Contemporary Welsh culture and media

Prepare the theme of Welsh-language broadcasting so that it survives two follow-up questions. Show what the preparation must contain.

1. 01Name something specific

   Not ‘Welsh television’ but a named service and a named kind of programme you actually watch: Dw i’n gwylio’r newyddion ar S4C bron bob nos, a dw i’n gwrando ar Radio Cymru yn y car. (I watch the news on S4C nearly every night, and I listen to Radio Cymru in the car.) Two named sources and a stated habit — which is what ‘having dealt with them regularly during the course’ sounds like.

2. 02Have a preference and a reason

   Mae’n well gen i’r radio, achos mae’n haws gwrando wrth wneud rhywbeth arall, a dw i’n clywed mwy o wahanol acenion. (I prefer the radio, because it is easier to listen while doing something else, and I hear more different accents.) A preference is an opinion, and an opinion with two reasons survives the first follow-up.

3. 03Prepare for follow-up one: pam?

   Expect Pam mae hynny’n bwysig? (Why does that matter?) Answer with something about YOU rather than about broadcasting in general: Achos dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg, ac mae clywed pobl o wahanol rannau o Gymru wedi fy helpu i ddeall pobl y tu allan i’r dosbarth. (Because I am learning Welsh, and hearing people from different parts of Wales has helped me understand people outside the classroom.)

4. 04Prepare for follow-up two: beth yn benodol?

   Expect Rho enghraifft. (Give an example.) Have one ready and keep it short: a particular item, a particular interview, a particular week. If you cannot produce one, the whole answer collapses — which is why the log described in the listening topic is worth keeping. One dated, described example is enough.

5. 05Turn it outwards

   Finish by bringing somebody in: Ydych chi’n gwylio S4C hefyd, neu ydych chi’n defnyddio’r we yn fwy? (Do you watch S4C too, or do you use the internet more?) Section A is a group discussion and a question at the end of a contribution both satisfies AO1’s interaction clause and buys you thinking time before your next turn.

Result: A named service, a stated habit, a preference with two reasons, one specific example held in reserve, and a question to another candidate. That is three or four minutes of preparation for one theme, and it survives the two follow-up questions the specification promises.

The examiner asks: Ydy’r we yn dda neu’n ddrwg i’r Gymraeg? (Is the internet good or bad for Welsh?) Build an answer that takes a position without pretending the other side does not exist.

1. 01Refuse the false choice, but still commit

   Do not answer ‘both’. Answer with a position and a qualification: Yn gyffredinol, dw i’n meddwl ei bod hi’n well — ond nid am y rheswm mae pobl yn ei roi fel arfer. (On the whole I think it is better — but not for the reason people usually give.) That commits and promises something specific, which is a strong opening in a discussion.

2. 02Give the reason nobody expects

   Nid y cynnwys ydy’r peth pwysicaf, ond y ffaith bod modd clywed Cymraeg bob dydd heb fyw mewn ardal Gymraeg. I ddysgwr, mae hynny’n newid popeth. (It is not the content that matters most, but the fact that you can hear Welsh every day without living in a Welsh-speaking area. For a learner, that changes everything.) Speaking from your own position as a learner is honest and it is unanswerable.

3. 03Concede the strongest counter-argument

   Ar y llaw arall, mae’n rhaid dewis y Gymraeg ar-lein bob tro, ac mae’r Saesneg yno beth bynnag. Dydy hynny ddim yn wir am y radio yn y car. (On the other hand, you have to choose Welsh online every time, and English is there anyway. That is not true of the radio in the car.) Note that the concession is specific and comes with its own example, which is what makes it a concession rather than a formula.

4. 04Resolve without retreating

   Felly dw i’n dal i feddwl ei bod hi’n well, ond mai’r peth pwysig ydy gwneud y dewis yn haws — nid gwneud mwy o gynnwys. (So I still think it is better, but that the important thing is to make the choice easier — not to make more content.) A resolution that changes the terms of the question is stronger than one that splits the difference.

5. 05Hand it on

   Ydych chi’n gwneud yr ymdrech honno? Faint o’r amser ydych chi’n dewis y Gymraeg ar-lein? (Do you make that effort? How much of the time do you choose Welsh online?) The question is genuine, it is difficult, and it hands the other two candidates something worth answering — which is what a good contribution to a group discussion does.

Result: Commit, give an unexpected and personal reason, concede a specific counter-argument, resolve by changing the terms, then hand on a real question. The answer is about ninety seconds and it demonstrates position, balance, interaction and conclusion together.

The examiner asks about Welsh-language theatre. You have studied the prescribed play closely and seen one school production. Build an answer that uses both without slipping into a Section B analysis.

1. 01Signal which question you are answering

   Open by naming the frame: Dw i am sôn am ddrama Gymraeg fel rhywbeth i’w wylio yn hytrach nag fel testun i’w astudio. (I want to talk about Welsh drama as something to watch rather than as a text to study.) One sentence, and it keeps you out of the Section B trap for the rest of the answer.

2. 02Use the set play as cultural evidence

   Dyn ni’n astudio drama Gymraeg eleni, ac un peth sy’n fy nharo i ydy pwy sydd i fod i’w gwylio hi. Mae’n ddrama am bobl ifanc, ac eto mewn ysgol mae’r rhan fwyaf ohonon ni’n ei darllen hi yn hytrach na’i gweld hi. (We are studying a Welsh play this year, and one thing that strikes me is who is supposed to watch it. It is a play about young people, and yet in a school most of us read it rather than see it.) That is a cultural observation about a text you know, which is exactly the move.

3. 03Bring in what you have actually seen

   Gwelais i gynhyrchiad yn yr ysgol y llynedd, ac roedd yn wahanol iawn i’w darllen hi. Roedd y gynulleidfa’n chwerthin mewn llefydd doeddwn i ddim wedi disgwyl. (I saw a production at school last year, and it was very different from reading it. The audience laughed in places I had not expected.) One specific, first-hand detail, and it makes a real point about performance against text.

4. 04Turn it into a question about the culture

   Felly dw i’n gofyn: ydy drama Gymraeg yn cyrraedd pobl ifanc, neu ydy hi’n cyrraedd myfyrwyr yn unig? (So I ask: does Welsh drama reach young people, or does it only reach students?) An arguable question about Welsh-language culture, raised from your own experience — which is what Section A is for.

5. 05Have the follow-up ready

   Expect Beth ddylai newid? (What should change?) Answer concretely rather than piously: Mwy o gynyrchiadau teithiol mewn neuaddau lleol, efallai — nid mwy o ddramâu ar y maes llafur. (More touring productions in local halls, perhaps — not more plays on the syllabus.) A specific recommendation is worth more than a general wish, and it closes the contribution decisively.

Result: Frame the question, use the set play as cultural evidence rather than as a text, add one first-hand production with a specific detail, raise an arguable question, and have a concrete recommendation ready. No Section B analysis anywhere in it.

You have read one issue of a national Welsh-language current affairs magazine and one issue of your local papur bro. Build a two-minute contribution comparing them.

1. 01Name both and state the basis of comparison

   Dw i wedi darllen y ddau, a dw i am eu cymharu nhw ar sail un peth: ar gyfer pwy maen nhw’n cael eu hysgrifennu. (I have read both, and I want to compare them on the basis of one thing: who they are written for.) Naming the basis is the same discipline the film topic teaches for comparing characters, and it works identically here.

2. 02Describe the national magazine

   Mae’r cylchgrawn cenedlaethol yn ysgrifennu i Gymru gyfan, felly mae’n rhaid iddo esbonio pethau lleol. Roedd erthygl am ardal dw i ddim yn ei hadnabod, ac roedd yn dweud lle roedd hi. (The national magazine writes for the whole of Wales, so it has to explain local things. There was an article about an area I do not know, and it said where it was.) One observed detail supporting the claim.

3. 03Describe the papur bro

   Dydy’r papur bro ddim yn esbonio dim. Mae’n cymryd yn ganiataol eich bod chi’n adnabod pawb. Mae hynny’n gwneud i chi deimlo eich bod chi’n perthyn — neu eich bod chi ddim. (The papur bro explains nothing. It takes for granted that you know everybody. That makes you feel that you belong — or that you do not.) The second half is the opinion, and it is honest rather than sentimental.

4. 04Draw the comparison to a point

   Felly mae’r ddau’n gwneud pethau gwahanol. Mae un yn ceisio dal Cymru at ei gilydd, ac mae’r llall yn cadw un lle yn fyw. (So the two do different things. One tries to hold Wales together, and the other keeps one place alive.) A comparison that ends in a distinction rather than in a preference is usually the stronger one.

5. 05Anticipate the follow-up

   Expect Pa un sy’n bwysicach? (Which is more important?) Do not refuse the question: Y papur bro, dw i’n meddwl — achos mae mwy o bobl yn ei ysgrifennu na’i ddarllen, ac mae hynny’n golygu bod pobl yn ysgrifennu Cymraeg bob mis. (The papur bro, I think — because more people write it than read it, and that means people are writing Welsh every month.) A surprising answer with a real reason is what an examiner remembers.

Result: Basis named, both publications described with one observed detail each, a comparison that ends in a distinction, and a committed answer to the obvious follow-up. All of it from two issues of two publications, read once.

The examiner asks: Beth fyddet ti’n ei ddweud wrth rywun sy’n meddwl rhoi’r gorau i’r Gymraeg? (What would you say to somebody thinking of giving up Welsh?) Build an answer that is honest rather than promotional.

1. 01Do not begin by disagreeing with them

   Yn gyntaf, byddwn i’n gofyn pam. Mae rhesymau da gan y rhan fwyaf o bobl. (First, I would ask why. Most people have good reasons.) An answer that starts by taking the other person seriously is more persuasive than one that starts by correcting them — and it demonstrates the listening clause even in a hypothetical.

2. 02Name the real difficulty honestly

   Mae’n anodd. Dw i’n gwybod hynny — mae pawb dw i’n eu hadnabod yn siarad Saesneg hefyd, felly mae’n rhaid dewis y Gymraeg bob tro, a does neb yn eich gorfodi chi. (It is hard. I know that — everybody I know speaks English too, so you have to choose Welsh every time, and nobody makes you.) Naming the difficulty accurately is what makes the next move credible.

3. 03Give the reason that actually persuaded you

   Ond y peth wnaeth newid fy meddwl i oedd sylweddoli bod y Gymraeg yn agor drysau i bethau, nid dim ond i eiriau — pobl, llefydd, swyddi. (But the thing that changed my mind was realising that Welsh opens doors to things, not only to words — people, places, jobs.) Personal and specific beats general and inspirational.

4. 04Offer something small rather than something large

   Faswn i ddim yn dweud ‘dal ati am ddwy flynedd arall’. Byddwn i’n dweud ‘gwna un peth yn Gymraeg bob wythnos’ — un rhaglen, un sgwrs, un neges. (I would not say ‘keep going for another two years’. I would say ‘do one thing in Welsh every week’ — one programme, one conversation, one message.) A small concrete suggestion is more use than encouragement, and it is more memorable.

5. 05Accept that they might still stop

   Ac os ydyn nhw’n rhoi’r gorau iddi beth bynnag, dydy hynny ddim yn drychineb. Mae’n haws dechrau eto nag mae pobl yn ei feddwl. (And if they give it up anyway, that is not a disaster. It is easier to start again than people think.) Refusing to catastrophise is honest, it is kind, and it is the kind of balanced conclusion the specification’s third AO1 clause names.

Result: Ask why, name the difficulty accurately, give the personal reason, offer something small and concrete, and accept the other outcome. The answer never becomes promotional, which is exactly why it is persuasive — and it demonstrates listening, development and a balanced conclusion in about ninety seconds.