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Thread: The Chinese Welsh learner who became fluent in just three years...

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    Default The Chinese Welsh learner who became fluent in just three years...

    ...and now teaches the language through Mandarin.

    Teaching Welsh on the channel BiliBili - the equivalent of YouTube in China - YuQi goes by the name “Miss Morwenna”



    YuQi Tang, who also goes by her Welsh name Morwenna, with her husband Scott Griffiths YuQi teaches Welsh through the medium of Mandarin and Mandarin through the medium of Welsh (Image: National Centre for Learning Welsh)

    When she heard Welsh spoken for the first time YuQi Tang thought it was the most “exotic, sexy” language she’d ever heard. Three years on, the Welsh learner from Shanghai is so fluent in the language she teaches Welsh through the medium of Mandarin Chinese to hundreds of followers in China - as well as Mandarin through the medium of Welsh.

    Teaching Welsh on the channel BiliBili - the equivalent of YouTube in China - YuQi goes by the name Miss Morwenna and also explains Welsh culture to her more than 300 followers. She said this is a “hobby” while her day job is teaching Mandarin and developing Mandarin courses through the medium of Welsh and English at the University of Wales Trinity St David.

    When YuQi, originally from Shanghai, moved to Wales three years ago with husband Scott Griffiths, she said she had not realised how widely Welsh was spoken here. The Welsh Government wants to expand the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050 and some people want second home owners who speak Welsh to have preferable treatment when it comes to taxing those with two homes. You can read more about that here.

    “The first time I heard Welsh I thought it sounds so exotic. It sounds really sexy to my ears. Some of the sounds don’t exist in other languages I have learned. I think it was the pronunciation that got my attention," YuQi,31, said. “It’s not an easy language. I would not say it’s harder than Chinese but definitely harder than learning French.”

    YuQi, 31, who also goes by her chosen Welsh Morwenna, met Scott while he was working in Shanghai. The couple married in 2015 and moved to Cardiff in 2019 before settling in settled in Newquay, Ceredigion. After starting to learn Welsh on the Duolingo app, YuQi began a course with Learn Welsh Gwent during lockdowns and practised the language speaking Welsh on the phone to Scott’s 80 year old aunt Mair when she was shielding in 2020.

    “It’s been really nice to be able to speak Welsh over the phone with Mair, my husband’s great aunt. We’ve been reading T Llew Jones’ novel, ‘Un Noson Dywyll’ together, and have now moved on to the Mabinogi in old Welsh, which is very interesting.”

    YuQi is often asked why she learned Welsh and has answers ready in three languages.

    “It’s pretty easy to anticipate questions Welsh speakers will ask you - why learn Welsh, why move to Wales and so on, but learners need to put themselves in other situations in order to extend their vocabulary, and themselves. And the most important thing is not to be afraid of making mistakes and to enjoy the challenge of trying to speak a new language.”

    As well as teaching Welsh to followers in China on BiliBili YuQi is a Chinese tutor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David where she is developing learning materials in English, Welsh and Chinese.

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    I never heard Welsh. Is it similar to Gaelic?

    Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

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    Quote Originally Posted by Richmondbread View Post
    I never heard Welsh. Is it similar to Gaelic?

    Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
    I think Welsh is faster and more guttural. From 0:25 is one of my fave rugby players, Scott Williams, speaking in his native Welsh:


    And another great rugby player Jonathan Davies speaking Welsh:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    I think Welsh is faster and more guttural. From 0:25 is one of my fave rugby players, Scott Williams, speaking in his native Welsh:


    And another great rugby player Jonathan Davies speaking Welsh:
    I'm not a linguist but I am curious to know how a tiny little country in the middle of England with that language emerged that seems so distant to English when surrounded by The English language. Is it more like middle English?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Richmondbread View Post
    I'm not a linguist but I am curious to know how a tiny little country in the middle of England with that language emerged that seems so distant to English when surrounded by The English language. Is it more like middle English?
    (1) Wales is not in the middle of England, it is in the west of Britain! (2) Welsh is, in fact, believed to be the oldest existing Indo-European language in Europe and belongs to the Celtic/Brythonic family.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    (1) Wales is not in the middle of England, it is in the west of Britain! (2) Welsh is, in fact, believed to be the oldest existing Indo-European language in Europe and belongs to the Celtic/Brythonic family.
    As I understand it, Welsh is of the Celtic origin whereas English is West Germanic. It's just interesting that being situated within close borders they sound nothing alike.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Richmondbread View Post
    As I understand it, Welsh is of the Celtic origin whereas English is West Germanic. It's just interesting that being situated within close borders they sound nothing alike.
    Because at least until the Industrial Revolution came along, the mountainous and often inaccessible terrain of Wales kept the language relatively isolated and protected.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    Because at least until the Industrial Revolution came along, the mountainous and often inaccessible terrain of Wales kept the language relatively isolated and protected.
    Sounds a bit similar scenario to Appalachia here in the states and tangier island.

    Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

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    The farther back one goes the more I.E. languages like Welsh and Old English would sound similar, though mutually still incomprehensible, same with Germanic Gothic and Roman Latin, but Celtic and Latin were still mutually comprehensible dialects of each other right until the Latins entered Italy leaving their kindred behind who evolved their dialect(s) away from Latin even more than its daughter, French, did, and that's saying a lot.

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