Basic Welsh: A Grammar and Workbook (Grammar Workbooks) [Paperback]

Gareth King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0415120969 | ISBN-13: 978-0415120968

Building on the excellent reception to Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar and Colloquial Welsh, this grammar workbook is a challenging supplement to any course in the modern Welsh language. The emphasis throughout is on the colloquial, spoken Welsh used by modern-day native speakers.

Combining detailed grammar explanations with a range of exercise work, features of the text include:

* around forty grammar points plus exercises
* grammar explained in clear language
* answer key and full Welsh-English, English-Welsh glossary
* a wide range of challenging exercises.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gareth King, an experienced teacher of Welsh to adults, has in the short space of three years published a comprehensive reference grammar of spoken Welsh; a lively, up-to-date introductory language course; and now two further 'grammar-workbooks'. This impressive opus constitutes a solid, much-needed and most welcome contribution to the descriptive grammar literature on modern colloquial Welsh and a considerable achievement....For more than one reason, both the beginner and the professional linguist alike who approaches spoken Welsh with books such as these to hand is a far luckier student than were those of my own generation, and Gareth King is to be thanked....I am sure that for many people these books will have had the effect of putting modern spoken Welsh firmly on the map; let no one underestimate the importance of that.
–Alan R. King, LINGUIST

About the Author

Gareth King teaches Welsh to adults in Dyfed, Wales. He is the author of Modern Welsh, Intermediate Welsh and Colloquial Welsh, all available from Routledge.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (January 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415120969
• ISBN-13: 978-0415120968
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Celtic Languages

More About the Author

Gareth King is the author of numerous books on language, including a range of well-known and popular titles written for learners of Welsh, language of the future. His latest book, published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis in December 2010, is an extensive revision and expansion of George Campbell's well-known Concise Compendium of the World's Languages, and he is now working on a similar updating of the original 2-volume edition. In addition, after a pause of some years, he has finally bowed to public clamour and has embarked on the writing of a new book on Welsh, scheduled for publication in 2013.
Away from the writing shed, he acts as Series Advisor and linguistic consultant for Routledge's Colloquial... range of language learning titles (now extending to over sixty languages of the world), all of which are easy to find and purchase on Amazon. Two of them were actually written by him, and are consequently especially sought after by connoisseurs, with first editions commanding frankly absurd prices on "e-Bay" and across the modern marvel that is the electrical interweb.
He did his first degree during the Cold War, emerging from Cambridge University with a useful degree in Slavonic (involving some of the most dangerous languages known to modern science), and sensibly went on some years later to do an MA in Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic at Aberystwyth, learning Welsh in the process by the simple but effective expedient of sharing a flat with a bunch of girls from North Wales - this, perhaps, was the fateful turn in his life that was to bring about the publishing sensation that his books on Welsh were to become in Wales, and which propelled him inexorably on the road to legendary status in that small but perfectly-formed land. He is markedly less well-known in Scandinavia and the Caribbean, and maintains residences there for this very reason.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for absolute beginners, November 16, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Basic Welsh: A Grammar and Workbook (Grammar Workbooks) (Paperback)

As someone who has been studying Welsh for over a year, I have found King's book helpful in reviewing basic grammatical concepts. The book is organized in units with each unit briefly discussing a specific grammatical point (e.g. "soft mutations" or "the perfect tense"). It helps to have some basic knowledge of gramatical terms as well as a grasp of the basic structures of Welsh before delving into this book. I highly recommend it as a review for the beginning student of Welsh, but it is not an introduction to the language for absolute beginners.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the advanced or precocious student, May 16, 2005

By 

Elizabeth A Triano "lizziewriter" (In Transition, NY (watch this space)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basic Welsh: A Grammar and Workbook (Grammar Workbooks) (Paperback)

I am not crazy about this book. It does have some terrific points and points of view about handling the mutations and regional dialects, and as the other reviewer said it is not for the beginners. It covers a lot of points and details in what really is not a large volume, but they are points and details that I think should have been titled something other than "Basic Welsh." "Details of Modern Welsh" might be a better description. This might be a good candidate for an audiobook instead of text, for some of us. I am both a beginner and not really... I have been poking at the language off and on for twenty years or so. The best books I have found for beginners are actually booklets put out by Teledu BBC Cymru called Dechrau Siarad Starting to Speak Welsh. I also have enjoyed a booklet called Speak Welsh, by Gwen Pritchard Jones. Unfortunately these little booklets can be hard to come by. A nice fat dictionary is also invaluable.