Listening (Gwrando) - Canolradd B1
Listening (Gwrando) tests your ability to understand natural spoken Welsh at B1: announcements, conversations, interviews, short narratives and messages. The paper normally gives reading time before each track and plays the recording more than once; always follow the instructions printed on the paper. You are expected to catch main points, specific detail and the speaker's attitude, not to understand every word.
What the paper asks you to do
- Separate gist questions from detail questions. Gist asks 'What is the message about?'; detail asks 'Which platform?', 'How much?', 'When?'.
- Read the question stems before the audio starts and underline the words that will be tested.
- Expect paraphrase: the question may say 'cost' while the speaker says 'pris' or 'talu'.
- Note attitude and intention: 'mae'n ddrwg gen i', 'dw i ddim yn siŵr', 'gwell gen i'.
- Write the answer in Welsh or English exactly as the rubric requires; do not add extra words that create errors.
Sound rules that change meaning
- Numbers mutate after 'dau/dwy': 'dau gi', 'dwy ferch'; listen for the noun, not just the number.
- Times use 'hanner awr wedi', 'chwarter wedi' and 'chwarter i'. 'Chwarter i dri' is 2:45, not 3:15.
- Negatives are often contracted: 'ddim', 'byth', 'neb', 'dim ond'. Missing 'ddim' reverses the answer.
- North and South forms may appear: 'dŵad/dod', 'gwbod/gwybod', 'lan/i fyny', 'achos/oherwydd'.
Worked example
Transcript: 'Bydd y trên i Aberystwyth yn gadael o lwyfan tri am hanner awr wedi dau, ond mae'n hwyr o bum munud.' Question: 'Sawl munud yn hwyr yw'r trên, a beth yw'r amser gadael a nodwyd?' Reasoning: 'lwyfan tri' gives platform 3; 'hanner awr wedi dau' is the scheduled 2:30; 'hwyr o bum munud' means five minutes late, so the expected departure is 2:35. If the question asks only for the scheduled time, write 2:30, not 2:35.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing the first number you hear instead of the number attached to the question.
- Confusing 'chwarter i' with 'chwarter wedi'.
- Hearing a familiar word such as 'gwesty' and matching it to an option without checking the whole sentence.
- Missing a negative or a limiting word: 'dim ond dau', 'nid yw'n bosibl'.
- Spending too long on one unknown word and losing the next answer.
- Ignoring the speaker's tone when the question asks whether they are pleased, disappointed or unsure.