Stryd y Bont

by Manon Steffan Ros

A book for Welsh learners, Entry Level. We follow the stories of people living on the same street in a Welsh town. What secrets do they have and do they really know their neighbours?

Genres: Fiction

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than any previous Amdani learner's book since the first one. It flowed well, I was interested in the way the story developed, and the grammar and vocab were well fit to where I am in class (having completed unit 24). I did have to look up a few things, but not much.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Mynediad level Welsh learner I was chuffed to be able to read my first ever Welsh language book without difficulty, only having to look up about 4 or 5 words. I admire Manon Stefan Ros’s skill in writing a story using language which is very specifically understandable by entry level students- quite an order!

Really enjoyed Huw Aaron’s illustrations too - though the story was ultimately a lot darker than expected!

Diolch yn fawr pawb!

[Meg Briers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roedd yn her ond dw i wedi mwynhau darllen 'Stryd y Bont'. Dramatig iawn!

[Shayla Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love you Dora, Mrs. “I can ignore murder but I draw the line at a forgotten 50 bucks when I can get a nice dinner”

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found out halfway through this book that it's aimed at learners who have completed Mynediad Uned 24 and I've been on Unedau 13-16 while on this book, so that explains why I was finding it so hard and it's taken me so long to finish!!! In spite of the difficulty, I feel like I learned a lot from this book, and it certainly stretched my reading comprehension, but I think I'll be going back to something a bit easier for my next one.

As with other books in this series, it uses repeated sentence patterns to help you learn new vocab and highlights 'new' words, providing definitions at the bottom of the page. I am slightly mystified by the words it chooses to explain though - I wasn't surprised by the ones I had to look up that weren't explained, as I assumed they were words that are taught in Unedau 17-24, but I was very surprised to see definitions provided for words like neges, gwisgo and ers, all of which we learned long ago.

Stryd y Bont tells of the mysterious disappearance of one of the street residents. We are then introduced to the other residents in turn, not all of whom are being entirely truthful when they say they know nothing about the missing Dewi. It's quite a dark tale compared to the other books I've read, but there are some comic moments too, especially at the end. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as previous books, but that may be because it was so much harder to read. I think it would be very enjoyable for anyone who is at Uned 24 or higher. Darllen hapus!

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, it wasn't for me in terms of enjoyment, and I think I'll go back to other Amdani books for quick reads - I'll pass this one onto another learner. It's a short, sharp whodunnit along the line of The Girl On The Train - where more than a few people close by are responsible for the unsolved disappearance of a neighbour, who turns out to be more than meets the eye. There's a bit of black comedy sprinkled in, too, towards the end - after the suspects' palaver of trying to hide the body, the old cow at Number 3 loots the corpse after witnessing its disposal. She spends the money on a slap-up dinner, all because she never liked how he patronised her. Bobol bach!

All that being said, in terms of the usefulness to Welsh learners, I can't fault Stryd y Bont for that. It's very fitting for people going through late Mynediad; it uses the 'sy' concept, the past, and a theme that's a bit more mature than most of the material we'd have come across up to this point. I've rated it 2 for that usefulness; it seems harsh honestly but Goodreads's '2' is an 'OK rating', so 2 it is.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My final book of my Mynediad course and my reading has improved so much! I can remember the first one I read (Am ddwirnod) and how much of a challenge reading my first book in Welsh was. Now about, 10 books read down the line, I’m amazed at how quickly I can read them. And how much I enjoyed them!

This was such a fun little book, as we take a brief stop at each house on Stryd y Bont (Bridge Street) and unravel the relationships and lives of the residents. My mum also enjoyed me relaying this story after every few pages, as the unravelling story got more and more intriguing!

Can’t wait to up my reading level in Slyfaen next.

[Linkyboi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stori bach sy'n hawdd iawn i ddarllen ond yn llawer fwy diddorol na mwyafrif o llyfrau Cymraeg i ddysgwyr.
Mae'n rhy hawdd i fi; dyna pam dw i'n rhoi 3 seren. Ond pe baswn i'n dysgwr, basai hyn yn 4 seren.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anhygoel! Such a good resource for Welsh learners

[Nit]

perfect book for beginner learners, i found that I knew almost every word!

[Merceditas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un texto entretenido e ingenioso para practicar galés nivel mynediad.

[Robyn]

Audiobook version. Trying to improve my audio comprehension.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the story unfolds by having a chapter from the perspective of different people on the street.
I've just finished Mynediad year two. I used Google translate a lot as the vocab given was often things i knew but other things i wanted weren't included.
I'd still say give it a go if you're the same level or more. I look forward to trying more in the Atebol series.

[Vcmc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stori clyfar iawn ac yn wych i ddysgwyr. Dw i wedi mwynhau'r troellau'r yn y plot yn fawr iawn.