The new term starts on Monday June 19th 2017! This course is offered in two-month terms. There are two class times available: a class for Beginning students and an Intermediate class.

This class is delivered in an invitation-only video conference on Google Hangouts. Materials and written discussion are on an invitation-only group here on AmeriCymru.

To engage in the class, you must have an internet connection sufficient to engage in a Hangout, a gmail account, an AmeriCymru account and a headset with earphones and a microphone. It would be good to have a webcam on your computer so that other class members and the teacher can see you but this is not necessary, as long as you can see and communicate with the teacher.

• Tuition for the term is $60.00USD. Register with the PayPal button, below.
• The course will run for eight weeks. You may join at any time and your tuition will be prorated if you have missed classes prior to enrollment. We will not refund missed classes after enrollment.
• Materials will be posted in the course group on AmeriCymru.
• There will be weekly publicly moderated homework.
• You will need a Google account and an AmeriCymru account to participate.
• You will need a headset with microphone and headphones to hear and participate in the online class.

The new term starts on Monday June 19th 2017!

Classes are one hour in duration and times will be 5pm (Pacific time) for the Beginners class and 6pm (Pacific time) for the Intermediate class, as per last year. Please let us know by email at americymru@gmail.com whether you are enrolling for the Beginners or Intermediate class.

To register, click the button, below. Once we have received your payment, we will send you a receipt and invite you to join the course group on AmeriCymru.

Every week, you will receive an invitation to join that week's Google Hangout and will log in at your class time.

An introduction to using Google Hangouts and other services has been posted on the course group.

Level

Beginning $60.00 USD Intermediate $60.00 USD

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Check your email for confirmation of your membership of the AmeriCymraeg course group. You will be added to the group upon receipt of your registration fee. The AmeriCymraeg group is a private, members-only group for course members and course materials and times of classes/practice sessions will be posted there.

N.B. You will need to be a member of AmeriCymru before we can invite you to join the course group JOIN HERE

The classes will be conducted on Google hangouts and will be fully interactive video and voice sessions. You will need a Gmail account to participate, this is free and only takes a minute to set up. Be sure that you have a working webcam and headset for the hangout sessions AND do not forget to send us your Gmail address ( if it is different from your AmeriCymru sign up address ) so that we can invite you..

John Good is well known throughout the West, South, Midwest and in his native Wales as a multi-instrumentalist, Welsh piper, singer/songwriter, composer and poet. Veteran of many Celtic festivals and concerts, including Estes Park, Chicago, San Diego and Denver, he brings the subtly different flavor of traditional Welsh music to the stage. John speaks and teaches the Welsh language (Y Gymraeg), is a member of the traditional band Tramor and is the president of the Welsh League of Arizona.

A message from John Good:-

Hello everyone, John Good dw i, I am Sioni Dda and will be leading the newydd spon danlli/brand-spanking new flame-colored interactive, on-line Welsh course on AmeriCymru, to be known as AmeriCymraeg.

Let me tell you a little about myself so that we can understand each other better from the dechrau. I was born in South Wales in the Afan Valley and Welsh/Y Gymraeg and English were spoken in the house. By the time I left school, I knew less Welsh than when I started … I had little interest in a dying language, and anyway the Beatles sang in English and all of my friends spoke it. Fast forward 25 years, having moved to San Francisco, LA then Phoenix all of a sudden I realized I had robbed myself of a major part of my cultural identity and I set about re-learning Yr Hen Iaith/the Old Language so that I could talk to my aging mother in the language of her youth. I achieved that and, in the last 15 years or so, have taught a surprising number of desert dwellers and others, among other things, how to pronounce popty-ping [popty /oven--that goes--ping] or microwave.

The language is now a passion of mine and I look forward to the opportunity to pass on what I cherish: The truly healthiest dying language in the world.

Y Driniaeth/The Approach

I’ve assembled my approach to teaching from a number of sources over the years: John Albert Evans, Rhodri Jones, Heini Gruffudd, and Gareth King to name but a few, but have also assembled a fairly large dossier on how not to teach Welsh. I’ll be working from my own play book, illustrated with the borrowings from the best teachers I know. As a musician I am attracted to the “by ear” method: Language as sound, much like a melody with meaning. After all young children don’t use grammar books (although for adults they have their place), they associate repeated sounds with objects and people.

Adnoddau ar-lein/On Line Resources

We are very lucky these days that there are a myriad of on-line resources that I would have killed for when I was first looking to revive my heritage. I’ll go through these in detail later on, as they all have special strong points, but for now….

Geiriaduron/Dictionaries

http://techiaith.bangor.ac.uk/GeiriadurAcademi/?lang=en

English to Welsh only but an incredible bargain am rad ac yn ddim/for free! The hard copy is $84 from Amazon!!

http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/fun/welsh/LexiconForms.html

The first -- to my knowledge -- on line Welsh/English/Welsh dictionary; written by a Welsh learner. There’s inspiration for you.

http://www.geiriadur.net/

Another great free dictionary, with search features I’ll tell you about later.

http://www.cysgliad.com/cysill/arlein/Default.aspx

Free spell-checker/Sillafydd

Well, I hope this has sparked your interest. I got pumped up just writing it! I look forward to seeing you on Google Hangout (Also free!).

Hwyl am y tro/Bye for now, Sioni Dda/John Good.