HGS Languages

Welsh Nursery Rhyme

Mynd drot drot ar y gaseg wen;
Mynd drot drot i'r dre.
Mami'n dod nól dros bryn a dól
A rhywbeth neis neis i dé!

Teisen i Sil
Banana i Bil
A rhywbeth i'r gath a'r ci.
Afal mawr iach i Ben y gwas bach.
A rhywbeth neis neis i fi!

Translation:

Going trot trot on the white mare;
Going trot trot to town.
Mother comes back over hill and meadow
With something really nice for tea!

A cake for Sil
A banana for Bil
And something for the cat and dog.
A wholesome apple for Ben the little servant-boy
And something really nice for me!

Spanish Phrase of the Week

• Quien a buen árbol se arrima buena sombra le cobija.
  • Translation: Whoever leans close to a good tree is blanketed by good shade.
  • Interpretation: Seek out the good in life.

Italian Phrase of the Week

Milanese dialect: Pignatin pien de fum, poca papa ghè!
Standard Italian: Nella pentolino pieno di fumo, c'è poca pappa! (or, Tutto fumo e niente arrosto!)
English translation: All smoke and no fire!

Russian Phrase of the Week

Аво́сь да как-нибу́дь до добра́ не доведу́т.

• Transliteration: Avos' da kak-nubud' do dobra ne dovedut.
• Translation: Maybe and somehow won't make any good.
• Moral: Don't rely on chance.

Spanish Phrase of the Week

Lo barato sale caro.

• Translation: Cheap things turn out to be expensive
• Interpretation: It is better to buy something of high quality, than continually repair/replace something of low quality.
• Interpretation: Just because something is cheap, does not mean it's worth the price.
• Sometimes one pays more for the things one gets for nothing. (Attributed to Albert Einstein)
• Penny wise, pound foolish.

German Phrase of the Week

• Freunde in der Not, gehen 1000 auf ein Lot.
  • Translation: In time of need, 1000 friends shrink to a lot (16.5 grams).
  • Meaning: In bad times you have very few friends.
  • Equivalent: A friend in need is a friend indeed.
  • Equivalent: Remember man and keep in mind: A faithful friend is hard to find.

French Phrase of the Week

Qui a bon voisin a bon matin.

• Literal meaning: Those who have good neighbors, have good mornings.
• Idiomatic translation: Good neighbours give good days.

German Phrase of the Week

Stadtluft macht frei.

• City air makes you free.
• Meaning: In medieval times peoples living in free cities were free from a sovereign. They were not bond-slaves like the people in rural areas. So living in a city - ´breathing city air´- meant to be free from bond-slavery to a sovereign. People living in cities could express their own opinion without being harassed. If people escaped to a free city and lived there for one year and one day, they were free of any previous bond to a sovereign.

Italian Phrase of the Week

• "Tra il dire e il fare, c'è di mezzo il mare."
  • Literal translation: "Between doing and saying lies the sea."
  • Idiomatic translation: "Easier said than done."

Latin Phrase of the Week

We have had this one before but here it is again in a good luck wish to all of our linguists sitting exams at the moment.

per aspera ad astra!
Through difficulties to the stars!