I had my first Welsh class last night. It captivated me in a way that Spanish never has. I have to take Spanish. But Welsh is just a ridiculous thing that Katy and I are doing because a love for Wales is in our blood. Why? I don't really know. But every female in my family has a thing for Wales--mostly because of some great books that we've read. Anyways, the history and people of Wales are a big deal to us. I generally like England, but my blood starts boiling if we talk about the English occupation of Wales and stupid ugly freakin' Edward's defeat of my dearest hero Llewlyn. It's just not fair. So yeah...I generally like England. Right now, it is dead to me.
Learning the language is so fun! It's completely mind-boggling, but I am trying really hard because I want to know it so badly! So far I can introduce myself, say a couple simple sentences, and I kind of sort of have a glimpse of the insane pronunciation. I just can't, for the life of me, do the "ll" sound. It is unlike anything in our language, but it's ALL OVER THE PLACE in Welsh.
Think about all the greatness that Wales has brought to us. Umm, does anyone around here know and love Christian Bale? Llewlyn Fawr?? Ioan Gruffydd? How about Bear Grylls?!!?! (Ok, it turns out Bear's not from Wales--but he lives there, which means he loves it. So it's almost the same thing.)
Here's some more:
Henry V
Timothy Dalton
Laura Ashley
Charlotte Church
Tom Jones
Anthony Hopkins
Bonnie Tyler
Dylan Thomas
Catherine Zeta-Jones
T.E. Lawrence
Richard Burton
And those are just the ones that I know!
I love their national anthem:
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri; Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad, Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed. Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad, Tra mor yn fur i'r bur hoffbau, O bydded i'r heniaith barhau.
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri; Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad, Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed. Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad, Tra mor yn fur i'r bur hoffbau, O bydded i'r heniaith barhau.
Here it is in English:
Land of my Fathers
The land of my fathers is dear unto me, Old land where the minstrels are honoured and free: Its warring defenders, so gallant and brave, For freedom their life's blood they gave. Land, Land, true am I to my Land, While seas secure this land so pure, O may our old language endure.
The land of my fathers is dear unto me, Old land where the minstrels are honoured and free: Its warring defenders, so gallant and brave, For freedom their life's blood they gave. Land, Land, true am I to my Land, While seas secure this land so pure, O may our old language endure.
Beautiful.
I have to go there.
Did I mention that Kyle is Welsh?
7 comments:
I've been to Wales. It was BEAUTIFUL!! The heather was starting to come out, so the mountains were almost covered in purple. SO AMAZING!! But I'll probably never go back, oh well.
Whoa, my name is Julie too, and I've ALSO been to Wales! I loved it. We were in Cardiff for, like, a day, but it was a blast. Cardiff Castle is the best, this guy working at one of the gift shops at a museum thing there stood around talking to us about Wales for ages. He was great. And then they also have a cool market place thing with some of the best hand made pastries I've ever had. And the countryside is GORGEOUS, of course. I could ride trains through Wales for hours.
Also, I'm doing a show at BYU - Dancing at Lughnasa - for my senior project this semester, and one of the characters is Welsh (everyone else is Irish). He doesn't speak any Welsh, but he does have the accent. So, you know, there's a shameless plug for you. It goes up in early November.
I'm jealous you get to learn Welsh. Really.
Did I say hours? I meant days. 'Hours' of train riding would be probably just one train ride. And I could totally do more than that.
Kyle is Welsh?! I had no idea! Your children will have welsh blood!! What an honor. I had never heard the national anthem-beautiful. It is the anthem of my heart.
Um, which is why you should be ins Welsh choir with me Becca! Hey, let's see, what is the first song we are singing?...OH YEAH the National Anthem!! I was pretty much weeping and rending my garments with patriotism.
I'm going through that stage with Iceland and am currently studying Icelandic
You check it out on my blog
Also I went to Bristol,England this summer which is right across from the Welsh capital,the view was amazing,Cardiff didn't look like anything I'd seen before,of course I said that with Edinburgh to but still.
I love Dylan Thomas' poetry
Welsh bood eh,got an Welsh names picked out yet?
I love that you are taking Welsh - you definitely win for the most creative interests. I love that you are so unpredictable-- oh, and love Christian Bale and all things from the UK as well.
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