Welcome to Welsh - A Complete Welsh Course for Beginners

A reprint of a popular course for Welsh learners comprising valuable grammar notes, useful exercises, cartoon conversations and a general dictionary. First published in 1984.

About the Author :
Swansea-born Heini Gruffudd has spent his life teaching Welsh to children and adults, has for many years been at the forefront of the campaign for Welsh-language education, and is a prolific author of successful and popular materials for Welsh learners. The original version of 'Welcome to Welsh' has sold 70,000 copies since it was first published in 1984 and his 'Welsh is Fun' has sold over 200,000 copies. His other Welsh-learners' titles include 'The Welsh Learner's Dictionary', 'Welsh Rules' and 'Talk Welsh'. His account of his Jewish mother fleeing to Britain to escape the Nazis, 'Yr Erlid', won the Wales Book of the Year Creative Non-Fiction award in 2013 and has been translated into English as 'A Haven from Hitler'.

Review :
Welcome to Welsh is a complete course for beginners in the Welsh language. It is organised into 15 sections - each concentrating on a particular aspect of the language - and is designed to guide the complete novice from their very first encounter with learning Welsh to a considerable understanding of the language. It has a guide to pronunciation and mutation, a key to grammar and a Welsh-English / English-Welsh vocabulary. There is also an audio tape available separately, which complements each lesson. The lessons themselves are arranged so as to introduce specific elements of grammar and vocabulary which are then followed by a ‘story board’ showing a conversation embracing the principles introduced in that section. There is a strong emphasis on demonstrating each principle in numerous short exercises and examples, and it even introduces the student to essentials such as 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau', the Welsh national anthem. Each story board is set in an ordinary situation, down the pub, in the garden, arranging a holiday, at the Eisteddfod, decorating the home, at a rugby match etc. A translation of these conversations can be found at the back of the book. The author stresses that to learn Welsh by attending an evening class could take a year or two; these exercises should therefore not be seen as a quick fix, and each section must be mastered in full before progressing to the next in order to reap the most benefit from the course. However, it is packaged as an ideal volume for a learner working on his or her own or as an ‘exerciser’ for an individual who might be attending other types of classes. Is would also serve as an ideal introduction to anyone toying, for the first time, with the idea of learning Welsh. This course was first published in 1984 and it is inevitable that the design and the situations portrayed in the story boards have dated somewhat in that time – but fourteen print impressions later it must be doing something right! Pob lwc gyda’r gwersi – best of luck with the lessons!