How to Speak Welsh

The native language of Wales, Welsh (or Cymraeg, as it's properly called) is spoken fluently by around a quarter of the population. (The vast majority, however, speaks a little.) Not legally recognized in Britain until the 1960s, it was suppressed beginning in the time of Henry VIII and blamed for poor literacy during the reign of Queen Victoria. Today Welsh children under 17 are required to take classes to learn the language.

Welsh may look daunting, with its complicated words and confusing double consonants, but it's a phonetic language, so pronunciation is actually quite easy once the alphabet is learned. A quick primer to get you started: "dd" is sounded like "th" in they, "f" sounds like "v" in save, and "ff" is the equivalent of the English "f" in forest. The "ll" sound has no English equivalent; the closest match is the "cl" sound in "close."

Terms that crop up frequently in Welsh are bach or fach (small; also a common term of endearment similar to "dear"), craig or graig (rock), cwm (valley; pronounced coom), dyffryn (valley), eglwys (church), glyn (glen), llyn (lake), mawr or fawr (great, big), pentre (village, homestead), plas (hall, mansion), and pont or bont (bridge).