Any Welsh speakers here?

Pantglas2
I though popty ping was apocryphal. I so hope that's not the case.
btw the Welsh chapel near Ealing Studios is still there and functioning as a chapel but looks really different to how I remember it forty-odd years ago. There was a large tree or hedge (holly I think) obscuring the building and it was darker and somehow mysterious and there was a really beautiful sign by the entrance, gold writing on black. It looks quite ordinary now . I did notice that two of the posher villas on the same road have Welsh names though. Wrexham Lodge and Morgan House.

Diolch Pantglas. That's all you'll get out of me though we could start a correspondence course?!

It’s twp Ellianne and yes it means stupid. - twpsyn would be a stupid person

Nope- it’s popty (oven) ping!

Funny words, that reminds me my mum always used to say, "he's/she's a bit tup" I assumed it meant silly?

btw, there was a lovely little Welsh chapel a spit from Ealing Studios. I hope it's still going. It'll definitely still be there because I know pretty much everything on the same road is a listed building but I fear, like so many churches, it will now be 'luxury' flats.
goes to google street view with trepidation.....

The welsh for microwave is poppity ping! Thought that might come in handy?

...and thank you all for some really useful advice & suggestions

DH home now so I'll do more Welsh tomorrow...I can usually have a stab at Welsh placenames. I know how to say Cwmdu & Eglwyswrw for instance (both Powys & Pembrokeshire have excellent B&Bs). Depending on what your English accent is like this may not be phonetically how you'd say it but it's Coomdee and Eggloosooroo for me (ish). However today I've learned that in conversation a lot of words are shortened or modified a bit, like in most conversations in most languages. I'm definitely going for the informal conversation rather than formal declaiming. I'm not ready for the Eisteddfod just yet....

Don’t always say what you see ? f and ff for example

Ellianne yes it is similar to Breton. All the Celtic languages are similar but also very different. dd is said the same way as th in the word the. ll is very difficult to explain. I'll have a think lol

Respect to LondonGranny - my mother was north Welsh and the family spoke it round the table. But I was born in London (English father) and she never thought I would need it so never taught me! Having visited the family and Wales countless times I can say she was wrong. I would have loved to speak it. They had to speak English when I was there, which made me feel like the odd one out, but then she would jabber away in Welsh on the phone to her family. Since then I have done the family history and come across old documents and newspaper articles in Welsh, which I have been obliged to ask relatives to translate. All in all very annoying. I suppose I should make the effort to learn Welsh, but there is little opportunity for me to speak it now.

Helen .... it's the dd and ll and cwm type words which look alien to me, but then my main languages are latin/romance based.
I've heard Welsh is very much like Breton?

As a north Walian Welsh speaker, I know there is a difference not only between north and south pronunciations but north east and north west as well!

Don’t be intimidated by that LondnGranny, as I’m sure Geordies don’t always understand cockney and vice versa, and the same is true across all regions.

Pob hwyl hefo eich ymdrechion!

My first language is Welsh and I work in a primary school which is a category A Welsh school. Ellianne I'm surprised that you find Welsh difficult as it's a phonetic language and 90% of the time you say what you see lol LondonGranny speaking Welsh first is definitely the way to go.

Ha ha! Crossed post Riverwalk.

Just thought and a suggestion ... if you're in London (from your name!) there's a friendly Welsh church/chapel in town where Welsh people meet. They are keen to carry on the traditions and language. Maybe you could learn a few hymns in Welsh if you're that way inclined!

If you're religious how about the lovely

eglwys gmraeg canol llundain

Five minutes from Oxford Circus

...anyway...back to my learning...no time like the present!

I literally started today.

Anniebach, thanks so much. I was curious as some pronunciation is so different...the same word in South Wales sounding like 'should' and in North Wales 'sit' I am just going for learning to speak Welsh first and then when I'm more confident I may well move on to reading it, then writing it.
My friend's neighbour's first language is Welsh and we always have a chinwag when I'm there and she'd be thrilled if I could speak to her in Welsh (as would I). Even if it's just about the weather or how nice her garden is looking

Welsh! It's a hard language to learn I found mainly because the pronunciation sounds nothing like it looks written down! I also have a degree in French and German which seem easy in comparison!
My mum didn't speak any English until she was 10 when she was sent to boarding school over the border because she was a clergyman's daughter. She always said there was a divide between north and south Wales though I have no idea in terms of pronunciation.
Good luck! Sounds like a challenge!

Pwrynhawn Da (good afternoon) LondonGranny ?

Same spelling, if you were to sit GCSE Welsh same spellings if you were North or South .

There are some words same meaning, spoken and spelt differently, example - if you lived North you would call your grandmother Nain, in the South Mam-Gu , but Nain is used in the South too, never heard Mam-Gu in the north

Good luck

...by wicked mimic I mean sometimes if we're at a gathering of some sort he can imitate people's voices quickly and I often have to kick him under the table because it can look like he's taking the mick. Which sometimes he is.

He's got a very good ear. He's a wicked mimic too. The things he excels at are music, languages and computer programming. He says they're essentially the same thing.