Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Suzie Morris on May 6, 2009 at 11:37am

Teach Yourself Welsh Conversation (3CDs + Guide) (Teach Yourself: Language) (Audio CD)
by Christine Jones (Author), Kara Lewis (Author) obtainable through Amazon.com

Permalink Reply by Ymwelydd anfynych on May 6, 2009 at 11:40am

Diolch am hynny, Suzie. I haven't seen those CDs yet, but the Teach Yourself Welsh books tend to be pretty good, I think.

Permalink Reply by Suzie Morris on May 6, 2009 at 11:40am

Rosetta Stone has a wonderful program on the Welsh language, unfortunately it is too rich for my blood ($219). However, I have seen it for less on eBay.

http://www.rosettastone.com/

Permalink Reply by Ymwelydd anfynych on May 7, 2009 at 9:26am

Suzie - I'm glad to hear you say that R.S. is good. I'd previously heard quite bad things about it, and in fact a friend has spent the last week or so looking into it. He said that it has a few major flaws, in that it uses exactly the same platform for teaching Welsh as for teaching every other language, which means that you very soon get exposed to unexplained mutations, strange word-order and weird syntax. Its method of teaching seems to be to show pictures of objects, with the corresponding descriptions, which is ok for 'cat', 'dog', 'boy', 'girl', but seemed to get a bit complicated and grammatically confusing beyond that - e.g., is it useful to be told that 'Mae'r bachgen yn rhedeg' means 'The boy is running' without being told which of these words is which [the word 'yn' does NOT mean 'is'], so that you can then construct your own sentences on the pattern?

Ultimately, of course, it's horses for courses - we all learn differently.

Permalink Reply by Tracy Edwards Greene on September 18, 2009 at 5:49am

Another fan of SSIW here. The focus is on speaking and listening - I haven't had much luck with CDs and books in the past, because it was too difficult to try and learn pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary all at the same time.

And the forum there is very helpful and friendly if you need help.

Permalink Reply by aquafortis on May 6, 2009 at 2:15pm

I'm not tooting my own horn--especially since this is so out of date--but I used to write a column about Welsh Language on Suite101.com, and many of my articles there listed various online resources and reviewed books, etc. It's from several years ago, though, I'm sorry to say--I wasn't able to keep it up once I started graduate school, and then I never picked it back up. Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to pass along the link, along with a couple of others:

http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/welsh_language

Also, Cymdeithas Madog has an annual weeklong course as well as several online resources and links; and I've also really liked Gwybodiadur, which is a good resource though it hasn't been updated lately. (I recently found out that the creator of Gwybodiadur is in a choir with a good friend of mine in Glasgow--small world!)

Permalink Reply by Virginia on May 31, 2009 at 4:47pm

BBC Radio Cymru

www.bbc.co.uk/radiocymru/

If you want to listen to programmes in Welsh visit this website!

Permalink Reply by Ymwelydd anfynych on June 10, 2009 at 9:20am

Diolch, Wendy! Could you say a bit more about R.S.? - It didn't frustrate you in the way it did my friend? (See my comments above.) It'd be good to have a counter argument in favour of the course, that the syntax and mutations can be followed and understood.

Permalink Reply by Byn (Bynbrynman)Tavarn Ty Elise on September 1, 2009 at 1:59pm

I'm living a bit in the past now, but thirty five years ago, or thereabouts, I went around Merthyr asking pubs and chapels if we could use their empty rooms to run our informal Welsh classes which were set up with the help of Iago Roberts from Aberdare and called 'Sefydliad Cymru', my friends in Newport did the same thing. The books we used at the time were , if I remember correctly, ' Cwrs Cymraeg Llafar'; I used to go down to Cardiff and buy them from Peter Meazey in Siop y Triban, they were so useful that we didn't need experienced teachers to learn from them. In a pub lounge we usually worked with one leader and four or five to a group. It was very successful and one of our learners is herself now a Welsh teacher in the local college and is known by the epithet Ann Welsh.(I've forgotten her real first name).
The handiest of all my books and that will fit into any pocket, is 'Y Geiriadur Bach', 'The Welsh Pocket Dictionary'; I' ve found it very useful over the years and have also purchased it for others, there have been many impressions made of it over the years, seven between 1959 and 1979, but is it still in print: I've been living in Brittany for thirty years so I'm out of touch with things.
Edited by: H. Meurig Evans M.A. and W. O. Thomas B.A.; Published by: Christopher Davis (Publishers) Limited, Llandybïe, Carmarthenshire, Ammanford. (That's how it was written then).
Hope that was a more positive contribution?

Permalink Reply by Ymwelydd anfynych on September 4, 2009 at 1:18pm

Diolch ichi, Bryn. Indeed, Y Geiriadur Bach is a little gem (and its big brother, the Geiriadur Mawr is a large one!). Heini Gruffudd's Welsh Learners Dictionary is a nice little pocket-friendly volume, too.

Permalink Reply by Rhosyn yr Haf on September 16, 2009 at 1:09am

Welsh Language Meetup
www.meetup.com/Dysgu-Cymraeg-Learning-Welsh-Language.
This group includes online and in-person activities. Lessons are posted online as 'files." They cover many topics, including talking about life in the Welsh areas of Pennsylvania. Members can post their questions or short pieces they've written and there's a message board for discussions. We have in-person meetings several times a month in the Philadelphia area, mostly at bookstore cafes, to practice conversation, read children's books in Welsh, etc., and enjoy the caffeine of our choice! On October 10, 2009, the Meetup will be held at Harriton House in Bryn Mawr (Pennsylvania!), from 2:30 to 4:00. This follows a program entitled "Bryn Mawr -- The Welsh Connection," to be held at the same location from 11 am to 2 pm, which is about the Welsh Tract, particularly as represented in recent historical fiction. For details on "Bryn Mawr -- The Welsh Connection," please go to http://www.mainlineschoolnight.org. Please note that these are two separate events; they are scheduled in the same place for the convenience of participants, especially those who drive a distance to get to the location. Main Line School Night will not have the details on the Welsh Language Meetup and the Welsh Language Meetup doesn't have details on the Main Line School Night program.

Permalink Reply by Virginia on January 17, 2010 at 10:59am

Hi everyone,

Hope you find the following link interesting.

http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en-gb/DNAP-77EHVD

Regards,

Virginia