Hopefully, an old dog will be able to learn a new trick.
All my adult life I’ve made excuses about why I didn’t speak Welsh, like “I didn’t learn it in school” or “my family didn’t speak Welsh” or “Welsh speakers are strange and come from North Wales where the sheep are”. I was a little embarrassed every time I was asked but the truth was the real reason I didn’t speak Welsh was that I had never bothered to learn. Even when I spent 3 years in Welsh-speaking Aberystwyth - a retrospective major regret.
Anyway, I’m trying to remedy this by setting out to learn, what has been described by my friend Bill, “the language of the angels”. Of course, he’s biased as his first language is Welsh (and he comes from North Wales so I won’t mention the sheep). It’s very early days but my aim is to reach a stage that, when people ask me at some point in the future if I can speak Welsh, I can take a deep breath and say, “Ydw, dwi’n siarad Cymraeg” – although I will always have to add that I’m learning. I’m realistic about it. It could be a life-time journey but what a great journey it has been so far. It’s not easy. It’s challenging. It’s mentally stimulating. It’s enjoyable. And it's definitely not like English! Or French.
Although Welsh is a 'small language', there are quite a few useful resources on the internet dedicated to learners at all levels. For now, I’m using a basic grammar text book, a mix of digital bits and pieces for vocabulary and pronounciation , a YouTube channel taught by a 'proper' teacher, and a Duolingo course that’s like a book but with more bells and whistles and jingles and jokes. It sounds a lot but, as most of it is done in bed in the early hours with ear plugs in, it's not that intrusive.
Welsh Duolingo has a few characters with iconic Welsh names. (Some of them are gender-neutral and this confuses me a lot.) Sadly, they don’t show up as cartoons but as totally unrelated, faceless characters in the sentences. Sigh, the woes of a small language. Nevertheless, what they do do is to go on with their daily lives. And you do learn about them. Unfortunately, because the course is designed to be repetitive, the things they do are quite mundane. Usually household chores and travelling around Wales.
With one exception: Owen.
Everyone who’s done any amount of Duolingo Welsh knows Owen. He’s probably a middle-aged man who is a terrible influence on everyone.
Because of his parsnips addiction.
He’s always eating parsnips or trying to get his hands on more. He would travel all around the world to get the best parsnips. And sometimes sell them too. People around him are under his malign influence. Some might even say, these must be very special plants. Either 'parsnips' is a euphemism for something stronger, or Welsh nightclubs are strange places where enterprising types like Owen sell root vegetables.
Duolingo isn't perfect (the audio pronunciation can be somewhat erratic) but it's cheap (there is a free version but that's full of ads) and its gaming approach encourages sticking at it. If for no other reason, I'll do it for Owen and his parsnips.
And who could fail to love a language that has a word like 'llwgrwobrwyo'?
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