Cymraeg WElsh

A support guide for you and your child as they begin to learn Welsh

Croeso i Sir Benfro Welcome to Pembrokeshire What is the advantage of learning Welsh for your child? can help improve your child’s job your child’s WelshLearning maths, and encourage maths, improve as skills such prospects language can help learning a second learning Studies show that showStudies that creative thinking . . learn a third language in a third learn Welsh, makes it easier to the future, or eventhe a L language, such as language, such earning a second earning fourth or fifth. fourth signs and spoken on television more comfortable, increasing more comfortable, Being able to understand the the understand Being able to their self-esteem and making self-esteem their shows may make them feel shows feel make may them them feel a bigger part of a bigger part feel them on street language written knowledge of Welsh and its cultural heritage can teach can teach cultural heritage have a different culture or have a different accepting of people who accepting commonplace, having a having commonplace, With cultural diversity With your child to be more to your child where live they becoming more language. . An introduction to Cardiff (Caerdydd in Cardiff in Welsh.Cymru compulsory subject compulsory Welsh) capital is the Wales is called up to the ageof the up to of Wales, has a population of Welsh is a 346,100 Welsh speakers are there also between 1,500 and region of Patagonia in 5,000 Welsh speakers 16. As well as the nativeAs well as the southern Argentina. southern living in the Chubut living in the the four countries countries four the Wales is of one of the United United of the Kingdom. almost 20,000 almost adults20,000 Welsh and Age is no barrier to to Age is no barrier learning. There are learning. of these succeed in of these currently learning learning currently becoming fluent Welsh speakers every year. every hundreds English English and Welsh official languages are the two are the of Wales. origin and have their own and have their origin 40.8% of children ages 5 40.8% of children times. has aseen language that Wales. 2001 The census individuals who speak or use Welsh, some 21% of translates as Channel 4 translates Welsh is a Celtic based The name of the Welsh name of The the broadcasting in 1982 population of total the language and cultural WelshThe people are channel is S4C, which is S4C, which channel western European) in western also highlighted that that also highlighted resurgence in recent language television Wales, and started – – 15 spoke Welsh. Celtic (central and There are 575,730 heritage. . Traditional Welsh rdtoa Wlh usn i sml, ont-at frhue . farmhouse down-to-earth Here are some examples. simple, is Welsh Traditional flavoured with and dried spice and dried flavoured with fruit, baked and fruit, on a griddle sprinkled with sugar. with sprinkled A real best served warm and best served A delicious cake little Welsh Cakes Welsh treat. ‘speckled ’ and is a ‘speckled Bara Brith translates to to translates Bara Brith Cawl is a traditional Cawl traditional Welsh fruit loaf made with . loaf made with Welsh Bara Brith Bara Brith Cawl Cawl .

St David’s Day children, wear traditionalchildren, costumes. especially some, and clothes their to or daffodil a pin people 1st Many March on their culture of life Welsh the and David, St saint, patron the celebrate origin Welsh of those and Wales in People each year. to folk dancing. folk to an in reciting and singing activities from wear of range a to in shirt. part take Welsh Children red children a or the costume traditional asking by Day David’s St celebrate Wales in schools Most Welsh in the Foundation Phase • • programme. Language skills learned in one language support their their support progressive the language Often another. one in skills in structured and knowledge learned specific of development skills a through having Language curriculum, through programme. holistic and a through play, Welsh structured absorb and acquire Children ‘explore’ a range to of Welsh books and listen rhymes and poems. stories, should children activities and opportunities spontaneous and structured Through supportive and reinforcement gestures. positive praise, responses: practitioner through discussing as such concepts confidence develop will Children on. so familiar and numbers body,colours, the of parts of development the support that labels) (including displays interactive be should simple There situations. play and informal in stories greetings, commands, songs, rhymes, towards Welsh and Welsh blocks incidental building through Welsh hear important should children step first first a As language. any of the acquisition are understanding and Hearing • Reading • Oracy (speaking and listening) progressive It will consist of the development skills in: of children’s and lively environment • a rich effort • praise for • sensitivity andrespect • support first-hand experiences languagethrough andgradually naturally the • learning Phase Foundation the means: in Learning of Area Development Language Welsh The encourage to Welsh with and positive language learning attitudes towards Welsh. familiarity further and sufficient story acquire as to well as activities, learning, structured play/active through opportunity, an given be will schools settings/ English-medium in Phase Foundation the in children Young Writing. fun and enthusiasm. please?’ or ‘Is it time for for time it ‘Is now?’gwasanaeth or h t please?’ o b afal an have e I s ‘Can u instance l l i w for simultaneously; languages n e r d l i h c

At Key Stage 2, learners build on the skills, knowledge and understanding acquired during the Foundation Phase. This progress is achieved through an integrated programme of oracy, reading and writing. Learners are presented with experiences and opportunities that interrelate the requirements of the Skills and Range sections of the programmes of study.

Learners speak with confidence, working as individuals and as members of a group and using a range of vocabulary, phrases, sentences and questions. The experiences presented to them include opportunities to take part in drama and role-play activities. They develop as active and responsive listeners, and experience a wide range of texts, including authentic materials, as they develop as independent and effective readers. They write in response to a range of stimuli with a growing understanding of the need to speak and write in a way that is appropriate to the purpose and audience. They work with increasing accuracy and they become reflective and evaluative in relation to their own and others’ achievements. Welsh in key stage 2 Welshstage in key There are many websites that can help you and your child with learning Welsh.

For the kids!

hwb.wales.gov.uk

cyw.s4c.co.uk

stwnsh.s4c.co.uk

Astro Antics www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learning/primary/ Penigamp Welsh Websites For you!

www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/learningpembrokeshire

www.saysomethinginwelsh.com

www.bbc.co.uk/learnwelsh/ Welsh Songs for children available on iTunes to download.to you for iTunes on available songs and albums Welshsongs of lots are There Hwyl wrth Ganu wrth Hwyl Cwm Rhyd 2 Rhosyn y Cwm Rhyd Rhosyn y Mi Ganaf Gân Ganaf Mi Caneuon Cyw Caneuon We attempt to nurture our pupils’ positive attitudes towards their Welshness through dynamic teaching and also by arranging a variety of activities to promote the language outside the classroom. Not only because we live in Wales and we should be able to have some grasp on our home language, but also because of the importance that is put on the ability to communicate in Welsh in the world of work. Reading is integral to learning a language.

TOP TIPS •The most important thing you can do is to show your support towards learning Welsh from the very beginning. There are treasure troves of stories, songs and rhymes in English and Welsh. Your child will have the best of both worlds.

•Encourage your child to read aloud in both languages as often as possible - when you're out shopping, in the car, or on the bus. You could read the signs in English and your child could read them in Welsh.

•Encourage your child to explain in English what they’ve read in Welsh.

•Praise your child in Welsh using comments such as ‘Da iawn!’ (Well done!)

Reading with your child Welsh in with Reading Reading books studied in the Foundation Phase are available on the iBooks store to download for 49p each. Just type in ‘Tinopolis Interactive’ in the search box and look for the ‘Fflic a Fflac’ series. Here’s a simple guide to Welsh pronunciation

Welsh is a language whose spelling is entirely regular and phonetic, so that once you know the rules, you can learn to read it and pronounce it without too much difficulty. Just remember that in Welsh ALL the letters are pronounced (even if sometimes it looks impossible). There are 28 letters in the Welsh Alphabet comprising 7 Vowels and 21 Consonants and 13 dipthongs There are 28 letters are: A | B | C | Ch | D | Dd | E | F | Ff | G | Ng | H | I | L | Ll | M | N | O | P | Ph | R | Rh | S | T | Th | U | W | Y C always 'hard' as in cat A as in man. Ch soft and aspirated as in the Scottish E as in bet or echo. loch or Docherty I as the ee in queen. Dd as the 'th' in the or seethe O as in lot or hot. F as the 'v' in five U as the 'i' in pita Ff as the 'f' in fight W as the 'oo' in Zoo. G always 'hard' as in goat Y has three distinct sounds: Ng as the 'ng' in finger The first is 'uh' when used as the Ll is peculiarly Welsh and difficult to Vowels definite article (y ci) describe. Form your lips and tongue to Consonants The second is similar to the Welsh u pronounce the letter L, but then blow air (byd) gently around the sides of the tongue instead of saying anything. The third is similar to the English u in

Welsh pronunciation Welsh under. (yr / yn) Rh sounds as if the h comes before the r with a slight blowing out of air before All the vowels can be lengthened by the r is pronounced. the addition of a circumflex (^). Th as 'th' in think

Dipthongs

Ae, Ai and Au as the 'y' in my I'w and Y'w as the 'ew' in yew

Aw as the 'ow' in cow Oe as the 'oy' in toy

Eu and Ei as the 'ay' in pray Ow as the 'ow' in tow or low

Ew is more difficult to describe. The Wy as the 'wi' in win or the french 'oui' nearest English sound is probably the Birmingham pronunciation of 'you'. Ywy as the 'ui' in fluid Welsh words: mewn (meh-oon); tew (teh- oo)