How to learn Welsh:

Learn Welsh with Easy and Simple Welsh Short Stories

Introduction – Is Welsh hard or is Welsh Easy? How to speak in Welsh?

Trying to see if you want to learn the Welsh language? Is Welsh language hard to learn? Is Welsh language easy to learn?

Learning Welsh especially is interesting as it is called as one of the hardest languages to learn and one with a very interesting slang. Many people in the UK want to become bilingual, to speak fluently in at least 2 languages, with English and Welsh.

Let’s go through the obvious lines which every person learning Welsh will tell you. To put into better words, let’s go to the famous statements said by all the so called gurus who are learning through Welsh courses online…

  • Learning Welsh online through online courses is super difficult, maybe even impossible!.
  • Are you a beginner and want to learn Welsh online? OMGGGG… it has hundreds of rules and so hard to memorize!
  • When natives speak fast in Welsh, Welsh beginners cannot follow the conversation as they ignore certain grammar rules (obvious rules.. well, at least it’s obvious to them).
  • Mastering Welsh requires persistence and a lot of work. Learning Welsh online??? Not possible…
  • You will give up because learning Welsh as it is not fun.
  • Welsh podcasts? There are not many welsh podcasts and they are so tough!
  • You have to go through dry boring passages in old dusty books.
  • You have to memorize thousands of Welsh words, hundreds of rules, memorize Welsh grammar…

Is this all true????

Most Frequently asked questions on Welsh

  1. Is Welsh easy to learn?
  • Welsh is one of the most difficult languages to learn.
  • As per a study, it takes almost 1,040 hours to learn Welsh.
  • Learning Irish takes almost double the time as learning French, which at 550 hours is one of the easiest of languages.
  1. What is the easiest way to learn Welsh?
  • The most effective way is by associative learning or repetition technique.
  • Repetition technique is what Duolingo uses which is quite effective.
  • Associative learning is basically reading small short stories out loudly and you’ll remember and associate the words.
  • Childhood-stories.com has a bunch of free dual language (Welsh + English) short stories.
  1. How long does it take to become fluent in Welsh?
  • As per a study, it takes almost 1,040 hours to learn Welsh.

How did we study English? How to learn Welsh the same way?

You would have read or listened to hundreds of short stories. You might have read famous moral stories such as Aesop’s Fables, Tenali Raman or Abkar and Birbal. So why not try and read these short stories in Welsh language?

Seems like a simple question: Why does anyone not try and read Aesop’s Fables, Tenali Raman or Abkar and Birbal which have been written in Welsh? Because it becomes very hard as most sentences are long, maybe even 20 – 30 words long with 4-5 grammar structures within each sentence.

The English translation is usually not available for the Welsh short stories and one has to translate on their own. Well, now the super easy Welsh stories are available for free.

Should I study Welsh short stories? What about the English translation?

  • With childhood-stories.com, you can read all Welsh stories which are perfect for beginners.
  • These are Welsh short stories for kids and beginners.
  • These children’s Welsh short stories for beginners are simple / easy / free and ones which you would have heard when you were a kid
  • Forty Free Welsh short stories (Aesop’s Fables) for children
  • Relive the experience but with the same short stories in Welsh, and relish the experience once more.
  • Reading is the most important aspect of learning any new language.
  • By reading, you will build up critical vocabulary and also subconsciously memorize the Welsh grammar structure.
  • Six months of daily reading will make a huge difference in your Welsh vocabulary as well as grammar.

Why should I read Welsh short stories for beginners?

  • Simple.. you wanna start off slowly.
  • No one starts with a 300 page novel unless they have already read a few hundred short stories, 80 page novels, comics and magazines.
  • Try reading simple one page short stories on a daily basis.
  • There are 7 collections available in this website: Aesop Fables (4 sets), Akbar and Birbal (2 sets), Tenali Raman (1 set).
  • The Welsh stories have translation in English side by side and that too for free.

     

    Tips to learn Welsh

    • A better tip will be to lock yourself in a room and read the story loudly and slowly.
    • Speed is not of essence since your objective is to learn a new language, not to complete the story.
    • Consistency and vocabulary should be your focus area.
    • In fact, speed reading is detrimental to your learning and you will not have time to process the new words.

Why should I start reading one page stories and not a novel like Harry Potter?

  • You will get confidence only upon completion of a task.
  • When I started learning Welsh, I started with a 160 page novel or not simple short stories in Welsh.
  • I gave up after 3 days and stopped learning for 3 months. Do you know why?
  • The reason is that I was a beginner and had a very limited vocabulary.
  • Building a large vocabulary enough to read a novel takes time and patience.
  • I had to spend hours going through a Welsh English dictionary for understanding the English translation for any sentence.
  • What was worse was that these novels cater to seasoned readers!
  • Thus each sentence was over 2 words long with many structures.
  • It will take you 6 months to complete a task if the novel is 300 pages long!!!!

In a nutshell:

  • I quit quickly and lost three months before I restarted.
  • I realized that starting slow was the way to go.
  • I started with one page short stories and here I am, easily putting entire novels away.

Why is it hard for a novice to read a Welsh Novel?

To explain the example above in numbers,

  • In any sentence, a novice might understand about 20 – 30% of the words.
  • This means that the reader has to use a dictionary to look up the remaining words.
  • For a single page, the reader might take about 20 minutes after cross referencing the dictionary. Now that is not much.
  • However if you count the same for 300 pages, it’s about 100 hours reading time which is a insane amount of time.
  • This will result in the reader in losing motivation.

SHOULD I BE TRANSLATING THE ENTIRE WELSH STORY?

When you open the Welsh short stories, you will find over 100 simple Welsh short stories such as “Aesop’s Fables” in Welsh, “Tenali Raman” in Welsh or Akbar and Birbal” in Welsh. The story will be easy and simple and will just span one page and you will find it enjoyable to read.

Simply put, these are just Welsh short stories for children and kids. You will find over 100 Welsh short stories in Welsh with English translation side by side.

These small and easy Welsh stories for beginners with English translation will make your journey of learning Welsh super fun and also progress much faster.

Top 10 best, simple and easy Welsh short stories with English translation

When we were children, our grandparents would have told us of many short stories of Aesop’s Fables, Tenali Raman and Akbar and Birbal. These Welsh stories were small, cute and filled with morals. The stories are very intellectual and deep thinking and yet very simple to understand. The morals provided in Aesop’s Fables play a key role during the formative lives of many children.

There are hundreds of Welsh stories of such stories and many of them are considered as the best short stories in Welsh for kids and children.

You can read the Top 10 best, simple and easy Welsh short stories with English translation here for free.

The Ox and the frogs - Yr Ychen a'r brogaod

Un tro, roedd teulu o frogaod yn byw mewn pwll. Roedd gan y Tad Broga fol mawr a chrawc uchel. Roedd gan y Fam Broga lygaid mawr hardd. Roedd gan y Brawd Broga dafod hir iawn. Roedd gan Chwaer Broga ewinedd hir, hardd.

Roedd yna lawer o frogaod bach hefyd. Roedd Taid broga yn gwisgo sbectol fawr. Roedd Nain broga wrth ei bodd yn pobi cacennau. Roeddent yn deulu hapus iawn o frogaod.

Un diwrnod, daeth ychen mawr i’r pwll i yfed dŵr. Roedd y tad broga a brawd broga wedi mynd i weithio yn y caeau. Roedd y brogaod eraill i gyd wedi mynd i’r siop i brynu siocledi. Gwelodd y brogaod bach ychen am y tro cyntaf.

“Waw. Rydych chi mor fawr ”meddai un o’r brogaod bach wrth yr Ychen.

“Helo, broga bach. Ydw, dwi’n fawr iawn ”meddai’r ychen yn falch.

“Pwy wyt ti” gofynnodd y broga bach.

“Fi ydy’r Ychen, cryf a pwerus. Rwy’n tynnu’r drol ar gyfer fy ffrind, y ffermwr ”

“Waw. Y drol enfawr yna? ” meddai’r broga bach.

“Ie. Gallaf ei dynnu’n hawdd hyd yn oed pe bai 10 dyn yn eistedd ynddo ”meddai’r ychen yn falch.

“Nid oes anifail mwy na’r Ychen” meddai un o’r brogaod bach.

“Yn wir”, meddai’r holl frogaod bach gyda’i gilydd.

“Rwyt ti’n iawn!” meddai’r Ychen.

Gyda’r nos, pan ddaeth yr holl frogaod yn ôl adref, roedd y brogaod bach yn gyffrous iawn.

“Beth ddigwyddodd yma? Pam ydych chi i gyd yn gyffrous? ” gofynnodd y tad broga.

“Fe welsom ni Ychen. Fe yw’r anifail mwyaf yn y byd i gyd ”meddai un o’r brogaod bach.

“Hmm. Ydy e’n fwy na fi? ” meddai’r Tad broga yn uchel.

“Ydi. Mae e gymaint yn fwy ”meddai’r broga bach.

Tynnodd y tad broga ei anadl i mewn a phwffio’i hun i fyny.

“Ydy e’n dal yn fwy na fi?” meddai’r Tad broga yn uchel.

“Ydi. Mae e gymaint yn fwy ”meddai’r broga bach.

Tynnodd y Tad broga yn ei anadl hyd yn oed yn fwy i mewn a phwffio’i hun i fyny.

“Ydy e’n dal yn fwy na fi?” meddai’r Tad broga yn uchel.

“Ydi. Mae e gymaint yn fwy ”meddai’r broga bach.

Tynnodd y Tad broga ei anadl i mewn hyd yn oed yn fwy, gydag anhawster mawr. Fe bwffiodd ei hun hyd at ei faint mwyaf.

“Ydy e’n dal yn fwy na fi?” meddai’r Tad broga yn uchel.

“Ydi. Mae e gymaint yn fwy ”meddai’r broga bach.

Tynnodd y Tad broga ei anadl i mewn un tro olaf. Pwffiodd ei hun gymaint nes iddo ffrwydro.

Moesol y stori: Peidiwch â cheisio’r amhosibl.

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse - Llygoden y Ddinas a'r Llygoden Wledig

Roedd unwaith Lygoden Wledig hapus iawn a oedd yn byw yn y wlad. Roedd yn byw mewn tŷ bach mewn twll o dan goeden. Roedd ei wely wedi’i wneud o wellt a chotwm. Blwch bach oedd ei fwrdd a cherrig bach crwn oedd ei gadeiriau.

Unwaith, yn ystod yr haf, ymwelodd ei ffrind o’r ddinas fawr ag ef. Roedd y llygoden wledig yn hapus iawn ac fe roddodd hadau ffres o’r coed, coesyn gwenith a gwreiddiau llawn sudd iddo i’w fwyta. Hefyd rhoddodd gwpan fechan o ddŵr oer a mes i bwdin iddo.

Nid oedd llygoden y ddinas yn hapus iawn a dim ond cnoi yma ac acw a wnaeth dim ond i fod yn gwrtais. Gyda’r nos, roedd llygoden y ddinas a llygoden y wlad yn sgwrsio yn eistedd yn y cae agored.

Siaradodd llygoden y dref am bopeth am y ddinas a’r holl bethau moethus a oedd i’w gynnig yno.

“Beth ydych chi’n ei gael i fwyta yn y dref, Mr Llygoden Tref” gofynnodd llygoden y wlad.

“O, dim ond y gorau o bopeth”, meddai’n falch, “y caws a bara gorau, y pwdin melysaf, y cnau mwyaf crensiog a hyd yn oed y cig mwyaf tyner”

“O waw. Mae hynny mor hyfryd. ”

“Yndi, yn wir. Llygoden ddinas yw’r llygoden hapusaf gan ein bod ni yn cael y bwyd mwyaf blasus ”

“Ble ydych chi’n cysgu yn y ddinas, Mr Llygoden Tref” gofynnodd llygoden y wlad.

“O, ond y gorau”, meddai’n falch, “y gwely mwyaf meddal wedi’i wneud o sidan a sbwng. Gall rhywun gysgu am byth mewn gwely o’r fath. ”

“O waw. Mae hynny mor hyfryd. ”

“Yndi, yn wir. Llygoden ddinas yw’r llygoden hapusaf gan ein bod ni yn cael y gwelyau mwyaf meddal. “

“Beth ydych chi’n ei wneud pan rydych chi wedi diflasu, Mr Llygoden Tref” gofynnodd llygoden y wlad.

“O, ond y gorau”, meddai’n falch, “Gallaf fynd i’r marchnadoedd. Gallaf fynd i’r theatr. Gallaf ymlacio yn yr ardd ”

“O waw. Mae hynny mor hyfryd. ”

“Yndi, yn wir. Llygoden ddinas yw’r llygoden hapusaf gan ein bod ni yn cael yr adloniant gorau. ”

Fe wnaethant siarad a siarad ag o’r diwedd aethant i gysgu. Gwelodd llygoden y ddinas y gwely gwellt ac roedd yn anhapus iawn. Diolch byth ei fod yn dawel ac roedd yn gallu cysgu’n dda. Y bore wedyn, gofynnodd llygoden y ddinas i lygoden y wlad.

“Annwyl Llygoden y Wlad, a hoffech chi ymweld â’r ddinas?” ac roedd llygoden y wlad yn hapus iawn a chytunodd i wneud hynny.

Aeth Llygoden y Ddinas â llygoden y wlad i’w gartref. Yn union fel y disgrifiodd, twll yn wal plasty enfawr. Roedd y tŷ yn enfawr ac yn llawn melfed a sidan. Roedd llygoden y wlad yn hapus iawn.

Aethant i fyny’r bwrdd ac roedd y bwrdd wedi’i lenwi â chaws a menyn a ffrwythau a jelïau a chnau. Pan oedd llygoden y wlad ar fin bwyta brathiad, clywsant fewian uchel gath. Fe wnaethant redeg a chuddio yn y wal mewn ofn nes i’r gath fynd i ffwrdd.

Aethant i fyny’r bwrdd eto i fwyta. Pan oedd y llygoden wledig ar fin bwyta brathiad, clywsant gyfarthiad ci uchel. Fe wnaethant redeg a chuddio yn y wal mewn ofn nes i’r ci fynd i ffwrdd.

Aethant i fyny’r bwrdd unwaith eto i fwyta. Pan oedd llygoden y wlad ar fin bwyta brathiad, agorodd y drws a daeth llawer o bobl i mewn. Fe wnaethant redeg unwaith eto a chuddio yn y wal mewn ofn.

“Dewch, gallwn ni fwyta y tu allan yn y farchnad” meddai’r Llygoden Tref ac fe aethon nhw i’r farchnad. Roedd cymaint o bobl yno. Bu bron i lygoden y wlad gael ei sathru gymaint o weithiau. Fe wnaethant redeg yn ôl i’w cartref a bwyta ychydig o hen fara.

Paciodd llygoden y wlad ei fagiau a dweud wrth lygoden y dref “Gallwch chi gael yr holl bethau moethus a’r bwyd mwyaf blasus. Efallai bod gennych chi’r marchnadoedd gorau a’r gwelyau mwyaf meddal. Dim ond diogelwch fy nghartref rydw i eisiau lle rydw i’n gallu cerdded allan a theimlo fel brenin. “

Moesol: Mae tlodi gyda diogelwch yn well na digon yng nghanol ofn ac ansicrwydd.