & question form also. Mae is a statement.

    • @treespeak2848
      @treespeak2848 Před 2 lety

      @@BenLlywelyn Thank you! Is Dydy sort of a negation? Like doesn't/isn't? It seems to be being used like: Dydy Megan ddim yn hoffi... (Megan doesn't like...) but there isn't anything explicit by way of explanation. Welsh is such a wonderful language!

    • @phyllisbiram5163
      @phyllisbiram5163 Před 2 lety +4

      @@treespeak2848 Dydy is the negative form of ydy. The D at the beginning is a shortening of Nid (=not). In Spoken Welsh one would never say Nid ydy o ddim yn gwenu (=He is not smiling.) You take the d from Nid and just say Dydy o ddim yn gwenu. This is the North Wales way of speaking. In the south Dyw e ddim yn gwenu is heard. Ydy is short for ydyw and in NW this is shortened to ydy and in SW to yw. Ydy or yw in the affirmative and dydy or dyw in the negative. Sometimes you get Tydy o ddim = He is not in the North. Ydy and Dydy can be spelt Ydi and Dydi. Similarly with Tydi. It's dialectal.

  • @sarahthomas9920
    @sarahthomas9920 Před rokem

    Im confused according to Duolingo women is merch?

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      Merch is daughter / girl. You will here used for a woman now and then, usually in the plural : merched.

  • @Knappa22
    @Knappa22 Před 2 lety

    Of course when talking about yourself rather than a 3rd person or thing, you need all the variables of
    Dw i / rydw i / wi / rwyf i / yr ydwyf fi
    :D

  • @zulkiflijamil4033
    @zulkiflijamil4033 Před rokem

    Bore da, Ben. Maen hir ; is this lenition or mutation aspect. Diolch yn fawr. Yes Ben this lesson is very useful even for a fresh beginner like myself.

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem +1

      Maen is not mae'n / mae yn.
      A word of its own there. You will occasionally see Maenan for a small stone.

    • @zulkiflijamil4033
      @zulkiflijamil4033 Před rokem

      @@BenLlywelyn
      Thank you for the clarification..Diolch yn fawr.

    • @zulkiflijamil4033
      @zulkiflijamil4033 Před rokem

      @@BenLlywelyn Yes, i had just got it using Google Translate, it says maen hir means a long stone.

    • @lysfrommarple
      @lysfrommarple Před rokem +1

      @@BenLlywelyn It is menhir in the Asterix books if that helps, I can remember it because Obelix makes menhirs and obelisk and menhir are the same thing (my European history knowledge basically comes from those comic books)

    • @BenLlywelyn
      @BenLlywelyn  Před rokem

      @@lysfrommarple Just about so.

  • @frankjoseph4273
    @frankjoseph4273 Před rokem

    I lost you when I changed computers

  • @jamestrumpet1
    @jamestrumpet1 Před rokem

    Mae defnyddiol y video. Or should I say Roedd defnyddiol y video. Diolch yn fawn iawn.

  • @Jamestele1
    @Jamestele1 Před 7 měsíci

    Funny how this mimics mathematical thinking. Diolch yn fawr

  • @barnbersonol
    @barnbersonol Před rokem

    Ces I ddadl gyda rhywun a FYNNAI fod " ma fe ddim" yn gywir.
    Ond gadawes I iddo fe "ennill" achos ar ddiwedd y dydd ma fe wedi gwneud yr ymdrech I fagu ei blant yn Gymraeg er bod ei wraig yn ddi-Gymraeg.

  • @sovereignjoe5730
    @sovereignjoe5730 Před 4 měsíci

    Llawer o werthfawrogiad

  • @ENGLISHTAINMENT
    @ENGLISHTAINMENT Před rokem

    cool. never heard grwndi on its own before, only canu grwndi. learn something new every day. (careful with the vowels - WY in hwyl. roughly HOO-eel - two different vowels. W is a vowel, not a consonant.)