The finest small group vacations in rural Britain

Speak like a local!

Shwd i chi? - Try your hand at Welsh!
What is Welsh? "Is it just a dialect of English?" many visitors to Great Britain ask. Well, if you can't translate "Peidiwch a meddwi gormod " easily, then you probably have the answer to that question!

If you feel, while trying your hand at a few of the welsh phrases below, that you might like to try them out in Wales, why not join us on our Welsh Borders tour?

This truly beautiful region is still untouched by main-scale tourism. For a magical stay in this varied landscape of rolling hills, black and white timbered cottages, georgian house, and winding lanes join us in and around the "Welsh Marches".

Welsh is a Celtic language, closely related to Breton, spoken in Brittany, France and also to Cornish, once the language of Cornwall in England. Welsh is also related, although not as closely, to the Gaelic languages spoken in North Western Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

Although both English and Welsh do have links to the Indo-European language group, there are no direct links between the languages, as you may have realised by now!

Try your hand at the following. We hope your tongue doesn't get tied in knots. If you wonder how the Welsh can pronounce seemingly impossible words, remember some letters which are consonants in English are used as vowels in Welsh.

Good luck!

Wales - Cymru

Good morning - Bore da

Good afternoon - Prynhawn da

Good night - Nos da

How are you? - Shwd i chi?

Very well, thank you - Da iawn, diolch yn fawr

Good gracious! - Diwedd mawr!

I am pleased to meet you - Neis cwrdd â chi

What is your name? - Beth yw'ch enw chi?

I don't know - Dwn i ddim

Till the next time - Tan y tro nesaf!

Cheers/Good Health - Iechyd da!

If you would like to explore the Welsh language and its pronunciation further, visit http://www.cs.brown.edu/fun/welsh/Lesson01.html. The site will tell you all you need to know and probably more about the Welsh language.

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