Some Sex and a Hill: or How to Learn Welsh in 3 Easy Pints

by Aran Jones

"Read the first bit, pissed myself laughing, bought it, now hooked." Ingi Birchell Hughes, @1ngi or @serenloft *** Aran Jones wrote the course for the popular online Welsh learning system SaySomethinginWelsh.com, and with his close friend Iestyn ap Dafydd he co-founded SaySomethingin.com Ltd. Tens of thousands of Welsh learners have used SaySomethinginWelsh as part of their journey towards speaking Welsh. This irreverent (and often downright impolite) book is the story of how Aran himself learnt Welsh. It involves parties, bad jokes about sex, broken hearts, alcohol, tactical mistakes, moments of joy, tattoos and all the raw humiliation of embarrassing yourself in public - not just once, but over and over again. Some of the painful moments here will be immediately recognisable to all Welsh learners - others might strike them as unnecessary and self-inflicted. If you're looking for a calm and thoughtful analysis of different ways to learn Welsh, this is very much NOT the right book for you. If, on the other hand, you want evidence that Aran has suffered as much as you have at the hands of the Welsh language, and possibly humiliated himself even more (drunken charades, anyone?) then you're in exactly the right place.

Genres: Nonfiction

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2016

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I begin the review, I'll go into why I asked for this book for Christmas - because I've got a lot of respect for SSIW, the week-long taster was one of my first experiences of speaking Cymraeg, and Aran just seems like one of life's Good Blokes. This book hasn't changed my opinion on that in the slightest; this is a chap who has a load of passion for the Welsh language, and it's very evident in Some Sex and a Hill. I don't agree with all of his points of view per se, but there's still a lot of food for thought here, especially if you're a fellow learner of a minority language - and one thing I do agree with is that learning a minority language that has often been dismissed and made fun of ("can I have some vowels with that, mate? looks like you made it in 24 hours, hurr hurr hurr") is inherently a political act.

The sex jokes do fall a bit flat, I must say. It's a constant reference, without a real punchline or set-up other than "learning a language makes you awkward". Learning a language, in that case, is also like learning to walk or swim or how to play the fiddle, but I suppose it's not as inherently 'cheeky' as forming the beast with two backs. The hill, in the title, dually refers to the symbolic determination of learning Welsh, and the long arduous journey back from the Cwps (the local watering-hole) to the dormitories after those three easy pints.

Speaking of Aran's journey, the way he has learned Welsh is not the way many adults can or do (a combo of time, money and logistics). He attended full-on Wlpan immersion courses held in person, in Aberystwyth Uni complete with dormitories and a local practise pub over the course of several weeks. Therefore, while his accounts are funny and entertaining, and it's certainly impressive how quickly they all improve and develop over the weeks, they're not hugely relatable for me as a Welsh learner. I was also hoping some of it would go into how he founded SSIW with Iestyn ap Dafydd and got to work with S4C training celebrity dysgwyr, but those might be stories for another time.

Great to hear more about the man behind the method; but I'll leave it a few years before I read again - I fully plan on continuing my Welsh journey, and (with a lot of hard work and perseverance) I'll have gained more experience and knowledge to take it all in again with fresh eyes in the future.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of the book is pretty funny, an entertaining depiction of the efforts of adult learners of a language, in this case Welsh. Since I've been learning Welsh using Duolingo, I was naturally interested. After a while some of the humor starts to wear thin, at least for me, and the second half of the book, when he's a more advanced learner of Welsh, is not as fun. Partly it's because he works so hard to get across the point of how important it is to foster use of the Welsh language and what's wrong with people who don't appreciate that. Perhaps there's just not as much inherently funny in efforts to learn a second language once you've gotten past the most awkward stage. I also just got tired of hearing about pubs and drinking, not to mention his ongoing joke about how the sex referenced in the title would be in a later chapter (it's not). But it is interesting, if you have an interest in Welsh, or in language learning in general, and it's moderately entertaining.

[Nor'dzin Pamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting for Welsh learners

I am a Welsh language learner, and a great fan of Aran's 'Say Something in Welsh' language course - which is why I wanted to read this book. The book is a mixture of ranting and journalling. It tells of Aran's journey to become a Welsh speaker, and of his passion for the language. The first part of the book is quite funny and interesting, but the later chapters are a little dull. Despite this there is a sense of inspiration that lingers with me, and Aran's love of the Welsh language is infectious. I feel I now have to continue as a learner and become fluent or else I will be personally disappointing Aran, who seems a jolly nice fellow - which is no doubt the point of writing the book! So 5* for achieving your aim, Aran.

PS ***spoiler ***
There is no sex in it!

[Mark Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Hoping one day to read the last chapter (it's in Welsh/Cymraeg).

[Sonia Maurer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diolch!

It's a good read - always entertaining, but also a serious take on reclaiming his birthright. Food for thought - diolch.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

täiesti loetav ja kuhugimaale ka suhestutav lugu sellest, kuidas üks mees ühe keele selgeks õppis.

keskmine inimene muidugi ei saa endale lubada sellist lähenemist, et käiks aastase vahega kaks korda kuuajalisel intensiivkursusel (ehkki ma usun, et aastatuhande alguses, kui Jones seda tegi, ei maksnudki see ehk nii palju. aga lisaks rahale peab ju see aeg ka olema võtta). lisaks on sellel inimesel olemas piisav enesedistsipliin, et tõesti nii kursusel kui ka muidu elus inglise keele rääkimine lihtsalt... ära lõpetada (põhjendusega, et Walesis elades peaks nii ju olema võimalik hakkama saada, ja siis ta pahandab, kui mõni bussijuht või poemüüja temast aru ei saa). see on keeleõppe jaoks muidugi suurepärane lähenemine, ainult et lõpupoole visatakse mu meelest laps koos pesuveega välja ja eitatakse üldse igasuguse mitmekeelsuse võimalikkust või vajalikkust inimeste elus.

(aga ma arvan, et Aran Jones on vahepealse kümne aastaga ikkagi leebunud, sest kuigi ta lubab siin raamatu lõpupoole, et ta elus enam sõnagi inglise keeles ei kirjuta, siis... ma olen suht kindel, et need tema arvamusartiklid, mis kohalikus meedias regulaarselt ilmuvad, ei ole kõmri keelest tõlgitud.)

pealkiri tundub tobe, aga kõmrikeelsed vasted inglise sõnadele "some", "sex" ja "hill" kõlavad kõik ühtmoodi, nii et selle naljaga on iga algaja siin kokku puutunud. ei saa öelda, et seksist raamatus juttu poleks. liigagi palju on ja see nali tüütab üsna kiirelt ära (põhimõtteliselt vabandatakse iga peatüki lõpus, et seksini jälle ei jõudnud, ja lubatakse, et järgmises jõutakse. ei jõuta muidugi).

[Sal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aran Jones is one of the creators of the Say Something in Welsh course for Welsh learners. It's a course that has been helpful to me in my workplace and I was interested to know how his experiences of learning Welsh as an adult influenced the way the course was created. Unfortunatley this book ends before Aran creates SSIW, which was frustrating.
Instead, the book was an easy to read humorous look at the trials and tribulations of trying to learn another language. Aran wants to live his life through the medium of Welsh, a far more radical aim than most of us dipping our toes into the SSIW course. I admire his passion for the language, don't share his passion for Welsh nationalism, but suspect he would be a great person to spend a night down the pub with.
To be honest, I'm happy to have the language of Shakespeare as my mother tongue, but, however frustrating it can be to work within the constraints of the Welsh Language Act, I'm glad there are people out there keeping the language alive.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a funny book about how a non-Welsh speaking Welshman (read up on your history or just read this book) came to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to learning Welsh, and what his experience was like. It's a very easy read, and while nothing exciting happens, you can easily sit and read it for hours. (side note: while I just know a little Welsh, I have to say it is an incredibly cool language. It looks a bit bizarre because there are tons of "w" and "y" where you'd expect to see some "real" vowels and it has apostrophes all over the place, but it is fascinating to look at this language which represents the earliest recorded linguistic strata in Britain, with two basic groups of Celtic Languages: on the one hand, Irish and Scots Gaelic, and on the other hand Celtic (and Breton in France). The grammar is different but pretty straight forward, and it is overall quite a charming language.

[Andrew Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I was going to learn Welsh from this book and that it was a 'grammar' and vocabulary book. That turned out not to be the case; it was in English, and there were some funny bits or I wouldn't have kept reading. And it was about learning Welsh, sort of. But don't buy this book if you're trying to learn Welsh: it won't help.

[Tatjana Prelog]

Inspiring, fun to read from the first to the last page

The book is about learning the language, in this case Welsh, but if you think it is a dull story about how to learn Welsh, you are wrong. In this book you will find the whole story about the path Aran has walked as the Welsh learner, the most humoreous and yet inspiring way. Very much recommended.

[Phil Wyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aran Jones is a funny man, and this book is a fantastic encouragement to press on with learning Welsh. Thank you Aran!

[Magali · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an aspirant welsh learner, this book was full of information. It was also fun, silly, full of love for welsh culture. I laughed a lot.

[Chris Lightfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great narrative by Aran (I feel like I know him from his 'Say Something In Welsh' lessons!). Good to see his journey so well and amusingly documented. Inspires me to continue persevering.

[Tiffany]

This was a freebie on Kindle Unlimited. My limited-time free subscription ended so I never got to the point of the book and I'm not enthusiastic enough about it to purchase it, so it will remain forever 1/3rd finished. The author writes unevenly with some bits very well written and some bits a bit too "self-published" for my taste. He's writing to an audience he's quite sure is interested enough in the "sex" of the title to continue on, chapter after chapter, without a scratch of it. I couldn't care less about the sex. I was most interested in how one could learn Welsh over 3 pints. Alas, 1/3rd through, I'll never find out.