Language of the week: Welsh
Did you know that Welsh is now one of the 111 languages available to learn with uTalk? And as it was Saint David’s Day yesterday, we’ve chosen Welsh as our language of the week.
1st March each year is when the Welsh celebrate the patron Saint of Wales, who died on that day in or around 569 AD. People all around the globe mark the day by wearing the national emblems, either a leek or a daffodil, and there are parades and various music and cultural events to celebrate the holiday.
St David was buried in the Cathedral of St David’s in Pembrokeshire, which has now become a popular place of pilgrimage.
Here are some fun facts and figures about the Welsh language and Wales (Cymru):
- Arsenal footballer Aaron Ramsay, and singers Connie Fisher, Rhydian Roberts, Cerys Mathews and Duffy all speak Welsh, as do actors Ioan Gruffudd and Matthew Rhys.
- The Welsh alphabet does not include the letters J, K, V, X and Y.
- The Welsh Motto is: ‘Cymru am byth’ (pronounced come-ree am-bith), which means Wales for ever, or long live Wales.
- 21% of the population in Wales speak Welsh, and 20% of primary school children are taught in Welsh.
- The village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest place name in Britain. Anyone want to have a go at pronouncing it?!
- The national animal of Wales is the Dragon, which appears on the country’s flag.
- Welsh is a Celtic language and was one of the earliest written languages in Europe.
- Since 1865, there’s been a Welsh colony in Patagonia, Argentina. The people there speak Patagonian Welsh, which is different to the Welsh spoken in Wales. This year is the colony’s 150th anniversary.
- Wales is said to contain more castles per square mile than any other country in the world.
- A traditional dish in Wales is laverbread, which is made from seaweed (have you ever tried it?)
Did you celebrate St David’s Day yesterday? Tell us about it in the comments!
The benefits of being multilingual
Today, we’re welcoming back EuroTalk blogger Kirsty with some of the biggest benefits of learning other languages.
How has knowing more than one language helped you? Let us know in the comments!
1. It makes you cleverer
It has long been thought that learning another language, and being competent at it, indicates a high level of intelligence in individuals. Recently this has been proven, with studies on bilingual children showing they were much more developed than their peers, as well as a similar link being drawn between the results of teenagers at school and being able to speak two languages. This means your language learning is actually making you smarter!
2. It can prevent ageing and disease
People who study an additional language have also been shown to have ‘younger’ brains than would be expected for their age. Cognitive ability, or how effective your brain is at functioning, is much higher in people over sixty that can speak two languages than those who can only speak one. Essentially language learning can prevent the likelihood of forgetfulness and ‘getting slower’ in old age. Learning a second language can also make your brain more resistant to diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. A study conducted on a group of elderly people who spoke both Spanish and English demonstrated that they typically developed symptoms of Alzheimer’s much later than those who only spoke English. Who knew that learning a language might actually be able to prolong your memory and your life?
3. It allows you to explore more of the world
Alongside the multiple health benefits of language learning, speaking a second language also allows people to explore the world in a different way. Whilst anyone can visit a country it is the people who can speak the language who truly experience the culture. Basic competency in the language makes the locals more open to helping you and maybe even pointing you in the direction of the best places to visit away from the tourist hot spots. It is these ‘little gems’ that will be the part you remember most from your holiday, from the little hidden coffee shop in Rome to the underground bar in Paris.
4. It opens up new opportunities
There are six million people on earth, so why limit yourself by only speaking one language? New friends don’t just have to come from the same town, or even country, as you live in, but can come from all over the world. The easiest way to gain new friends across the world is to get a pen pal, and in the internet age you don’t even have to pay for stamps! There are lots of good websites that will set you up with a pen pal that speaks the language you’re learning, so why not put your new found language skills to use, make friends and learn even more.
What benefits of learning a second language have you discovered? Let us know!
Kirsty
So you want to learn Spanish?
Starting to learn Spanish has been an amazing journey. So far, the language and the people are really interesting, and it’s nice to know that a large population of Americans can speak the language. After long hours of practice, I am sitting here writing a post, while listening to my favorite Spanish rap songs.
Spanish class helped me in some ways and has hurt my interest in others. This was due to the grammar, and also we weren’t actually speaking. As much as I love doing grammar workbooks and vocabulary quizzes, I was more interested in sounding like Don Juan seducing girls.
Spanish is a great language and it has so many benefits, the first being that by speaking the language you can talk to a much larger portion of the world. Spain, Colombia, and Buenos Aires are filled with a lot of activities and people to talk to. Something that most people might not know is that, by speaking Spanish, you can also talk to older generation Filipinos and people from Israel, Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. On top of this, after Spanish, Portuguese can be acquired with half of the work already done.
I love the pronunciation for Spanish. You can be fairly understood without going through the work that a French student would go through. Of course, the hardest thing is rolling your ‘r’s, but don’t worry. It isn’t too serious and Spanish speakers can understand you without it. The pronunciation won’t take very long to master compared to other languages. That’s one of the benefits of Spanish.
After pronunciation comes vocabulary. This is easier than other languages due to the similarity of Spanish and English. We have a lot of cognates, like la sofa becomes ‘sofa’, or los pantalones becomes ‘pants’.
Spanish grammar isn’t really that bad, people make it seem a lot harder than it is. I’ve heard that Arabic, Hungarian, and Latin have intense grammar that makes Spanish look easy. That’s because Spanish is so similar to English. It only has a couple of additions, and most of the sentences can translate back to English and still sound comprehensible. One hard step is learning how to conjugate verbs. Past, Present, Future, Conditional, Imperfect, and the dreaded Subjunctive. All verbs have different forms that you must learn, but thankfully, most follow the same pattern. In a sense, it’s just more vocabulary disguised as grammar.
The hardest rule is differentiating between Subjunctive and Indicative forms. For example it stresses the ability to know the difference between the following sentences: We always eat after the class ends, and We are going to eat after the class ends. In Spanish, those sentences are different and it is up to you to memorize the difference along with the verb conjugations. Fun, right? Well it actually isn’t that hard. It just takes time to get the hang of it.
Spanish is an easy language for English speakers, however there is one harsh reality. Learning a language isn’t easy. It takes hours of work and practice, and sometimes we overestimate how hard it actually is. We create excuses for not learning the language. That is why it is important that you have the right motivation for learning a language. Knowing about the steps above will give you a heads up for Spanish, but if you don’t have the right motivation, you will set yourself up for failure. I have faith in your language learning experience. Use it wisely, young Padawan.
Ray Jones
Read more from Ray on his blog at themodernlingo.com.
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Want to join the EuroTalk blogging team? We’re always keen to hear from language enthusiasts with something to share. Email liz@eurotalk.com for details.
How well do you know Chinese New Year?
Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s hoping the Year of the Goat (or possibly Sheep) is a good one.
See how much you know about this important Chinese holiday with our quiz. How many did you get right?
3 great TV shows for learning Spanish
After two years of barely pulling an ‘A’ in my Spanish class, I decided to start studying more. I had a really bad problem when it came to listening to Spanish. Mostly because I couldn’t understand the language. So over the summer I watched a couple of Spanish TV shows, and found them very interesting and extremely beneficial when it came to understanding the language. Being able to watch a TV show in a foreign language is a great feeling, so I urge people to learn the vocabulary. Following this list means that you can start enjoying this amazing gift.
As a forenote, I learned Spanish so I am using Spanish examples; however I will add my favorite genres for learning, in order of importance. If you would like to find a language, Google search ‘watch television shows free’ or ‘popular television shows in X’. This has to be done in the target language of course. Now without further ado…
1. ¿Dónde está Elisa? (or just Dramas)
Dramas. The characters use a TON of expressive body language. This is my best choice when it comes to learning how to hear a language. You won’t sit there completely bored as you practise, and also because it’s a television series, people are always talking and you can use previous context.
2. La Fuga (Action series)
Technically, this show isn’t an action series. It’s another drama, but it’s set in the future of a prison. People die and there’s fighting in it, so I think it should be action. Anyways, once you can start to understand what’s happening in your drama series, then I recommend exploring different dramas. For me it was action, because I love thrillers and suspense.
The main benefit of switching genres is your entertainment. There are so many different genres, it shouldn’t be hard to find something that you like. You’ll have fun watching it, learn a couple of phrases, and become one step closer to having conversations with natives.
3. Aquí no hay quien viva (Comedies)
Comedies should absolutely be saved for last on your list of genres to watch. The body language can be deceiving and it is very difficult to understand what is happening. On the up side, once you understand words, it can be very pleasing to watch. I love Aquí no hay because a ton of episodes are free on YouTube, and also it makes me laugh. It reminds me of watching Seinfeld, but it’s in Spanish.
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This is the order I used to increase my language abilities. I highly recommend that you watch TV in your target language at some point. It’s a great accomplishment to understand what they are saying; however I should warn you because watching too much television can hinder your progress. Speaking is ultimately the best practice, but it is good to take a break and watch some television from time to time.
Do you watch TV as part of your language learning? Please share your recommendations in the comments.
Ray Jones
Read more from Ray on his blog at themodernlingo.com.
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Want to join the EuroTalk blogging team? We’re always keen to hear from language enthusiasts with something to share. Email liz@eurotalk.com for details.
