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Objective:
The aim of this song is to introduce family members and numbers, in a way that draws attention to similarities and differences between the languages.
‘Brawd’ and ‘brother’ and ‘Bruder’ clearly share the same root, but we notice how ‘brawd’ is a monosyllable while ‘brother’ and ‘Bruder’ have two syllables each. The rhythm of the English and German is the same, while the Welsh is different.
There’s some fun to be had in the comparison between the sounds of ‘naw’ ‘neun’ ‘nine’, namely the three words for 9, with the English ‘nine’ (9) sounding like the Welsh ‘nain’ (grandmother) and ‘nein’ (‘no’) in German!
What you need to do:
Start by listening to the song. Then look at the lyrics in each language and listen to the song again, reading the lyrics as you go. Then listen how to say the lyrics, phrase by phrase. Then give singing along to the music a go!
You can choose how you want to work with the song; perhaps you want to split the class into different groups and each group takes it in turns to sing a different language.
Lyrics
Mein Vater, my father, fy nhad
(Eins, zwei, drei!)
Meine Mutter, my mother, fy mam
Ich lerne, I’m learning, rwy’n dysgu
(Un, dau, tri!)
Schritt für schritt, step by step, cam wrth gam
(One, two, three!)
Mein Bruder, my brother, fy mrawd
(Eins, zwei, drei!)
Big and small, mawr a bach, groß und klein
Ich lerne, I’m learning rwy’n dysgu
(Un, dau, tri!)
Dysgu, Vorwärts, and onwards, ymlaen
(One, two, three)
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn!
(acht, neun, zehn!)
One, two, three, four, five, and six and seven
Ich lerne, I’m learning, rwy’n dysgu
(Eight, nine, ten!)
Un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech a saith
(Wyth, naw, deg!)
Meine Schwester, my sister, fy chwaer
(Vier und fünf!)
Mein Haus, and my house, a fy nhŷ
Ich lerne, I’m learning, rwy’n dysgu
(Pedwar, pump!)
Gefieder und feathers a phlu
(Four and five!)
Fy Nain, meine Oma, my Gran
(Sechs und sieben!)
Nine, neun, naw, nein, na, no, no
Ich lerne, I’m learning, rwy’n dysgu
(Chwech a saith)
So langsam, mor araf, so slow
(Six and seven!)
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn!
(acht, neun, zehn!)
One, two, three, four, five, and six and seven
Ich lerne, I’m learning, rwy’n dysgu
(Eight, nine, ten!)
Un dau tri, pedwar pump, chwech a saith, wyth naw deg!
(Wyth, naw, deg!)
Un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech a saith, wyth, naw, deg
(Wyth, naw, deg!)