Speaking (Siarad) - Canolradd B1
Speaking (Siarad) is the interactive paper of the Canolradd exam. It tests whether you can keep a Welsh conversation going at B1: giving information, narrating an event, explaining a view and reacting to an examiner. It is not a recitation test. The examiner listens for a balance of fluency, range, accuracy and pronunciation, and for evidence that you can repair a breakdown rather than freeze.
What the tasks reward
- Sustaining turns of 20–30 seconds, not one-line answers.
- Moving between past, present, future and imperfect to narrate and compare.
- Signposting with phrases such as 'Yn gyntaf', 'Wedi hynny', 'Ar y llaw arall', 'Felly' and 'Er enghraifft'.
- Giving reasons with 'achos', 'oherwydd', 'er mwyn' and 'os'.
- Managing interaction: asking a question back, checking meaning, paraphrasing when a word is missing.
Pronunciation and grammar that carry marks
- Distinguish 'll', 'ch', 'dd', 'ff', 'th' and 'rh'. 'Ll' is a voiceless lateral, not 'thl' or 'cl'; 'dd' is the voiced 'th' of English 'this'.
- Welsh stress normally falls on the penultimate syllable: 'YS-gol', 'pri-FYS-gol'.
- Mutations are part of speech, not decoration: 'i Gaerdydd', 'o Fangor', 'fy mrawd', 'ei chath hi'.
- Conjugated prepositions make you sound B1 rather than A2: 'arnaf i', 'gyda fi', 'wrtha i', 'amdani hi'.
Worked example
Examiner: 'Dywedwch wrtha i am drip y llynedd.' Candidate: 'Y llynedd es i i Gaerdydd gyda fy ffrind. Roedden ni'n aros mewn gwesty bach ger y castell. Ar y dechrau roedd y tywydd yn wlyb, felly aethon ni i amgueddfa genedlaethol. Yn fy marn i, y peth gorau oedd y daith i'r castell achos roedd y golygfeydd yn arbennig.' The reasoning: 'es i' and 'aethon ni' show preterite control; 'roedden ni'n aros' and 'roedd y tywydd' show the imperfect; 'felly' links cause and result; 'yn fy marn i' and 'y peth gorau' supply opinion and comparison; 'i Gaerdydd' shows soft mutation after 'i'.
Traps that cost marks
- Answering 'Ydw' or 'Nag ydw' and stopping.
- Delivering a memorised script that does not answer the actual question.
- Translating English word order: 'Dw i'n meddwl bod...' is needed for 'I think that...', not a bare clause.
- Overusing 'licio' and 'neis'; B1 range needs 'mwynhau', 'arbennig', 'siomedig', 'cyffrous'.
- Not asking for repetition: 'Esgusodwch fi, alla i ofyn i chi ailadrodd?'
- Speaking so quietly that the examiner cannot hear the mutations and endings being tested.