Tahl wrote:Thanks for all the kind words -- and the reality check, because I've found myself in the dumps a few times lately at how hard I've found that Twitter course in cynghanedd (Welsh strict-metre poetry) that I mentioned. Deep breath, right foot, left foot, right foot...
Diane - Cynghanedd is extremely difficult for most Welsh speakers, so don't be upset that you're struggling to master it. It requires a big vocabulary (lots of synonyms), a higher than normal feel for rhythm and sound of the language, and an imagination that still works under those stresses. Being upset that you can't master cynghanedd is a bit like being upset after learning Welsh that you can't sing harmonies off-the-cuff to the great hymns. In fact, the fact that you are still going passed the "think of an accented word, think of an unaccented word" is a massive testament to the standard of your Welsh.
I used to be able to do cynghanedd, but when I stopped speaking Welsh much (between 89 and about 2003) I lost the ability almost totally. Now, I can make up individual lines, occasionally in full traws (the most difficult form), but only manage to rhyme anything by coincidence. I doubt that Aran can get past a basic "lusg", along with about 90% of the rest of the Welsh speaking world...
A great, natural sounding interview, welsh speaker to welsh speaker! 
