Day 5, traveled to Wales to visit Cardiff University. Like Ireland, the country is bilingual, and signs everywhere are written in both Welsh and English. I have always considered myself pretty good with languages. However, we did have a Welsh lesson, and I can say with certainty, this is one language that I would have great difficulty with. Yes, it uses the Roman alphabet, but has far fewer vowels, new consonant arrangements are vexing (my rolled “R” in Spanish is brilliant in comparison to the Welch “ll”), and there don’t seem to be entirely predictable rules. Here’s the longest word:
But lucky for me, English is everywhere, just like in Ireland. Particular university strengths in Cardiff include Welsh studies (obviously!), performing arts (music, drama). You can find more about research agendas at Cardiff here. And for Dr. Who and Sherlock fans, those shows are filmed in Cardiff.