How To Learn Welsh From Scratch: A Beginner's Ultimate Guide
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Welsh is an incredibly logical language. Once you learn the basic rules, they rarely change. Plus, the Welsh-speaking community is incredibly welcoming and supportive of learners.
If you’re just starting out, you don’t need to bury yourself in grammar books. You just need a clear, simple plan.
Here’s exactly how to learn Welsh from scratch, step by step.
Table of Contents:
Understand the difference between North and South Welsh
Before you even start learning words, you need to know that Welsh has two main regional dialects: North Welsh (Gogledd) and South Welsh (De).
Neither dialect is “better” or “more correct” than the other. They’re completely mutually intelligible, meaning a person from the north can easily understand a person from the south. However, they do use some different words for everyday things.
Here are a few common examples of how the vocabulary changes depending on where you are:
| English | North Welsh | South Welsh |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | Llefrith | Llaeth |
| To want | Eisiau | Moyn |
| Grandmother | Nain | Mam-gu |
| Grandfather | Taid | Tad-cu |
My advice: Choose the dialect you’re most likely to use. If you plan to visit Cardiff or Swansea, learn South Welsh. If you plan to visit Snowdonia or Anglesey, learn North Welsh. Stick to one in the beginning so you don’t confuse yourself.
Master the Welsh alphabet and pronunciation
Welsh uses the Latin alphabet, and it’s a fully phonetic language. This means that once you learn what sound a letter makes, it’ll almost always make that exact same sound. Unlike English, there are very few hidden surprises.
The Welsh alphabet has 29 letters. Some of these letters are written with two characters (called digraphs), such as ch, dd, and ll, but they’re treated as a single letter.
Here are the most important sounds you need to learn right away:
| Letter | How to pronounce it | Welsh example |
|---|---|---|
| dd | Pronounced like the hard “th” in the English word “this” or “breathe” (never like “dog”). | Bore dda (Good morning) |
| f | Pronounced like a “v” in English. | Afal (Apple) |
| ff | Pronounced like an “f” in English. | Coffi (Coffee) |
| ch | A breathy sound in the back of the throat, like the Scottish “Loch”. | Diolch (Thank you) |
| ll | Put your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth (as if saying “L”) and blow air out the sides. | Llaeth (Milk) |
Take an hour or two to practice these sounds. Listening to native speakers on YouTube will help you master the ll and ch sounds much faster than just reading about them!
Start with basic conversational phrases
Instead of memorizing lists of random vocabulary, start by learning whole phrases.
In language learning methodology, these are called “chunks.” Learning phrases as complete chunks allows you to start talking immediately without needing to understand the underlying grammar.
Here are a few essential Welsh greetings and phrases to get you started:
Shwmae
S’mae
Bore da
Diolch yn fawr
… ydw i
Hwyl fawr
Don’t stress too much about mutations right away
If you read anything about Welsh grammar, you’ll quickly hear about something called “mutations” (treigladau).
A mutation is when the first letter of a word changes depending on the word that comes directly before it. For example, the Welsh word for Wales is Cymru. But if you want to say “Welcome to Wales”, the ‘C’ changes to a ‘G’: Croeso i Gymru.
There are three types of mutations in Welsh:
- Soft mutation
- Nasal mutation
- Aspirate mutation
Here’s the biggest tip for beginners: Don’t stress about mutations right now!
Instead of trying to memorize all the mutation rules on day one, focus on building your vocabulary and learning to speak. If you forget to mutate a letter, a native Welsh speaker will still completely understand you. The rules will naturally start to make sense to your brain the more you listen to the language.
Use the best Welsh resources and immerse yourself
You can’t learn a language just by reading about it; you have to immerse your ears in it. Here’s the toolkit recommended for every beginner:
SaySomethinginWelsh (SSiW) This is arguably the best resource for learning to actually speak Welsh. It’s an audio-based course that forces you to listen and speak out loud. It doesn’t teach you reading or writing at first; it mimics how a child learns a language. Best of all, you can choose between the North and South dialects.
Duolingo The Welsh course on Duolingo is surprisingly robust. It’s great for building your daily habit and picking up vocabulary, though it shouldn’t be your only resource.
S4C and BBC Radio Cymru S4C is the Welsh-language television channel. You can watch it online from anywhere in the UK (and often abroad). Turn on the English subtitles and watch Welsh soap operas like Pobol y Cwm or Rownd a Rownd. This will help your brain get used to the natural speed and rhythm of the language.
Speak from day one
If you want to be able to talk in Welsh, you have to practice talking in Welsh.
Many learners wait until they feel “ready” to start speaking. That day never comes. You have to start speaking while you’re still making mistakes.
Find a language partner or book a tutor online through platforms like iTalki. Even if you only know how to say bore da (good morning) and diolch (thank you), use them!
Welsh speakers are famously encouraging to learners (often called dysgwyr). They’ll be thrilled that you’re taking the time to learn their beautiful language.
