Welsh

Ein Cwricwlwm Ysgol (Our School Curriculum)

Blynyddoedd 7 ac 8 (Years 7 and 8)

During the first two years of studying Cymraeg at Ysgol Brynmawr, you will cover a multitude of rich and diverse topics, including hobbies, holidays, healthy living and Wales and The World. These topics enable you to express yourself, give justified opinions and discuss the wider world in Cymraeg. Our aim in the Department of Languages is to enable all students to be able to be proud of the language and culture of Wales through a broad, rich and balanced curriculum.

Blynyddoedd 9-11 (TGAU) (Years 9-10 (GCSE))

Like English, maths, and science, studying Cymraeg and sitting the GCSE exams is compulsory. During your GCSE years, you will cover topics that are relevant to modern-day Wales, which will help you to build your confidence in speaking, writing, and reading Cymraeg. Topics that you will study will fall under the broad themes of Wales and the World, Employment, and Youth.

All four GCSE units are sat in Blwyddyn 11. Unit 1 of your GCSE course includes watching and discussing a video clip with a group, Unit 2 includes discussing a photo card with pictures, text, and numerical data, and Units 3 and 4 are reading and writing exams. Each Unit is worth 25% of your overall GCSE grade.

The broad focus is on enabling you to speak Cymraeg confidently and with correctness.

Tripiau (Trips)

As a faculty, we believe in using Cymraeg in a natural environment, and organise trips to local areas of interest and to camps run by Urdd Gobaith Cymru; the Urdd hosts one of Europe’s highest-rated outdoor multi-activity residential centres that attracts over 35,000 visitors each year. Here, we horse ride, swim, ski, toboggan, rollerblade, motorbike, go-kart, perform team-building activities and lots more – all in Cymraeg!

Pam ddysgu’r Gymraeg? (Why learn Cymraeg?)

Did you know…

… that over 75% of the world speaks two or more languages?
… that there are roughly 6,500 living languages spoken today,
... with Cymraeg being one of the oldest?
… that Cymraeg is a highly sought skill in the public sector, with the
... the vast majority of jobs advertising Cymraeg as “essential” and many more advertising it as “desirable” to speak, read, and write?
… that there are over 700,000+ Cymraeg speakers in the UK, with roughly 600,000+ of the living in Wales?
… as of December 2020, 11,600 people can speak Cymraeg in Blaenau Gwent,
… 883,600 people speak Cymraeg in Cymru, or 1 in 3 people

The benefits of learning Cymraeg and being bilingual include:

Helps you think faster, more creatively, and remember more.
Builds self-esteem.
Helps you to achieve higher grades in other school subjects.
Allows you to learn other languages more easily and readily
Enables you to read, write, speak, and express yourself in many different ways.
Exposes and allows you access to a different culture.
Greatly widens your linguistic skills through the use of sayings, idioms, history and folk stories, music, literature and poetry – even in English!
Enables prosperous career opportunities in the retail sector, tourism, public relations, translation, law, and teaching to name but a few.

Information for Parents and Guardians

Supporting your child

There are many ways you can support your child in learning Cymraeg at school. The most important thing you can do is to show interest in what s/he is learning in Cymraeg lessons, ask about the lessons and what homework has been set. Ask your child to teach you something s/he has learnt!

How do we learn?

The easiest way to learn Cymreag is to speak it; your child’s KS3 level is made of up speaking, writing, and reading (60:20:20) and 50:50 during GCSE. This means that a lot of speaking will be done in Cymraeg, and it’s important that your child doesn’t give up or switch back to English – learning a language can be challenging so it’s vital that s/he given 100% attention during lessons and speaks as much Cymraeg as possible.

Helping with homework

If you have some knowledge of Cymraeg yourself you can be a huge help by talking in Welsh together. Even if you only know a little bit of Welsh, try to use some every day. When your child has a conversation to practise speak one of the parts with them; learn vocabulary together; read aloud together; listen to Radio Cymru or watch S4C together.

If you don’t know any Cymraeg yourself ask your child to explain what s/he is doing and what s/he finds easy and difficult. Ask for a mini lesson on what was done in class today. Give simple tests by reading the English and asking your child to respond in Cymraeg. Recorded example conversations etc. are also available to help with speaking, listening, and perfecting pronunciation – ask for copies – their classroom teacher would be more than happy to record something too! Also use quizlet.com/bryngwall and duolingo.com to practise vocabulary! Learning a language requires commitment and determination – you’ll get out of it what you put into it. Still stuck – talk to us!

Fancy learning Cymraeg?

There are lots of ways to learn Cymraeg as an adult. For information on classes in your area go to https://learnwelsh.cymru/. To learn on the internet or on the move for free, go to bit.ly/1f8FjJr and join the SSiW community!