So, I've Decided to Learn a Mostly-Useless Language...

[TheComputerError]

That's right, I've decided I'd like to learn Welsh. Why Welsh? I don't know. Seemed interesting. Sure, Spanish might come in more useful on a day-to-day basis and German might be easier, but being fluent in Welsh should be rather impressive. Right?

Wish me luck, fellow CSers, for the Welsh language is a formidable opponent.

[Lachrymose]

Gyd Lluck!

[Animae]

I wish you luck.

I've been thinking about learning Gaelic myself.

[fireheart]

Good luck. I'm learning Japanese.

[RayvenQ]

That's right, I've decided I'd like to learn Welsh. Why Welsh? I don't know. Seemed interesting. Sure, Spanish might come in more useful on a day-to-day basis and German might be easier, but being fluent in Welsh should be rather impressive. Right?

Wish me luck, fellow CSers, for the Welsh language is a formidable opponent.

Remember, please leave all vowels at the door :lol:

[JoitheArtist]

Oooh, Welsh is a LOVELY language! I used to be able to sing a song or two in Welsh, by rote memorization...forgotten most of it now..."Calon lan, yr llan dioni,..." something....drat.

[sanchopanza65]

I too am learning Japanese. I picked up a little Welsh on my trip there about 8 years ago. Just remember that the LL is pronounced like a hard CH. That and Cwm Rhonda are about all I can remember.

[SengaKitty]

Good luck :D I'm fluent in hebrew, which was great when I was in Israel, but not so useful here unless I'm at the mall lol

[Chromatix]

It's believed that J.R.R. Tolkien based his two major elvish languages very broadly on two specific real languages - Welsh and Finnish. Both are from small and unusual language families that bear little to no resemblance to nearby dominant languages - Welsh is Celtic (like Gaelic and Breton), while Finnish is Fenno-Ugric (as is Estonian and Hungarian).

The trick with Welsh is to learn how they use the alphabet differently. W and Y are always vowels, for example, which is why it looks odd to an Anglophone. After that you just have to learn how to pronounce the LL consonant, and then you can start on the vocabulary.

A word of warning: don't bother listening to railway announcers when working out how to pronounce place names. They gave up pronouncing them the proper Welsh way when tourists consistently failed to recognise them. So what you hear on the station platform is an Anglicised version which is, well, wrong. As an example, consider that Porthmadog is supposed to be pronounced "Port Madoc", which is related to the fact that it is a small port founded by an eccentric - and subsequently bankrupt - chap named Madoc.

With Finnish, the pronunciation is easy. The spelling and pronunciation have a 1:1 correspondence and very consistent rules, and all of the sounds are used in English somewhere. The vocabulary is hard, because it bears very little resemblance to other Western languages, but not excessively so.

The grammar is what kills you - it's suffix-based, a bit like Latin apparently. The one saving grace is that there is no distinction between genders in the grammar, and only where absolutely necessary in the vocabulary.

But since I live here, I do my best to learn it anyway!

[TheComputerError]

A word of warning: don't bother listening to railway announcers when working out how to pronounce place names.

For some reason, I doubt the Metro-North announcers would be much help with Welsh.

Oooh, Welsh is a LOVELY language! I used to be able to sing a song or two in Welsh, by rote memorization...forgotten most of it now..."Calon lan, yr llan dioni,..." something....drat.

Lovely, I'll grant, but I was pointing out the lack of utility in Modern American society.

[Caveat Emptor]

Let's get you started off right!

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff346/spectre73/longest-sign-in-the-world.jpg

:p:D

[MannersMakethMan]

Good luck with learning Welsh! A couple of things learned the hard way from living next door to a Welsh lady for many years:

1) Get a supply of small towels. If you're saying it right, people should be putting up umbrellas. Until other people get used to you practicing, they'll want something to dry off with.

2) Llangollen and Llanfyllin may only have the slightest difference in pronunciation despite the spelling, but get it wrong with a resident and you'll be wanting the first train up the Dovey Junction.

3) The use of anglicised pronunciation (e.g. of Caersws, Machnylleth, or Llandudno) may get you poked with a wooden spoon.

4) Never show an English flag in Wales.

5) Don't fall into the trap of thinking bore da means hello. It means good morning, and used at the wrong time of day makes people think you're having a laugh. Do remember that Diolch means thank you (please let me have remembered this right!), and that it has been known to have a good effect on small Welsh shopkeepers.

If you do spot the ever elusive Welsh vowel, please let me know. Other than that, enjoy the discovery of a new language!

[Xarlaxas]

I wish you luck.

I've been thinking about learning Gaelic myself.

Which kind of Gaelic? Scots Gaelic or Irish Gaelic?

I'm a (relatively) fluent speaker of Scots Gaelic having been learning it since I was 2.... ^_^

[Chromatix]

For some reason, I doubt the Metro-North announcers would be much help with Welsh.
Well, obviously I was talking about the railways in (and near) Wales.

Example: very sloppy in-train announcement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-N2ZMTCsE)

[Slytovhand]

Good Luck!

It's a language I'm going to have to pull my finger out and learn sometime... soon.

And yes, Tolkein did fall in love with the language. When you hear Quenya or Sindarin being spoken, you can sort of hear the similarities (say, in the LotR movies). Similar vocalisations in some respects - just...'softer' (ie - no spitting :p)

[JoitheArtist]

And yes, Tolkein did fall in love with the language. When you hear Quenya or Sindarin being spoken, you can sort of hear the similarities (say, in the LotR movies). Similar vocalisations in some respects - just...'softer' (ie - no spitting :p)

I have a cd in old Icelandic(which I believe is the parent language of several present-day Scandinavian tongues), and you can DEFINATELY see Tolkien's inspiration. In fact, he took the list of dwarves present at the creation of the world, and used them for the names of the dwarves in The Hobbit. Gandalfir means "wood sprite" in Icelandic. (the cd is Edda, by Sequentia, and I highly recommend it!)

Also, his Rohan language was primarily based on Anglo-Saxon. I have a cd of Beowulf being read in the original Anglo-Saxon, and it sounds just like the Rohirrim. :) In fact, "theoden" is the Anglo-Saxon word for prince or ruler (as distinct from "cynig," which is "king.")