Course description

This course takes you from your first Welsh word to everyday conversations at home, at work and out and about: greeting neighbours, introducing yourself, ordering in a café, finding your way, reading bilingual signs, buying tickets, answering the phone, writing a short note to a teacher, chatting about the weather and helping a child with Welsh at home. Wherever common words differ between the north and the south of Wales, a clear In the north or In the south note shows you both, so you can follow whichever you hear around you.

Every lesson is written in plain English for UK adults, with phrase and word tables, a simple respelling for every new Welsh word, short dialogues, sentences to read aloud and a practical task. Mutations, the sound changes at the start of Welsh words, are introduced slowly, one kind at a time, and gathered in a single table.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Clarimond, a library assistant who has moved from Leicester to Carmarthen with her son Oakley, as she learns Welsh with her neighbour, a friend in Caernarfon, the owner of her local café and Oakley's teacher. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, an answer key, extra practice with answers, word lists as text and spreadsheets, phrase cards, dialogue scripts and flashcards, plus a sounds and respelling guide, verb pattern sheets, a numbers and dates sheet, a mutation table, a north and south word sheet, role-play scripts, a glossary and a printable phrase sheet where they help. The course ends with a final project: a spoken self-introduction, a note to a neighbour or a teacher, and a café role play, with worked model answers.

What you'll learn

• The alphabet and the sounds: the Welsh alphabet and its letters written with two characters, such as ll, dd and ch, how f, w and y work, where the stress falls, the little roof on vowels such as â, ŵ and ŷ, and a simple respelling for every new word.
• Greetings and first conversations: hello and goodbye, please, thank you and sorry, when to use ti and chi, introducing yourself, and rescue phrases for when the Welsh goes too fast.
• The present tense: dw i'n and every person, saying no, asking questions, and answering yes and no by repeating the verb, introduced gently.
• Numbers, time, dates and money: numbers the modern and traditional way, prices in pounds and pence, telling the time, days, months, dates and birthdays.
• Mutations, introduced slowly: what mutations are, the soft, nasal and aspirate mutations one at a time, and the complete mutation table, with practical habits for living with them.
• Family, home and describing people: family words, saying what you have in the south and the north, rooms and furniture, and describing people.
• Food, shopping and the café: food and drink, likes and wants, ordering in a café, shopping and sizes, and explaining an allergy or a diet.
• Travel, directions and bilingual signs: places in town, asking the way, reading the Welsh on road and station signs, buses, trains and tickets, and a day out.
• Work, public services, the past and the future: work phrases, short emails and notes, phone calls, Welsh in public services in general terms, and simple past and future forms.
• Weather, small talk, Welsh at home and a final project: weather chat, supporting a child's Welsh at home as a learner, and a final project: a spoken self-introduction, a note to a neighbour or a teacher, and a café role play, with model answers.

Who it's for

Adults starting Welsh from scratch: if you live in Wales or are moving there, if your children go to a Welsh-medium school, if you work with the public in Wales, or if you're simply curious about Welsh wherever you live. No Welsh is needed, and it suits anyone who knows only a few words.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a text-based course with no audio or video: pronunciation is taught with simple written respellings. It gives no qualification and isn't linked to any exam. It describes Welsh in public services only in general terms, and it doesn't recommend any apps, books or brands. The story and characters are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Read Welsh aloud clearly, including ll, ch, dd, f and ff, w and y, using simple written respellings
• Greet people, introduce yourself and choose between ti and chi
• Say what you do with dw i'n, ask questions and answer yes and no in the Welsh way
• Use numbers, prices, times, days, months and dates
• Recognise and use the soft, nasal and aspirate mutations in everyday phrases
• Talk about your family and home, and describe people
• Order in a café, shop for food and clothes, and explain an allergy or a diet
• Ask the way, read bilingual signs and buy bus and train tickets
• Use simple Welsh at work, on the phone and in short emails and notes, and say what you did and what you will do
• Recognise common north and south differences, support a child's Welsh at home, and give a spoken self-introduction

Frequently asked questions