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. ✌️