Wales is one of the countries in Britain and the United Kingdom and is to the west
+
west:
oeste
of England. It has a continuous coastline
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coastline:
litoral
around
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around:
cerca de
1,300km long, and has some of the most beautiful beaches in the UK, making it
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making it:
que la convierte en
a popular holiday destination. As well as
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as well as:
así como
water sports, there are mountains and three national parks. The highest
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highest:
más alta
mountain in Wales is Snowdon, which is 1,085m high. The population of Wales is just over three million people. Most Welsh
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Welsh:
galeses
people live in south Wales in the capital city, Cardiff, and two other big cities: Swansea and Newport.
Language
The official languages of Wales are English and Welsh, and ‘Wenglish’, a Welsh-English dialect. Everyone speaks English, but if you go to school in Wales you have to learn Welsh until
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until:
hasta
you are sixteen. Street signs
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street signs:
carteles con nombres de las calles
are written in Welsh and English, and villages, towns and cities have an English name and a Welsh name. The Welsh language is an old, Celtic language which is very different from English. For example, the Welsh name for ‘Wales’ is ‘Cymru’. It is one of the oldest languages in Europe and around 20 per cent of people in Wales speak Welsh.
Music
The Welsh love music and there are a lot of singing
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to sing:
cantar
festivals and competitions
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competitions:
competiciones
in Wales. One of the largest cultural festivals in Europe is the National Eisteddfod of Wales. All the events are in Welsh and include literature, singing, art, exhibitions, dance and theatre.
Sport
The Welsh enjoy watching and playing sport, especially rugby and football. The modern Millennium Stadium in Cardiff can hold
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to hold:
albergar
74,500 spectators and is where you go if you want to watch a football or rugby match
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match:
partido, juego
or a concert.
Water sports are also popular. You can go surfing, wakeboarding
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wakeboarding:
wakeboard (tipo de esquí acuático)
or coasteering
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coasteering:
combinación de senderismo y saltos al agua
. If you like unusual sports, visit the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells; every year in this town there is a man versus
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versus:
contra
horse
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horse:
caballo
marathon and a bog snorkelling
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bog snorkelling:
snorkel en barro
competition. Bog snorkelling is similar to swimming in extremely dirty
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dirty:
sucias
water.
Food
There are lots of sheep
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sheep:
ovejas
in Wales, so people eat a lot of lamb
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lamb:
corderos
. Typical Welsh dishes
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dishes:
platos
include cawl, which is lamb stew
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stew:
estofado
, sausages
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sausages:
salchichas
and rarebit
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rarebit:
tostada con queso derretido
, which is a type of cheese on toast. There are also Welsh cakes, which are small, sweet, round cakes with dried raisins
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dried raisins:
uvas pasas
inside.
SYMBOLS
If you ever go to Wales, you will see dragons everywhere; red dragons are a symbol of Wales. Other symbols include the leek
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leek:
puerro
(a long, green vegetable) and the daffodil
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daffodil:
narciso
(a white or yellow flower). The patron saint of Wales is St. David whose day is celebrated on 1 March.
