Article
Easy Text: An Introduction to Wales
Welsh is an old Celtic language that is still spoken. Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales. The place names, Caernarfon and Llangollen, will give you an impression of the language. Pronouncing them is a tongue twister, but have a go. . .!
Image: Fry1989 / CC0
Wales
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Audio: London Language Experience / CC BY-SA 4.0
Castle in Wales. Image: Jelle Drok, Flickr / CC BY-NC 4.0
Wales has 3 million inhabitants. North Wales is mountainous and wild. Tourism is an important industry there. The highest mountain is Snowdon in Snowdonia National Park. Most people live in South Wales where you find industry and farming. Today, the main industries are engineering and electronics. The three most important cities are in the south: Cardiff (the capital) Newport and Swansea.
Welsh sign. Image: Spixey / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Welsh have strong traditions of music and poetry. 20% of the population speak Welsh, a Celtic language, which is taught in schools. Can you manage to pronounce the Welsh words on the road sign?
- What is Wales famous for? Search the Internet and make a list of five things you would like to see or do in Wales. You may use places referred to in the text as your starting point.
- Do a search on 'Welsh pronunciation' to find sound samples of Welsh. You may want to add *.mp3 or *.wav in your search if the search engine does not support specific audio search.
- Search the internet for tongue twisters and see if you can find any tricky words and phrases to pronounce yourself. There is also a tongue-twister activity in the link collection.