Slide 1 of 7 · Settling starter · Welsh · Year 9
5 minutesEvaluating and Improving a Bilingual Event Webpage for an Eisteddfod
Someone pasted the English notice for Eisteddfod Ysgol Cwm Deri into a free machine translator and published the result without checking it. Today you will spot the literal translation blunders, fix the webpage design and write natural Cymraeg.
While the register is called: write your name, class and date on your worksheet, then look at Section 1 and Section 3 (the glossary) on the stimulus sheet.
Starter question: The machine translated “Competitors enter stage left” as “Gadawodd y llwyfan”. Using the glossary, what does “Gadawodd y llwyfan” actually mean in English?
Slide 2 of 7 · Today’s brief and key concepts · Welsh · Year 9
5 minutesWhy word-for-word machine translation fails
Translanguaging means understanding the meaning in one language and expressing it naturally in another, rather than swapping words one by one without context.
Homographs (one English spelling, two meanings)
- free: rhydd (free as in freedom) vs am ddim (free of charge).
- book: llyfr (a reading book) vs archebwch (reserve tickets).
- light: golau (lamp/sunlight) vs ysgafn (light snacks/weight).
Bilingual web design & accessibility
- Equal prominence: Cymraeg must not be smaller or greyed out below English.
- Alt text & contrast: every image needs descriptive alt text and readable colours.
Slide 3 of 7 · Step 1 & Step 2 · Welsh · Year 9
10 minutesStep 1 & Step 2: Spot and fix the 6 mistranslations
Compare the English notice with the machine-translated Welsh draft in Section 1 of the stimulus sheet. Use the glossary in Section 3 to explain what each mistake means literally and write the natural Welsh correction.
| No. | English source | Machine error | Why it is wrong | Natural Cymraeg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free entry for families | Mynediad rhydd i deuluoedd | rhydd = loose/unrestricted, not £0 | Mynediad am ddim i deuluoedd |
| 2 | Enter stage left | Gadawodd y llwyfan | Means “the stage departed” | Ewch ar y llwyfan ar yr ochr chwith |
Slide 4 of 7 · Step 3 · Welsh · Year 9
10 minutesStep 3: Evaluate layout, parity and accessibility
Inspect the webpage layout notes in Section 2 of the stimulus sheet. Identify four digital design and accessibility problems and explain how to fix each one.
Check these four areas on the draft webpage:
- Language parity: compare the position, font size (10pt vs 18pt) and colour of the Welsh and English text.
- Image accessibility: look at
<img src="IMG_4092.jpg" alt="image1">. - Button contrast & link text: pale yellow text on a white button saying “Click here”.
- Page structure: the timetable is squashed into one unpunctuated paragraph.
Slide 5 of 7 · Step 4 · Welsh · Year 9
12 minutesStep 4: Write the natural Welsh summary and alt text
Use the sentence patterns and vocabulary in Section 4 of the stimulus sheet to write a natural 4-sentence Welsh welcome paragraph for the top of the webpage, plus bilingual alt text for the photo.
Four sentences to include in Cymraeg:
- Sentence 1 (Welcome & date): Croeso i Eisteddfod Ysgol Cwm Deri ar ddydd Gwener 1 Mawrth yn y prif neuadd.
- Sentence 2 (Organisers & start time): state that it is organised by the Year 9 Urdd Committee and starts at 09:30 (Chairing at 14:30).
- Sentence 3 (Free entry & refreshments): state that entry is free of charge (am ddim) and light refreshments (lluniaeth ysgafn) are in the canteen.
- Sentence 4 (Booking & stage direction): tell families how to book front-row seats online and remind competitors to enter on the left side of the stage.
Slide 6 of 7 · Partner check · Welsh · Year 9
5 minutesPartner check against the success criteria
Swap worksheets with your partner and check their Welsh paragraph and webpage fixes against this checklist.
- Have they used mynediad am ddim (not rhydd) and lluniaeth ysgafn (not golau)?
- Have they used Archebwch for booking seats and wedi’i drefnu gan for organised by?
- Does their bilingual
alttext describe the carved oak Eisteddfod Chair on the school stage? - Tick the success criteria box at the foot of the worksheet once checked.
Slide 7 of 7 · Plenary review · Welsh · Year 9
3 minutesQuick self-check: the 6 corrected Welsh phrases
Check your six corrections before handing in your worksheet:
- Mynediad am ddim i deuluoedd (Free entry for families)
- Ewch ar y llwyfan ar yr ochr chwith (Enter on the left side of the stage)
- Archebwch eich seddi rhes flaen ar-lein (Book your front-row seats online)
- Lluniaeth ysgafn yn y ffreutur (Light refreshments in the canteen)
- Wedi’i drefnu gan Bwyllgor Urdd Blwyddyn 9 (Organised by the Year 9 Urdd Committee)
- Byddwch yn amyneddgar yn ystod yr egwyl, os gwelwch yn dda (Please be patient during the interval)