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'.
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 gydar gwersi best of luck
with the lessons!
*Arwel Jones @ www.gwales.com*
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