Parsnips and Owls: Short stories in Welsh based on Duolingo's 'Stories'

by Stephen Owen Rule

Are you just like over a million other Welsh learners who've used Duolingo to learn the language?
Have you completed the course and are now craving the next step?
Are you sad that Duolingo's 'Stories' are not available in the Welsh?

Well, crave no longer because Twitter's favourite Welsh guru, Doctor Cymraeg (@CymraegDoctor), is on hand.
Based on Duolingo's French course, here are 50 stories translated into Welsh to aid your learning. This book includes:
- 50 stories based on the highly-effective 'Duolingo Stories'
- Real, colloquial language to help you better get to grips with the natives
- Short translation tasks for each Story to improve your retention of new words
- Breakdowns of interesting or difficult concepts for every Story
- Comprehension activities in the back to test your understanding

Genres: Nonfiction

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 2, 2022

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duolingo was my first exposure to Welsh in an educational setting in 2021; and it's a gateway drug. Sure, first it's the green owl, then before you know it you've done the free taster of SSIW, then 'out of interest' you look up online DysguCymraeg courses while it's convenient for everyone (it's lockdown, surely they'll all go back to face-to-face teaching soon), and then - boom, you got a smashing grade in your Mynediad exam and you're greeted by Radio Cymru bob bore.

But one thing Duolingo doesn't do for Welsh (and other volunteer-led courses) is the Stories feature. That's where Doctor Cymraeg comes in.

This is an excellent little book that was recommended to us during the ex-Duolingo Zoom meets. I thought at first it was just the translated stories from the French edition, to perform as little Noson Lawen skits, but no - with each story comes a whole page of footnotes (not dry, there's personality, humour and extra bits of knowledge there too) with a quick translation exercise. At the back of the book there's questions on each story to test your comprehension. In the Zoom meets we only really read and digest the scripts, but these other exercises would also really suit a class setting. Best of all, you don't need to have used Duolingo at all to get value from this, it's a great standalone resource.

I'm a Gog Sylfaen student but there's plenty here for me to absorb especially the more colloquial Cymraeg (and other dialects are discussed, which I don't get a lot of exposure to), yet it'd be fairly accessible for Mynediad students as well. Stephen Rule is a humorous, engaging writer and has written several more books on Welsh which I've wishlisted. In the meantime, I have Parsnips and Owls 2, so I'll get started on that soon.

Recommended!

[Ewan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a useful book for Welsh learners. Duolingo’s “Stories” aren’t currently available in Welsh, so Stephen Owen Rule has created his own version. The concept is a simple one. On the left-hand page is a brief dialogue in Welsh between two or three people. At the top of the right-hand page is a table of five words or phrases from the dialogue which readers can use to reinforce their vocabulary. Then underneath comes the really useful part; the notes. These are written in English and they focus on how language is actually used by people. They answer exactly the sort of confusions that learners can have about the language. And they make it clear that there is plenty of variety; there is not just one right way to speak Welsh. The dialogues are mostly written in the present tense and the language is very accessible. This means that the book is suitable for learners at Mynediad (Entrance) Level. However, the detail and quality of the notes make it invaluable for higher level learners also. In addition, there are comprehension activities for each of the dialogues at the back of the book. These can be used by readers both to check their understanding and practise their use of written Welsh. Stephen Rule is an experienced tutor who knows how to keep the attention of his learners. The dialogues to be found here are full of humour along with a welcome note of silliness and they carry their learning lightly. This makes using the book pleasurable as well as profitable. As the author writes at the end of the foreword – Mwynhewch / Enjoy!

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that this is self-published, but I shouldn't be finding three obvious errors in the first five minutes after opening the book. That's not great for language learners. Annoyed, so I'm setting it aside for a bit.

The errors continue all the way through, but I would only have knocked off a star for them. I had several other issues with the book, and can't really recommend it.
I would say very gog, but it's not even gog, it's a very specific northeast dialect.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book based on the Duolingo stories, filled with interesting little facts about the Welsh language. Mae'n llyfr da iawn!

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has done Duolingo Welsh will know all about Pannas and of course, our beloved green owl. One thing the Welsh course is missing is the Stories option (like that that the French course has), consolidating what you’ve learnt and compiling it into a story or interaction to help apply the words you’ve picked up.

Enter these books! They’re perfect even if you’ve never done Duolingo, as a Welsh learning aid they are invaluable.

Great for beginners or more advanced learners wanting to learn differences between dialects, word origins and handy little snippets of Welsh knowledge. I not only learnt a lot throughout the book but really enjoyed it too. It was super fun!

There’s tables for words to translate, questions at the back to test your knowledge and accompanying info to the stories to tell you more about the words (with some humour too). Really makes the learning experience effortless! I’m so glad there are other books too to follow up on.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

see nüüd ülemäära haarav raamat ei olnud, aga poole aastaga lugesin ikkagi kõik 50 õpetlikku dialoogi läbi, sain natuke kõmri keelt harjutada ja õppisin ühtteist isegi juurde (üldiselt peaks siin olema sama sõnavara, mis Duolingo harjutustes, aga raamat andis rohkem kõnekeelsemaid variante ja seletas mitme sõna tausta lahti).

kahjuks ma ei salli isegi keeleõppe eesmärgil selliseid... lollaka puändiga lookesi, kus tavaliselt tuleb lõpus välja, et keegi on algusest peale millestki valesti aru saanud või midagi muud eeldanud. nii et ei saa öelda, et oleks olnud lugemisnaudingut. ja kui ma kõik õppetükid läbi sain ja selgus, et lõpus on nende kohta veel kordamisküsimused, siis... need jätsin tegemata. mõni teine kord ehk.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I discovered Parsnips and Owls —short Welsh stories based on DuoLingo stories— and was able to order my own copy through Amazon.ca
This is a great resource of mini stories in Welsh to help hone the learner’s conversational vocabulary. The perfect compliment to my daily Duo Lingo lessons which of necessity focus mostly on the grammatical and written language. Not only is Stephen Owen Rule’s book a good way to practice by reading the dialogue out loud but the characters and anecdotes are also great fun. And the question answer section at the back is a great help. This is something I will return to often.

Diolch yn fawr i’r awdur, Stephen, mae’r llyfr ‘ma yn bendegedig.

[EAJohnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great set of short conversations and assosiated nnotes and questions. As beginner found this too hard. A couple years further learning helped. Still had to look things up as not standard course welsh. Probably more to gain but revisiting in future.

[Julie Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent small book giving practice to understanding conversational Welsh. The stories are fun to read and there is a question section at the end to aid comprehension. On to book 2 now.

[Alex Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llawer o storiau bach i helpu dysgwyr newydd darllen yng Nghymraeg. Yn bob stori, roedd esbonio o geirfa newydd a patrwmau. Gwych i fagu hyder gyda Cymraeg!