Welsh

by Julie Brake

The aim of this book is to teach you to understand and speak Welsh as it is spoken today. In order to achieve this, the language introduced is centred on a wide range of realistic, everyday situations. The course covers the four basic skills - listening and speaking, reading and writing. If you are working on your own, the accompanying recorded material is important as it will provide you with the essential opportunity to listen to Welsh spoken by native speakers and to speak it yourself within a controlled framework. The coursebook contains 21 thematic units, which are preceded by an alphabet and pronunciation guide, a 'mutation chart' to show the nine letters in Welsh which are subject to change at the beginning of words, and a map of Wales. A more detailed reference section, the key to the exercises, a Welsh-English vocabulary and an English-Welsh vocabulary are included in the back of the book. There are two accompanying CDs and cassettes which are available separately or with the book in a pack. "Teach Yourself Welsh" is the official coursebook for the Welsh Distance Learning Course of the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Genres: Language, Reference, Linguistics, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2003

Reviews

[Manny]

[I Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good all-round introduction to Welsh with clear explanations. It tends to stick with the 'correct' way of speaking/writing rather than how it may be said in everyday speach of a native Welsh speaker (where things become shortened) and doesn't delve into the variation of words and ways of saying things across the Wales too deeply. Both of these things I note, not as a critisism, but as a plus point. I feel you need to learn this first and get a good grasp of the language before progressing on to quick form of speech, slang, many idioms and inconsistancies all languages develop over time.

The CD is a very useful, clear aid with which you can access the desired place quickly and easily with the skip feature on your maching (it would have been helpful if they'd written in the book the CD place next to each dialogue and activity though as I ended up doing this myself). The exercises good and varied and importantly not too long before moving on, avoiding the user loosing interest which is essential for any decent course.

Perfect for covering all aspects of the language, giving you the skills for further study and practice.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this combination of the book and CD very useful, it started off slowly with the basic pronunciation of letters by themselves then in combination before starting on conversations and dialogue. My only concern would be that those without any kind of previous knowledge of the language would struggle as basically vocabulary is built into the dialogues rather than addressed separately which could discourage some learners. Personally I found the book very useful and easy to follow although there wasn't quite enough room for note taking as you work through it. The CD was very good and could be used anywhere without the book to improve pronunciation and understanding of spoken Welsh (many a car journey I had it going and was talking away to myself like a mad person, god knows what the other drivers were thinking). Over all a good course for Welsh learners but some basic prior knowledge is helpful (i.e. the few things remembered from school Welsh lessons or gleened from Welsh signs and the like)

[Annelisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to come back to this one. I checked the book out from the library, but unfortunately, the CD was missing, so I didn't get the full experience. I'll root around for a complete edition, but overall, I'm very pleased with what I read, and have started using a few phrases.

[Emanuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to mark it as "read" althought I am more continuosly reading it in order to improve my knowledge of the language...