Gair Rhydd

Softly Softly...

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At a time when school pupils all over the country are applying for university, Ceri Isfryn takes a look at the 'soft subject' revolt from universities hindering their success...

Think back to your days of A level revision… sweltering hot days in June when all you wanted to do was cool down your sweat with a dip in the sea, but all you could do was work up a sweat over a revision book. Remember how disheartening it was when you realised that no matter how many different colours you used on your mind map, it still didn’t sink in. Imagine then being told that your subject is in fact a Mickey Mouse subject which won’t get you into any decent university…

School pupils all over the country will currently be applying for universities, but ill-informed choices may have already hindered their chances of success. Cambridge University has released a list of twenty subjects they consider to be ‘soft’. To be a ‘realistic candidate’ at the university, regardless of the course, students shouldn’t have taken more than two of these named subjects.

Get In the Pink for breast cancer

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With Breast Cancer Awareness Month going on throughout October, Natalia Popova finds out how you can be breast aware

Since its first edition, which was launched in 1993 by Evelyn Lauder, October has been Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to Cancer Research, breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Every day, around 125 women and one man are diagnosed with the illness.

Unfortunately, the rates have been climbing over the past few years, stressing the importance of awareness of the cancer. It is thanks to initiatives like Breast Cancer Awareness Month that more research can be done on it, resulting in the NHS breast screening programme saving 1,400 lives each year in the UK.

Popeth yn Gymraeg?

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Os ydych chi’n darllen yr erthygl hon rydych chi’n amlwg yn Gymro neu’n Gymraes ac yn un o nifer o fyfyrwyr Cymraeg sy’n gadael cartref hollol neu rhannol Gymraeg ei hiaith. Roeddech efallai wedi syfrdannu i sylwi eich bod erbyn hyn yn byw mewn dinas fodern lle mae’r Gymraeg yn un o nifer o ieithoedd lleiafrifol. Yn ôl cyngor Caerdydd yn 2001 roedd 10.9% o boblogaeth y Sir yn siarad Cymraeg yn rhugl. Rydym ni’n ceisio cymdeithasu fel Cymry, a byw bywyd Cymraeg, oleia’n rhannol, ac yn dueddol o deimlo cyfrifoldeb tuag at y hybu’r Cymraeg.

Mae nifer o ffyrdd y gellir hybu’r a chefnogi’r Gymraeg yng Nghaerdydd. Mae nifer o dafarndai Cymreig, fel y Mochyn Du, Queen’s Vault ac Owain Glyndŵr. Yn ystod gemau’r chwech gwlad mae’r tafarndai yma, a nifer o rai eraill, yn orlawn o Gymry yn gweiddi eu cefnogaeth a chreu awyrgylch tanllyd dros y ddinas. Mae’n siwr eich bod wedi darganfod Clwb Ifor Bach erbyn hyn a profi lle mor dda ydyw i gwrdd â Cymry a chymdeithasu’n Gymraeg. Caiff ei alw’n ‘Welsh Club’ am reswm! Cynhelir hefyd nosweithiau o gerddoriaeth Cymraeg ar draws y ddinas megis llynedd bu Cymdeithas yr Iaith yn cynnal gigs misol yn Buffalos. Mae’r ŵyl gerddorol ‘Sŵn fest’ hefyd yn gyfle i glywed bandiau cymraeg ac addysgu myfyrwyr y ddinas am y Sin Roc Gymraeg. Bydd dros cant o fandiau rhyngwladol yn perfformio mewn nifer o glybiau ar draws Caerdydd rhwng y 13-16 o Dachwedd.