A 2-CD set to accompany Welcome to Welsh, the popular and user-friendly Welsh course. Listen to the CDs, either with or without the book, to perfect your pronunciation and your understanding of the Welsh language.

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 a 2-CD set and 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!

Arwel Jones

A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. 

Dau CD sy'n gydymaith i Welcome to Welsh, y cwrs dysgu Cymraeg. Gellir gwrando ar y cryno-ddisgiau gyda'r llyfrau neu hebddynt, er mwyn perffeithio ynganiad y geiriau a dealltwriaeth y dysgwr o'r iaith Gymraeg.