General Chat

Thanks Muffy, quite clearly some of us aren't extremist ,tho we love where we live and were born!
The hotel in Llandudno mentioned is actually booked up well in advance.
Can't say that for other establishments.

I would suggest the folk that book in sooooo far advance are in the minority.........i still want to visit wales......but really do feel put off by the extremist element .....laughed at mum and dad when they came back last summer and said *some of the Welsh are off their faces* kind of see where they were coming from now tbh NOT ALL clearly lool

Tourist bookings are well up this year so far. Rhyl is being done up, Llandudno boasts the best hotel in UK, hundred of miles of the sandiest beaches, beautiful coastal paths everywhere, really warm weather in the extremities of Cardigan Bay, Anglesey and Pembrokeshire. Gavin and Stacey. Castles (Welsh and English) everywhere. Bodnant Gardens. Welsh Folk Museum. Free coal mining museums like Big Pit. National Botanic Gardens of Wales. Homes to see of Dylan Thomas, Charles Tunnicliffe, David Lloyd-George, Kyffin Williams. Portmeirion....... Any Welsh person or lover of Wales could go on and on.

Why is Wales becoming more and more popular as a tourist destination? Can't be many tourists who read letters in Y Cymro by Dr Lewis and have been put off this year. Any bad publicity in Daily Mail is probably a godsend. And perhaps this thread on Genes cannot be quite as significant as we think ;-)

Edit. Oh dam* I put Y Cymro. I should have also translated as "The Welshman"
And I must point out that David Lloyd-George was born 150 years ago in Manchester - so must have been an Englishman who happened to live some of his life in Wales.

Oh thank you Sue I had never thought of that, I shall now tell my OH I can speak another language. :-D :-D

Good night to all.

oh bugger you'd included that in your list........ppppppffffffffffttttttttttt..off to bed with the steaming'ump now lol

menage a trois? ;-)

Ginnie, I was adressing that to his greatness...lolol

You'll use a lot of foreign words every day without even knowing that you are and I;m sure when watching TV or reading you'll understand phrases which have been integrated into the English norm. Tete a tete, menage a trois being the 2 that first come to mind but chaise longue, au gratin, cordon bleu, creme brulee, cul-de-sac, bon voyage, art deco, deja vu, en suite, grand prix, pot pouri and vol auvent.

So you speak French :-D :-D

When I said extremists I wasn't thinking of terrorists but of people who take things to the extreme when really they should think about what they do and say.

I wouldn't call painting signs 'just a bit naughty' my grandchildren know not to deface others property. Nothing to brag about imo.

see what you've done John - you have done as much damage as your Archdruid mate - just to a smaller audience

To the English tourist John all we can hear is blah de blah de blah..you either WANT our tourist cash or you want to behave like idiots and alienate us..and from what you've suggested...the standard English bod isn't welcome......you will reap what you sow ultimately..be VERY careful what you wish for.

intrigued by Dr Lewis!!!! I don't think so - would there be a welcome in the hillside for him for non Welsh speakers? unlikely, and would any of our GR members get an invitation to stay at yours? and if they did get one, would they take you up on it?

Sue, i'm not sure if you meant me but I didn't say that learning any language was easy, as I can't speak another language I would not be so rude. Sorry if I have misunderstood your post.

I was just trying to say that the thread had had it's moments of both serious and fun posts.

Wales is a place to relax and smile. The beaches are stunning, the mountains are stunning , the people are very welcoming and love all nationalities.

Not quite sure what is meant by extremists. I painted a couple of road signs green many years ago but never thought I was being extreme - just a bit naughty and illegal. I thought extremists were those who were fire bombing empty cottages that were second homes - they got no support from us painters.

It did use to be "extremist" to vote for the Wales Party (Plaid Cymru). But that became mainstream after Gwynfor Evans was elected an MP in the 1960's and the Wales Party has remained one of the four major political parties in Wales for 50 years now. Thirteen percent of the population of Wales support that party, but many PC members were born in England, West Indies, Ireland, Pakistan, India as well as Wales.

By no definition I can think of would Robyn Lewis be called an extremist. He is a deep lover of his native tongue and has spent many many years in studying the poetry, literature and history of Wales. Many visitors (particularly those who love historical and cultural things like most Genes posters) would be intrigued by Dr Lewis - who also has a wonderful grasp of English, his second language. :-)

Like most Welsh speakers I know, he has a deep love and affection for English language and literature too.

I just HAD to Sandie, I had an urge ;-)

Ginnie, that's the appeal of the debate for me, not the blood letting but people being challenged which I am about to do :-)

I took, Latin, French and German as compulsory subjects at school. Learnt Spanish in school when I lived in Spain, Used German when I lived in Germany. Can by get in Italian.

Even with the gender changes and differences in sentence construction in those languages it's the mutations in Welsh that are the most difficult aspect to grasp.
Please don't make it sound like it's easy to learn it isn't, certainly as an adult.

the best way for a non Welsh speaker to prounce Llandudno is

LANDIDNO

The double L is done with the back of the throat - try to avoid spitting!!!!!

awww thanks Ann mwah <3

you can stay with me any time Muffy - Sandie, Sue, me, Jude, Mr Daff's lovely Daff [Ann] Auntie Jean, and plenty of others have met on a number of occasions - we all get on fine - I live a short walk from Jct 32 of the M4

Nice one ~ Lynda~ ;-) :-D

John - your reference to Shaun's "Do You Live In Wales?" thread.

Quote - "Masses of untranslated Welsh right through that thread"

That is simply not true.

As has been pointed out, the only Welsh words used with any regularity are terms of greeting - understood by most posters on that thread.

In the early days of the thread, I was asked by Shaun to help him and others, to understand some Welsh terms.
I posted some very basic words in Welsh,

Days of the week,
Months of the year,
Numeric terms,
Greetings,
Weather etc etc.

Every single word was directly translated in order to help those wishing to learn some Welsh words.

I speak, read, and write Welsh.
I would never write a sentence or paragraph on this site in Welsh without a direct translation. To do so would be discourteous to the vast majority on here who do not understand the Welsh language,

Tec.