en de en en en cy en en zh en en en en cy cy cy en en en zh en en en en en cy cy en en en zh en en en en en cy cy cy en en en en en en en cy cy en en zh en en en en cy cy cy en en en zh en en en en en en en en zh en en en en en en en fr en en en en en en en en en en en en en de en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en cs cs cs cs en cs cs da da en en cs cs en en de cs da en da cs en en cs cs en en en cs cs da en da cs en en cs da en en en cs cs da en da cs en en cs cs en en en de cs da en da en en en cs cs en en en de cs da en da cs en en cs cs en en en fr cs da en en cy en en cy cy en da cs en en cs cs en en en de cs da en da cs en en cs da fr en en en ceb la it en en en en en en en en en en en en en pt en en en en en en it en en en en en ga en en cy cy es en en en pt tr en en en pt en en en en en en en it en en it de en en en en en en it it en en en hbs_lat en en it en en en en en it it pms en en en et en it it en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr it en ga sk it en en en it en en it cy en en en en en en en en fr en en en pt it en en en en en en en en en en es en
Medieval Welsh storytelling for the modern world.
Dim lawer i ddweud heddiw - mwy yfory, efallai. Dw i wedi bod yn brusur ysgrifenu, gweithio yn yr ardd, cymryd lluniau...
Not a lot to say today - more tomorrow, maybe. I've been busy writing, working in the garden, taking photos...
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Y wythnos hon mi gwrddodd yr dosbarthiadau canolradd a uwchraddol (lefel 2 a lefel 3) fel un, oherwydd nid allodd yr athro lefel 2, Elis Owens, mynychu. Yn hytrach na fy mhynd o’r un grwp i’r llall, mi benderfynais i gyfuno y ddau mewn “dosbarth i gyd”. Mi ddarparais i daflen a roedd yn cynnwys sawl testun ymddiddanol a ffurfiau brawddegol, ac mi es i trwyddo yn gyntaf gan yr canolraddau. Wedyn, mi dreuliais i ryw prid gan y grwp i gyd, yn holi cwestiynau i pobl yng Nhgymraeg, ac yn cael atebion yn yr un iaith – pethau siml fel "beth gwneuthoch chi dros y penwythnos?" ac "sut roedd y tywydd ddoe?" Wedi roedd pawb yn barod, ymrannais i’r dosbarth mewn dau grwp ac gadawais i iddyn nhw mynd ati gan gael sqyrsiau gan eu gilydd, tra symudais i’n ôl ac i ffordd yn gwrando ac ryw pryd yn cydroddi.
Roedd pawb bod yn debyg i gael hwyl, a dw i’n meddwl bod ceisio helpu ei gilydd yn siared a deall torrodd i lawr yn tipyn bach y nervusrwydd sy’n ymosod pawb sy’n canolpwnt y sylw pan mae’r athro yn holi cwestiwn iddyn nhw. Awgrymodd un o’r canolraddau wedi hyn a ddylwn i trefnu y grypiau tro nesaf fel bod y pobl yn leai brofiadol sy’n cael holi y cwestiyniau, a’r lleill sy’n rhaid iddyn nhw deall ac ateb – syniad da, dw i’n meddwl!
This week the intermediate and advanced classes (level 2 and level 3) met as one, since the level 2 teacher, Elis Owens, wasn't able to attend. Rather than my bouncing back and forth between the two groups, I decided to combine them in a "dosbarth i gyd" - a class of the whole. I provided a handout containing some conversational topics and sentence templates, and went through it first with the intermediates. Then I spent some time with the whole group, asking questions to individuals in Welsh and getting answers in the same language - simple things like "what did you do over the weekend?" and "how was the weather yesterday?" After everyone was warmed up, I split the class into two groups (each containing intermediates and beginners) and let them get on with having Welsh conversations among themselves, while I moved back and forth monitoring and sometimes contributing.
Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I think trying to help each other speak and understand broke down somewhat the nervousness that attacks anyone who's the focus of attention when the teacher asks them a question. One of the intermediates suggested afterwards that I set the groups up next time so it's the less experienced people who get to ask the questions, and the others who have to understand what they've heard and answer -- a good idea, I think!
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Mae'r hydref yn llithro yn araf i ffordd. Roedd y penwythnos diwethaf yn cynnes ac yn hefryd, gan deil bron pob coeden wedi eu troi i felyn neu fflamgoch neu aur. Yn fuan byddan nhw yn hedfan ar y gwynt, ac yn syrthio i'r ddaear. Dyn ni'n cael rhew bron bob nos nawr, a mae lawer planhigion yr haf wedi marw. Ddoe mi torres i i lawr y planhigion tomatoes olaf, a roedd yn barod wedi marw. Mae gen i o hyd lawer o domatoes coch a gwyrdd yn y garaj a squash yn y gegin, a mae'r wynwyn gwyrdd yn dal i dyfu yn yr ardd llysiau, ond mae popeth arall wedi gorffen. Mor gyflam mae'r tymor wedi mynd!
Ddim ysgrifenu dros y penwythnos - roedden ni Dydd Sadwrn yn digwyddiad SCA, ac ddoe roeddwn i'n gweithio yn yr ardd. Gobeithio bydd y penwythnos nesaf yn wahanol!
Autumn is slipping slowly away. Last weekend was warm and beautiful, with the leaves of almost all the trees having turned yellow or flame-red or gold. Soon they will be flying on the wind, and falling to the earth. We are getting frost almost every night now, and many of the summer plants have died. Yesterday I cut down the last tomatoe plants, which were already dead. I have still lots of red and green tomatoes in the garage and squash in the kitchen, and the green onions are still growing in the vegetable garden, but everything else is done. So quickly the season has gone!
No writing over the weekend - we were at an SCA event Saturday, and yesterday I was working in the garden. Hopefully next weekend will be different!
Posted by G R Grove at 12:15 PM No comments: Links to this post
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: gardening, seasons, Welsh
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Noswaith oer arall / another cold night
Roedd neithiwr yn noswaith oer arall. Y bore 'ma roedd rhew trwm ym mbobman - ar fyn nhryc, ar y glaswellt, a'r blodau. Roedd ia trwchus ar y bath adar am yr ail tro.
Pan cyrraeddes i gartref ddoe, roedd y planhigion tomatoes wedi marw. Bydd rhaid i mi eu tynnu nhw penwythnos nesaf. Roedd popeth yn y "cold-frame" a dan y blastig yn iawn.
Dw i wedi bod yn meddwl, fel gwnaf i ambell waith, sut roedd yr hydref i pobl yn yr oesoedd canol. Buodd yr haf wedi mynd, gan ei frwythiau a'i tywedd braf, a buodd y gaeaf yn dod yn fuan - amser tywyll, oer, a chaled. Roedd yr hydref yr cyfle olaf dathlu - pen draw yr hanner golau y flwyddyn.
Last night was another cold night. This morning there was heavy frost everywhere - on my truck, on the grass, and on the flowers. There was thick ice on the birdbath for the second time. When I came home yesterday, the tomato plants were dead. I'll have to pull them up next weekend. Everything in the cold-frame and under the plastic was fine.
I have been thinking, as I do sometimes, how autumn was for people in the middle ages. Summer was gone, with its fruits and its fine weather, and winter was coming soon - a dark, cold and hard time. The autumn was the last opportunity to celebrate - the end of the light half of the year.
Posted by G R Grove at 8:50 AM No comments: Links to this post
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: gardening, seasons, Welsh
Monday, October 13, 2008
Penwythnos oer / a cold weekend
Roedd y tywydd yn oer yma Dydd Sadwrn a Dydd Sul - cymylau, man glaw, a gwynt bach cas o'r gogledd. Mi tynnais i'r tomatoes olaf - y rhan mwyaf ohonyn nhw yn dal yn wyrdd -a'r ciwcymers a'r basil, a rhoi amrhyw plantigion yn y "cold-frame". Y bore 'ma mae popeth yn yr ardd llysiau wedi rhewi. Mae gan dail y tomatoes cot ia clir a thrychus, yn edrych fel dwr - ond dwr sych a chaled. Efallai mae'r squash yn dal yn byw dan ei phabell blastig - wn i ddim. Mae'r haf wedi mynd yn wir.
The weather was cold here Saturday and Sunday - clouds, drizzle, and a nasty little wind from the north. I picked the last tomatoes - the greater part of them still green - and the cucumbers and the basil, and put some plants in the cold-frame. This morning everything in the vegetable garden is frozen. The tomato leaves have a thick clear coat of ice, looking like water - but dry hard water. Maybe the squash is still alive under its plastic tent - I don't know. Summer has gone indeed.
Posted by G R Grove at 7:43 AM No comments: Links to this post
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Summer's Gone / Mae'r Haf Wedi Mynd
Mae'r haf wedi mynd. Y bore 'ma pan mi ddes i allan o'r ty, welais i bod ni wedi cael rhew trwm dros nos. Roeddwn i wedi gorcuddio y tomatoes olaf a'r squash, ond wn i ddim os ydyn nhw wedi goroesi. Does dim ots, yn wir, oherwydd bydd mwy o rew yn cyrraedd Dydd Sadwrn - ac efallai, tipyn o eira! Mae'r hydref yma nawr!
(Dim ysgrifenu dros y Sul, dim ond garddio. Gobeithio, mi fydda' i'n gwneud mwy y penwythnos nesa'.)
Summer's gone. This morning when I came out of the house, I saw we'd had a heavy frost overnight. I had covered the last tomatoes and the squash, but I don't know if they have survived. It doesn't matter, really, because more frost will arrive Saturday - and possibly a bit of snow! Autumn is here now!
(No writing this weekend, only gardening. Hopefully I'll get more done next weekend.)
Posted by G R Grove at 3:34 PM No comments: Links to this post
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: gardening, languages, seasons, Welsh, writing
Friday, October 3, 2008
Lots of this and that going on. Last weekend I finished another chapter of The Ash Spear, which makes 16 so far of an estimated 30 - figures on the sidebar as usual. Also Welsh classes started this week, and as a result I've been busy setting up a mailing list group and a blog for the class.
The garden is winding down, and I think we will probably have frost Sunday or Monday night - time to pick the rest of the tomatoes, protect the squash, and start moving semi-hardly plants into the cold frame for the winter. Then comes the garden clean-up... In and around this activity I hope to be writing more this weekend - the story is moving into a new phase, which should be interesting.
But that's another post.
Posted by G R Grove at 12:26 PM No comments: Links to this post
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Labels: ash spear, gardening, languages, Welsh, writing
Newer Posts Older Posts Home
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
He was born for a reason... Now available on amazon.com
Essays on the Welsh language
Essays on Scots Gaelic
Taliesin and Aneirin - Christian Bards or Pagan?
Dwygelli - Celtic Song and Stories
My discussion thread on LibraryThing
Colorado Welsh Society Welsh class blog
Find me on Facebook
Books by G. R. Grove: The Storyteller series.
The first book in the series. Fifteen-year-old Gwernin sets off on a journey around 6th century Wales, earning his way as a storyteller. Maybe, one day, he will be a real bard...
Read reviews at LibraryThing.com
Read sample chapters or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Amazon.com
The second book in the series. Bardic apprentice Gwernin and his friend Neirin mab Dwywei are sent on a diplomatic mission to the North of Britain. But some of the natives aren't too friendly...
Read reviews at LibraryThing.com
Read sample chapters or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Amazon.com
The third book in the series. In 6th century Wales the ash spear was a symbol of warfare and of manhood, but it also stood for awen, the poetic inspiration of the bards...
Read reviews at LibraryThing.com
Read sample chapters or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Amazon.com
And the next book in the series...
Journeyman bard Gwernin Storyteller accompanies a Welsh princess to Ireland for her wedding. But other members of the party have their own objectives... Set five years after The Ash Spear, this will be the 4th book in the Storyteller series, and the beginning of a new trilogy. Scheduled for publication in late 2015.
My published poetry series so far includes King Arthur's Raid on Hell and Pryderi's Pigs. Coming soon: Storyteller Songs, a collection of poetry and prose from the first three books of the Storyteller series.
King Arthur's Raid on Hell and other poems
Read reviews at LibraryThing.com
Read selections or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Amazon.com
Pryderi's Pigs and other poems
Read reviews at LibraryThing.com
Read selections or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Amazon.com
Read selections or get the e-book at Smashwords.com
Get the physical book at Lulu
Some of my travel photos on Flickr
Dail hydref / autumn leaves
Bod yn ddau lle ar unwaith / Being in two places a...
Penwythnos cynnes olaf? / Last warm weekend?
Noswaith oer arall / another cold night
Penwythnos oer / a cold weekend
Summer's Gone / Mae'r Haf Wedi Mynd