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Online Communities and Lists, Part I

© Sarah Stevenson

A key to effective language learning lies in dialogue with other learners and speakers. For Welsh learners, this is often difficult, especially for students who reside outside of the United Kingdom. I sincerely hope, by posting this list of online communities and mailing lists related to Welsh, to help interested readers connect with supportive and diverse groups of learners via the World Wide Web.

There are forums for Welsh speakers of all levels, from complete beginners to native speakers. Some are directly related to the language or linguistics, while others provide for discussion of a variety of topics through the medium of Welsh. Some have chatrooms for live conversation. I have not listed ICQ or Usenet resources in this article, but BBC Catchphrase has a list of several, with comments about each.

Also, I have only included communities that are specifically in Welsh or about the Welsh language. There are other Welsh-culture communities which are not listed here; again, BBC Catchphrase lists a number of them. I have sorted communities by category: Part I will include Lists for Learners, while Part II (next month) will cover Linguistics and Instruction, Other Welsh-Medium Lists, and Local Area Communities. While many are suitable for beginning learners, some are more appropriate for advanced or fluent speakers; I have marked these with an asterisk (*).

Lists for Learners

Clwb Malu Cachu
Brought to you by the helpful learners' website of the same name, this Yahoo! discussion board is for anyone interested in the Welsh language, regardless of level. Having subscribed to this list for a while, I'm happy to note that not only is it fairly active (with 253 members), the other list members are very helpful. Postings are well moderated by the list owners, who appear on the message board regularly and are full of encouragement and information. A very supportive environment for beginning and intermediate learners who want to practice their Welsh and get help from more advanced speakers.

Welsh Learners
Another large, active discussion group on Yahoo! is Welsh Learners. Here is how they describe themselves: "This is a group for people who are learning Welsh to practice and support each other. All Welsh Learners are welcome from those just starting to those fluent."

*Write Welsh
This list helps more advanced learners-i.e., those above beginner level--to practice their reading and writing skills in Welsh. Though I've only recently joined, it seems that postings are mainly in Welsh and range from casual conversation to specific language issues.

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