“We are all Welsh now,” read the headlines on Sunday when the Welsh rugby team became the last British side remaining in this year’s World Cup. It’s true – many British rugby fans will now support Wales for the rest of the World Cup.

And there’s no better way to show your support than to shout your encouragement (and complaints!) in Welsh.

So now, the award-winning Welsh teachers at www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com have brought out a special lesson for complete beginners. If you want to question the referee’s eyesight, or tell a whole team that they’re rubbish, you will soon be able to do it in Welsh.

“We already teach Welsh to New Zealanders and Australians, Americans and Malaysians, even to the English,” smiles course co-creator Iestyn ap Dafydd. “We use such a simple format that it takes just 30 minutes to learn some really useful Welsh. In this mp3, we teach you how to be annoyingly cocky towards the opposition, and then to offer them a quick drink to make up for it.

“The lesson is totally tongue in cheek – I won’t apologise to all the people we insult, because it would take too long – but there is a guarantee: anyone who does the lesson will genuinely be able to shout at their TV in Welsh for the duration of a match. Do the lessons once or twice more, and you will begin to realise how much Welsh we’ve actually taught you!”

To learn your Rugby Welsh, download your free mp3 lesson at www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com.

For more details please contact post@SaySomethinginWelsh.com

Forum members organise physical meetups to practice Welsh, hold Skype sessions to use their Welsh with people in different countries, write the content for weekly emails to other learners, run their own online Eisteddfodau, develop global maps of where there are Welsh learners, and contribute huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm to the dream they all share: making it easy and fun for anyone, anywhere, to become a Welsh speaker.

And as the learners themselves say, this is just the beginning. Forum volunteers are translating SaySomethinginWelsh into different languages – the first 5 lessons are already available through the medium of Spanish and are being shared in Patagonia – and other languages, from Polish to Chinese, Somalian to Bengali, will be added to the mix in the next few years.

‘We honestly can’t believe what’s happening,’ says course co-founder Aran Jones. ‘We’re enormously grateful to the Institute of Welsh Affairs for giving the course this important and prestigious award, and we’re continually amazed by the new ways in which we’re seeing learners try to promote the language. It seems increasingly likely that the global community of Welsh learners is going to have a genuine and lasting impact on the future of the language itself, both inside and outside of Wales.’

http://www.clickonwales.org/2011/06/life-stories-that-inspire-wales/

‘When we arranged our first Bootcamp in February, it never even crossed our minds that people would be willing to fly over from America to attend one of these intensive weeks,’ said Aran Jones, co-founder of SaySomethinginWelsh.com. ‘Now, it’s clear that the unique experience of having English banned for a week is interesting enough for our American learners to be prepared to visit Wales just to attend our Bootcamp – which of course means knock-on spend for a lot of other local businesses as well.’

The SaySomethinginWelsh.com free online mp3-based Welsh course already has learners in 38 of the 50 American states, and it is clear from the comments left on the support messageboard by Americans that there is a very strong level of interest in learning the Welsh language in America.

‘I’ve got a Welsh surname, but as far as I know it’s been at least 180 years since any of my ancestors lived there, and I don’t even know where “there” ever was,’ says Diane Owen. ‘Still, I’ve always been interested in the country and the language. I live near Washington DC, and there’s nowhere to take Welsh language classes around here – but because of SaySomethinginWelsh, I know how to dweud rhywbeth yn Gymraeg!’

‘Knowing that I’ll soon have a chance to try speaking Welsh in real situations is very motivating,’ says Patricia Mitchell. ‘I find all the lessons challenging – in a good way – and find the learning process with this method is strangely addictive. I can already see myself waiting impatiently for new lessons once I’ve finished the existing ones.’

A new report from Tourism Intelligence International entitled “How Americans Will Travel 2015” predicts that American outbound arrivals to overseas destinations will rebound after the global economic recession, and says that north American travellers will ‘increasingly buy holidays with sense and sensibility and look for status and self-improvement on their holidays.’

‘It is very exciting to see our learners starting to organise themselves into groups, which will make learning Welsh easier and easier for the large number of people in England who want to do so,’ said Aran Jones, co-founder of SaySomethinginWelsh.com. ‘We have seen a surprising level of interest in learning Welsh amongst English people, as well as Welsh people living in England, and what Ian is doing could become the start of a very significant revival.’

Surveys have estimated that there are approximately 50,000 Welsh speakers in London, and yet Welsh is very rarely considered as one of the languages that ought to be catered for in the English capital. If the new wave of internet learners have their way, though, that may soon change – starting with a higher profile for the Welsh language in the British Library itself.

‘The Welsh classes at City Lit fill up pretty quickly,’ says Ian Wilson, ‘so I’m sure there are a lot of learners out there already who will appreciate this chance to use their Welsh in a social setting. Obviously, with online courses like SaySomethinginWelsh.com, anyone can give it a go now, without having to find time for evening classes. Although we did Welsh at school in Port Talbot, it’s only now that I’m starting to learn it in a way that lets me actually use it – and I’m looking forward very much to moving back to Wales in a couple of years.’

‘We set this up because learners on our forum wanted to share news about events with each other, and we thought it would work better if they used a calendar, rather than the forum software,’ says Aran Jones, one of the two founders of SaySomethinginWelsh. ‘We then found that we could give them direct access to the calendar, so we now have a team of volunteers adding events from all around Wales, and we’re publishing the results on our home page at SaySomethinginWelsh.com – it’s becoming an incredibly useful tool.’

Up until now, different course providers have run their own, separate lists of activities, and it has been difficult for learners to find out about the full range of events where they can use their Welsh. Because SaySomethinginWelsh are willing to let other organisations and individuals promote their events on the SSiW Calendar, it has the potential to let learners know about events for them wherever they are in Wales.

‘This is a great way for organisations to let learners know what they’re offering,’ says Iestyn ap Dafydd, the other founding member of SaySomethinginWelsh, ‘but it’s also a brilliant way for people to spread the word about completely informal get-togethers. If you’re in Cardiff and you fancy going to the Fuwch Goch for a pint and a chat in Welsh, put it up on our calendar and you may well have some company!’

Learners have been delighted by the new resource. ‘It’s just so handy,’ says Dee McCarney from New Zealand, who now lives in Cardiff and has been learning Welsh for three years. ‘It’s easy for me to see what’s going on, particularly informal stuff that I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise, and it’s helped me find a lot more going on in Welsh than I knew existed! I have to travel to different parts of Wales over the next couple of months for my job and I’ll be looking in the calendar to see if there are any local events I can go to.’

Organisations and individuals who are holding events suitable for Welsh learners are invited to let the SaySomethinginWelsh team know by emailing calendar[at]SaySomethinginWelsh.com.

‘This is a very different approach,’ says Aran Jones, ‘but we know it works. We’ll provide learners with a small prompt card with a few vital phrases on it when they arrive, and that’s it. By the end of the week, each learner will have taken part in so many different activities, needed to communicate so many different things in Welsh, and spent so much time laughing, they will have forgotten what it’s like to feel nervous about speaking Welsh. If they don’t feel they’ve taken a huge step forwards, they can have their money back – we actually guarantee it.’

Bootcamps attendees will be staying in the Canolfan in the pretty seaside village of Tresaith in Ceredigion, and the main intention is for them to have such an entertaining time that it feels more like a holiday than a Welsh course. In fact, course creators are adamant that it is not a course at all.

‘This isn’t a Welsh course,’ says Iestyn ap Dafydd. ‘It’s something completely different – we think of it as ‘Welsh in the Wild’. It puts people in situations where they have to communicate by using Welsh, but where they are having such an enjoyable time that the usual barriers people feel about speaking Welsh are broken down. Once those barriers are broken, they remain broken, and people who come on one of our Bootcamps will feel massively more relaxed about speaking Welsh for the rest of their lives.’

It is recommended that anyone who wants to come to SSiW Bootcamp works through as much of the free SaySomethinginWelsh.com course as possible before attending – but learners of any level are welcomed. ‘The more Welsh you’ve learnt, the more you’ll benefit from SSiW Bootcamp,’ says Iestyn ap Dafydd, ‘but whatever level you’re at, it will make a huge difference. Even though we won’t be running any formal lessons at all, you’ll still pick up new words and phrases, and you’ll use everything you do know so often that it will start to become second nature.’

SSiW Bootcamps cost £250 per week (not including food, which is arranged per group), and a full refund is offered for anyone who feels that their Welsh has not been improved as much as they hoped. More details can be found at www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com/bootcamp as well as the dates for Bootcamps in February, March, April, May, June, July and August. There are places for a maximum of 40 learners on each week, on a first-come first-served basis.

Lord Elis-Thomas, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, Nick Bourne, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Helen Mary Jones, AM for Llanelli, Robin McBryde, forwards coach to the Welsh rugby team, Aled Edwards of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Rhys Mwyn, the ‘benign rebel’ who runs Anhrefn Records, Leanne Wood, AM for South Wales Central and John Rostron, co-founder of www.SwnFest.co.uk have agreed to become SaySomethinginWelsh.com Patrons.

‘This is remarkable news for us,’ says Aran Jones, co-founder of the course, ‘and it is clearly already making an important difference, as we now have over 5000 members on the site. Support like this from such significant figures in Welsh public life helps us spread the word further and faster about a course which our learners tell us has helped them more than any other course they’ve done.’

Iestyn ap Dafydd, who helped create the course, is convinced that the online approach is making it possible for more people than ever before to learn Welsh. ‘We’re seeing an amazingly positive response from people who have struggled to learn Welsh before – they find this approach easier, more convenient, and they keep coming back to the forum to tell us about their successes using the language. It’s a very exciting and enthusiastic environment.’

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, said ‘A number of my colleagues here in Cardiff Bay have already started using this website. It’s the perfect way for people in a bilingual workplace, who hear the sound of both languages every day, to improve their skills and take enjoyment at the same time!’

Helen Mary Jones, AM for Llanelli, said ‘I’m delighted to be supporting SaySomethingInWelsh.com. I think that giving people the opportunity to learn Welsh online is fantastic. As someone who has learned Welsh, I know of my own experience how time-consuming and difficult it can be. But the end result is worthwhile, and being able to speak both Welsh and English to my constituents is great.”

Nick Bourne, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said ‘Good luck with this important project – I support these efforts to promote the Welsh language.’

Robin McBryde, forwards coach to the Welsh rugby team, said ‘I think it’s very important that everyone has the chance to learn Welsh, and that they get the opportunity to have fun using Welsh socially – it’s still such a big part of our rugby tradition, and everyone knows that a cup of tea and/or a pint tastes better in Welsh!’’

Course creators Iestyn ap Dafydd and Aran Jones describe themselves as ‘serial language learners’ who wanted to make sure that cutting edge approaches were available in Welsh. ‘I can’t think of a time when I haven’t been trying to learn one language or another,’ says Aran Jones, ‘and to be honest I’m pretty bad at learning languages! But I’ve been surprised to see how much difference some of the techniques developed in the last ten years have made – I can actually just about manage to speak Spanish now, thanks to some excellent new courses – and Iestyn and I agreed that it would be great if it was much easier for people to learn Welsh as well.’

The course is free because it is possible to distribute electronic files for very close to zero cost. ‘We realised early on that the work involved in putting the course together, the writing and recording, was something we were happy to do as volunteers just to make sure that this kind of material is available in Welsh,’ says Iestyn ap Dafydd. ‘It costs us virtually nothing to distribute the course, so we thought it would be a boost to Welsh learners, and to the language itself, if we offered it for free.’

The course is available in southern and northern versions of Welsh, in order to make it accessible for as many Welsh learners as possible. The recordings were made with a mixture of first and second language speakers, because many learners find it a little easier to understand other learners at first – but it is important that they quickly become familiar with hearing and understanding first language speakers.

Early users of the course have been delighted with its new approach. ‘As someone who has been struggling to learn the language for several years, I found that even the first few lessons helped to correct some basic mistakes,’ says Carrie Harper from Wrecsam. ‘The main difference I have found with this course is the speed at which I am absorbing new words and phrases. I also now feel a lot more confident in using my Welsh and am looking forward to the next stages of this course.’

‘SaySomethingInWelsh forces you to speak, and you have to anticipate the correct answer, so there’s no ‘parroting’, no passive repetition,’ says Dave Morgan from Edern in Gwynedd. ‘Because the course is a spoken course, not a ‘grammar’ course, you end up speaking confidently and people respond to that. As a result, I find I’m using Welsh much more often, in situations where I might have chickened out before.’

The course has already proved a real hit on the social networking site Facebook (see www.SaySomethingInWelsh.com/Facebook), gathering almost 200 members in the first two days, and the enthusiastic comments from early users have made it clear how much demand there is for a genuinely easy and convenient way to learn Welsh.