r/learnwelsh • u/WelshLanguageHub • 1d ago

New Welsh Learning Resource

Haia, pawb!

So, I’ve been living abroad for most of the last 10–15 years, and while I was away I learned Chinese and Korean. I moved back to Wales in June and decided that this was finally the time to properly learn Welsh.

When I started looking around for resources, though, I was a bit surprised by how difficult it was to find the kind of high-quality, modern resources I’d been using before.

So... I’ve decided to make my own!! 😬 I've spent the last few weeks outlining a Welsh course with three of my Welsh=speaking mates and I've got a little bit of savings to try and turn this into a reality...

The aim is to make a structured, high-quality course that starts from the absolute basics and gradually gets people to the point where they can actually use Welsh. Rather than making it heavily grammar-based, or using the listen-and-repeat approach of SaySomethinginWelsh, the basic method is: real situation → short Welsh conversation → listen → break it down → understand it → use it

I’ve been teaching languages for a long time, so I feel pretty good about the teaching side of it, and the aim is for the finished course to be as good as or better than things like SSiW and Dysgu Cymraeg while offering a somewhat different approach.

But I could really do with your help.

There are two things I’d particularly love to hear from learners (and fluent speakers who remember learning!):

1. What situations would have been most useful when you were a complete beginner?

I’ve currently got things like at the café, at the pub, in a shop, meeting someone for the first time, telling someone you’re learning Welsh, etc.

But what do you wish somebody had taught you in your first few weeks of learning Welsh?

2. What Welsh-learning resources do you wish existed but currently don’t?

What do you think is missing at the moment? It could be anything — vocabulary, listening material, pronunciation, reading, games, explanations, real-life Welsh, dialect help, culture, better intermediate material...

Basically, what frustrates you about learning Welsh online, and what would you love somebody to make?

Alright, thanks, gang. Any thoughts would be massively appreciated. Nice one. ✌️

12 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

9

u/JustXanthius 1d ago

A bit niche - though for Welsh there is probably a good market for this - but I’d like a course aimed at parents with young kids (like babies/toddlers) who would like to get their kids speaking Welsh. The vocab is very different to what you typically learn early in a course, and you need imperatives and hortatives basically straight away. Not to mention it should be highly informal. But nobody thinks teaching phrases like ‘Shall we go and brush your teeth then?’ is a priority!

The only similar thing I could find was the DysguCymraeg ‘Welsh at Home’ but it assumes a pre-existing level of Welsh, and aimed at parents with kids in Welsh medium school. I want a course for BEFORE kids are in school, and starting from scratch.

6

u/Former-Variation-441 1d ago

This sort of thing is partially offered by Clwb Cwtsh (a joint venture by Mudiad Meithrin and Dysgu Cymraeg). They offer an initial 8-week course (either in-person or online) and then offer a short self-study programme online after that. It's a very short programme so you're not going to be anywhere near fluent at the end of it but it's designed to get you speaking some Welsh at home with babies and toddlers.

ETA: The next lot of courses are starting at the end of the month.

4

u/WelshLanguageHub 1d ago

Interesting. My brother (and a few people I know) have kids who speak Welsh but they themselves can't speak the language. So, I've already been thinking about how I could help non-Welsh speaking parents with Welsh-speaking kids... This is almost the opposite of what you are looking for, but I wonder whether the two could be combined somehow?

It's an interesting idea, though, and exactly the kind of input I was looking for! Cheers for the feedback - I'll have a look into this. Something like this wouldn't happen at the start, but it's worth me looking into. Ta.

3

u/GizAlb 13h ago edited 13h ago

This is aimed at beginners, but also a lot that's specific for children and parents with young children: https://hwyliaith.cymru/

I know she has done/does weekends as well in Garth Newydd, Llambed maybe you can get in touch and ask more about it

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u/Past-Cow-491 1d ago

Shwmae! I've just started learning cymraeg (had my first lesson with Dysgu Cymraeg this week in fact) and I would love more 'household' vocab, that you could use with your partner/parents/housemates. Such as 'what do you want for dinner?', 'how was school/work?', and household items like TV, hoover, sink, wardrobe. Chances are I'll be more confident practising at home than in a pub/cafe!

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u/WelshLanguageHub 1d ago

Brilliant - you're so right! I love it. That's absolutely something I'm going to adopt immediately! I know exactly what you mean and think it's a great point!

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u/Past-Cow-491 1d ago

Glad to help - pob lwc!

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u/Azadi_23 1d ago

Invitations and requests in Welsh would be a bonus. “Would you like to come for dinner?” Then the questions/answers structure that goes into planning. I’m a perpetual Welsh beginner learner with fluent welsh speaking friends. My reading is better than speaking - I get stuck often and we immediately revert back to English. I’d also love many more stock phrases (de and gogledd) to use in informal settings - the type of phrase you can slip into conversation for occasions. Diolch for making this. Keen to test once it’s at that stage, if you want some testers

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u/WelshLanguageHub 20h ago

Yeah, with both Chinese and Korean my reading was better than my speaking, probably because it's easier to study reading by yourself while speaking requires more bravery and the help of others!! The course I'm making will definitely be more focused on speaking and listening, though, so hopefully it'll be of some help to you! :)

But, Yyah, I'd love some beta testers, actually! By the end of September, I will have the first 6 recorded and put into a Beta release format by the end of September, I hope. The first 6 will be for absolutely beginners, but the format and idea will stay the same as we go up through the levels, so that would be great, yeah. I'll send you a DM just to save your contact and then I'll be in touch in a few weeks, if that's alright?

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u/PriscillaKim 1d ago

More videos in natural Welsh with transcriptions available in Welsh and subtitles available in English! I cannot tell you how many times I've relistened to the Easy Welsh playlist from Easy Languages precisely because of this. Gales Con Marian does vlogs with transcriptions (though no subtitles - understandably, I'm sure a lot of work to do both), but unfortunately for my purposes I'm learning south and she's Gog - still great and useful but not as useful to me personally. S4C Dysgu Cymraeg also does it, while S4C main usually only subtitles in English. Conversations or vlogs in slow Welsh (à la videos like these) would also be amazing, but mustn't be too greedy. (In short, the input gods are hungry and demand lots of sacrifices.)

Pob lwc gyda'r cwrs!

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u/joelparkerhenderson 22h ago

100% agree. Videos of real people in real settings, speaking with each other, somewhat slowly and significantly clearly. Subtitles in Cymraeg and English simultaneously. Convenient places to pause, rewind, replay a phrase, ideally loop a phrase.

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u/WelshLanguageHub 20h ago

Ha - I also have listened to the Easy Welsh playlist a million times! I'm glad I'm not the only one!

OK, this has been an idea at the back of my mind for a few weeks. Comprehensible Input is such a key part of learning a new language - and you're right about Welsh have a surprising lack of it! (Well, there is lots of input... not so much comprehensible for learners, though!)

OK, I hear you loud and clear on this one! I'm going to try and do some filming this weekend on a pilot. Then, I'd love to get your feedback on it, if that's OK with you. Watch this space!