welshify

happy st david's day everyone! on this fine occasion, i bought my annual bunch of daffodils and decorated my office with flowery goodness. and because this is a day of national song, turn on your speakers and listen to this lovely welsh tune below the cut!

despite being a grumpy old fart for most of his diary entries, i had entirely forgotten, how humourous david griffith, curate, could be sometimes:

Ionawr24.[…]'Bruised with its roughness, tired of its strife' we long for rest and crave for sympathy.. The 'Sons of Gwalia' are, as a mass in the 'Land of Morgan' as unsympathetic as they are unthankful. and readier far to cast down than to lift up a poor over-burdened servant of Christ. No wonder their clergy and minsters seek refuge in North Wales. Now we understand the secret of the 'exodus' of parsons and preachers from Hwntwland to 'fatherland'. […]

grab your daffodils, hug a stranger and sing, sing, sing!

happy saint david's day!

for about a month now, i have been learning welsh. rydw i'n dysgu yr iaith gymraeg, to be precise. and, my duw!, it's difficult. it's one thing to wrap your heas (pen) around all those different forms of 'bod'. and just when you thought you managed, out jumps a variant for forming questions. or another special rule when aswering a question that begins with 'pwy' (who). and that is not yet including the two different versions (or at least the two i have found out about so far) of saying, 'no.' but on the upside, i've found a couple of words that made me smile a lot. like the translation of 'shop assistant'. if it's a woman, it literally translates to 'working woman' -- gweithwraig. how sweet is that! (still don't know what a male shop assistant is called in welsh, though. maybe they don't exist...)

next, i shall find out the real difference between the use of 'nabod' and 'gwybod'. in english they both mean 'to know' -- but in german they are 'kennen' and 'wissen'. so there's a slight difference. till then, i'll keep on trying to wrap my head around all the evil mutations. 'benyw' mutates to 'yr fenyw' -- but 'llaw' stays the same when attaching the definite article. randwm!

wales. land of the hills and mountains and farmers -- and sheep with LED blankets.

this is what made this nation great!

Right I need linguist support!

After having an argument with a Scottish friend in the pub last night over when a language becomes a independent language, I decided to bring the issue to the blog! Not that every argument or disagreement ends up on here. Well, does it?

As the best linguists I know, I have a question for you. My friend believes he speaks a separate language (English Not Welsh)from me, which he claims as ‘Scots’. Now I understand why he would want to say this, as it always is a boost to a national identity to speak their own language, as it does seem to be one of the main ‘rights to nationhood’. And many Scottish people have commented on this in the political stages!

Dear All

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Well I am unsure if you are aware but there is a huge amount of period historical drama being produced at the moment. Primarily surrounding the Tudor time period. Henry - Elizabeth. Whilst Tudor history has always remained popular within the conscience of the British nation, but the resent explosion of popular materials even outreaches this fascination.

Pondering on this and getting into a historical social debate with some friends in the pub I have come to the fallowing conclusion. This period is very similar to our own period in British identity and history. Before you claim me to be mad, and finally giving into years of Caffeine and alcohol abuse listen to this.

The (British) Empire strikes back!

(For all you Angst / British cultural students - Including those who at the moment are reading something about British shop keepers or something simular, which is just strange - according to Facebook)

After missing the bus this morning I finally got into work, 5 minutes before opening time. Actually, come to think about it, running to work is becoming more of an everyday occurrence. Well… I logged onto the BBC website and found this interest article on the British Empire, and the shame culture. Personally I am not ashamed at all, but quiet proud. And if former colonial countries are constantly moaning I would like all the roads, railways, books, school, medical and financial aid we gave them back including stupid amounts of welsh coal and slate.

<- Look Rita my first Icon.

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Referendum?

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Well… It been all over the political agenda of the UK. Even direct action on a stupid scale has erupted in London. Members of the house of commons were removed, with a Liberal MP being asked to leave and was fallowed by a walk out of an entire political party. And its all over the small issue of the EU referendum. Yes… I know there have been disagreements in the past on the blog about this… interesting organisation. But I thought it might be of interest, and its nice to talk about something that directly affects us all as ‘European Citizens’ (Grits teeth).

Count down!

Right – Tonight begins the latest attempt of Stiwart trying to get his head around the ‘impossible’, or ‘German’ as its also known in the common tongue (Sorry for the Lord of the rings reference).

I asked to be put on the medium standard for this intensive course I start tonight, as I know a little bit of German. Well actually… I can remember bits from living there as a child and I just annoyed Rita for weeks with asking questions constantly on the Sofa, Was ist das? And for some reason shouting my German, which I blame on WWII films, Nena 99 Luftballons and Monty Python. Although, I still think it should be recognised as an official dialect, Stiwart Deutsch! Slowly though I am getting my head around ‘CH’, but sadly when I Say ‘Ich’, it still sounds like I am speaking Welsh!

i really don't get the decision of so many city councils. not here in germany and not in wales, either. the number of small schools in villages is decreasing rapidly because the short sighted councils rather invest in car parks for school busses to the neighbouring towns and cities than in their own children at home. take mynydd cerrig, for example: a small school of 30 highly motived pupils is torn apart for the sake of money. in many countries, communities would literally kill for such great conditions for education. in europe, it is simply thrown aside.

I’ve am now a student at Oxford Uni, well part time anyways.

 

Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Well… to some people, personally I would rather hack off my head than be a full time undergraduate here, but you know. I am now on an intensive weekend German course for the next three weeks! Starting Friday evening until 10. Then all day Saturday and Sunday. I don’t expect to be anywhere near fluent, but hopefully it should help for the travels.

Hello everyone, I see that the American film thingy (Oscars or whatever they want to call it) was an interesting event. Personally I was not watching it, but to busy sleeping. This weekend was a very average chilling out session. Very enjoyable, Matt has gone home for the week (Oh, I miss being a student) and I am still here and missing him.

Apart from that nothing has really happened, fed up with work already as stupid demands are coming in and no one else seems to be about so there is no way I am going to be able to do any of the work. Bloody OU and their strange working methods. Well… at least I have a job, although there have been some phone calls, with people asking me if I want to have another job. So keeping my cards firmly to my chest at the moment. Apart from that, nothing else to report!

Stiw

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See behind the magical cut!

For wonderous things have been found dating to around 17 hundred. Now all historians must answer one question. Is heroes really that outdated!

Strange is it not, when you look at the map of Europe from One hundred years ago, from the power of massive and ever increasing states, we have devolved into a collection of minor powers united by our European Union.

The thing that makes me laugh is how everyone is claiming that Kosovo is a extreme example. Well… there might be major parts and influences but I am not sure how on earth you can claim that it is okay for one group of people to claim independence and not for all minority nations. I understand the trauma of the Albanian (Kosovan people) have been extreme within the last 20 years. But what about other stateless groups? How can it be illegal to democratically claim self-determination?