As one would expect, YouTube has myriad resources for the Welsh learner, ranging from brief clickbait like "An American tries to speak Welsh" to full episodes of educational programmes and everything in between.

The first port of call, really before going any further, is to watch the Welsh Plus series which go into great detail about how to pronounce the letters of the Welsh alphabet, both individually and in common combinations. They also touch on the mutations. Welsh Plus's playlist can be found here.

When I started learning Welsh, and before I'd discovered the Say Something in Welsh website, I discovered a series of videos called "Learn Welsh with Will" in which Will Huw, an Englishman living in Wales, disseminates his own Welsh knowledge as he goes about learning it. I liked Will's videos as he comes across as non-judgemental and very amiable. You can see Will's playlists, which include more than just Learn Welsh With Will, here.

Another series of videos I happened upon are aimed at adult learners from the 1990s, Now You're Talking (conveniently mis-spelled as "Now Your Talking" by whomever uploaded them!). These are presented by the likeable Elin Rhys in a variety of very early 90s outfits! There are 36 full half-hour episodes covering a variety of topics and gradually building vocabulary. I enjoy these videos as they present a chance to hear simple conversations in Welsh and learn everyday vocabulary. My only criticisms are that the programmes are now quite dates, the language is in some places a little too old-fashioned, and the pace of the lessons is a little slow for my liking. There's also not a great focus on grammar, so you'll need other resources to accompany these. You can find all 36 videos here.

Much more recent, are Margaret Hall's wonderful videos. Margaret is a Welsh learner and as part of her learning process she's created a series of videos in which she explores various places in Wales. Margaret speaks very clearly and uses a great vocabulary for the upper-beginner or intermediate Welsh learner. I find I can understand a lot of what she says, but not everything. That's due to limitations in my Welsh, though, not any problems with her speaking. Margaret's channel is here.

Finally, the Easy Languages series have several videos in Welsh. These are largely conversations with Welsh speakers in towns and establishments around Wales, conducted entirely in Welsh. The videos are subtitled in both English and Welsh, which is both a blessing and a curse, as you can find yourself reading the English subtitles rather than understanding the spoken Welsh. The ease of understanding the spoken Welsh depends largely on the speaker. Some interviewees are fluent speakers, some only beginners, but the most encouraging thing I took from these videos is that, actually, Welsh is very fluid, Welsh speakers are very forgiving of mistakes and, in reality, things like mutations are not nearly as stuck-to as online guides may lead you to believe. You can find those videos here.

There are plenty more besides, but these are the video series that I've found most useful and most enjoyable while learning Welsh. Feel free to comment if you feel I've missed anything important!

Da bo am y tro!

If you're spending more time at home at the moment than perhaps you'd like, one of the ways to avoid going mad and to use the time productively is to learn a skill. Learn to paint, learn photography, learn an instrument, or... learn a language!

With so many resources for so many languages available online for free, now is a great time to start learning whatever language takes your fancy.

Obviously I would suggest Welsh, but learning any language is fun and often helps improve your understanding and appreciation of your own, native language.

So... if you're bored being at home and need something to do, that's my suggestion.

DuoLingo have just added Scottish Gaelic to their list of languages and, as someone who has lived on the Isle of Lewis where you can still hear the language spoken, I'm quite tempted to learn it.

But I won't. Not because I don't want to; I'd be fascinated to start understanding some of what I saw and heard while I was in the Outer Hebrides, but because I think I have my hands full with Welsh. Plus if I learnt every language that appealed to me I'd be learning almost every language available (with the exception of silly made-for-TV languages like High Valyrian and Klingon).

Still, it's great news to see a growing interest in another of the UK's indigenous language. It's important we keep our native languages alive for future generations. It's a part of our history, after all, and brings with it a rich cultural history.

Alongside Welsh, I have also been brushing up on my GCSE French and hoping to improve my German (although I've already given up on this).

These languages have highlighted two more things I like about Welsh and that I think make it an easier language for the beginner:

1. The present continuous (I am going; I am doing; We are sailing (across the sea...))

In English, we have this periphrastic construction for the continuous tense that involves using "to be" as an auxilliary verb. This construction is alien to other European languages who simply use the present tense form of whatever verb, for example "to go", to indicate all three of the following ideas:

I go
I am going
I do go

In French, all three are "je vais". On the DuoLingo forum you see beginners in non-Welsh languages ask "Where is "am" in this sentence?" or asking "Why is it not 'Je suis vais'?".

Welsh, similarly to English, also forms the present tense periphrastically with "bod" (to be), almost in the opposite way to French by including the auxilliary where in English it *wouldn't* be needed:

Dw i'n mynd (literally "Am I going")

is

I am going
I go
I do go

and I think that inclusion of "am" (dw, in this case) is a more familiar construct to the English speaker, despite the reverse word order.

2. The same pronouns are used for both the nominative and accusative case.

What I mean by this is that "he" and "him" are both the same word, as are "She" and "her" (although not "her" the possessive pronoun), and "We" and "us".

For example:

Maen nhw'n mwynhau'r ddrama (they enjoy the play) - Nominative

Uses the same pronoun as:

Paid ag anghofio nhw! (don't forget them!) - Accusative

In French, "them" can be "ils" or "elles" or even "eux" in the nominative and "les" in the accusative.

The more Welsh I learn, the more I think it's a lot easier than people give it credit for. That said, it's not without its own strange constructs!

Ok, so it's been about seven months since I started learning Welsh in earnest, and he's what I think is hard and what I think is fairly easy about Welsh:

1. Mutations. Letters change at the start of one word depending on what word they follow. However I'm finding that this starts to feel more natural in most circumstances after a while.

2. Versions of "about" and "of/from" for each pronoun. If you're talking about a thing, they're "am" and "o" respectively. But if you're talking about/from me, you, her, him, us or them you're looking at "amdana, amdanat, amdani, amdano, amdanon and amdanyn" and "ohono, ohonot, ohoni, ohono, ohonon and ohonyn"!

3. The letter "Ll". Yes, it counts as one letter. The pronunciation is somewhere between ell and hissing like an angry goose with a headache. For some reason I find it easier to pronounce at the start of a word, like Llawr, than in the middle or end of a word, like Arall or Galla.

4. Conjugations. Well, this is the same for any language, really. Remembering the conjugations of short-form verbs is just one of those things you have to get used to.

5. Yes and no. There are no words for Yes and No in Welsh, you just repeat back (or negate) the appropriate conjugation of the verb in the question. "Do you like cheese?", "I do". "Are you tired?" "I am". "Are you reading?" "I am not". But that's only in the present tense. In the past tense it's usually "Do" for yes and "Naddo" for no. But then for emphatic questions it's "Ie" for yes and "Nage" for no. If the question was asking if there is something with you (see below) you reply with Oes or Nag Oes. Remembering which to use is the hard part.

6. There aren't many words that are similar to other European languages. There are some, mostly more modern words borrowed from English: tacsi, parcio, ffatri, ffôn, beic, etc; and some ecclesiastical words like eglwys (church) and capel (chapel) but not to the extent that you find with Romance or Germanic languages.

Things that are easier than I expected:

1. Mutations. Yes, they're difficult, but actually you get used to them, and in many cases the rules are quite consistent. You just get used to dropping the G in words like gweithio and gweld when they follow a sentence subject. You get used to changing D to Dd in adjectives after "yn", and you get very used to nasal mutations after "fy".

2. Conjugations. Although remembering them is difficult, many of the conjugations are quite consistent and actually fit in quite well with the pronoun they go with.

3. Possession. I've said before about there being no form of "I have a (something)" in Welsh, they instead say something is "with them": Mae ci gyda fi - "There is a dog with me". I got the hang of this much quicker than I thought. I think you just change your way of thinking and everything slots together.

4. The language as a whole. I'm only a beginner. Very much so. But I've been surprised at how much I've covered in such a short space of time. I'm not proficient by any stretch of the imagination, and I can only string together fairly simple sentences, but on the other hand I can make many more types of sentences in Welsh than my partner's daughter can in Spanish; a language she's been learning at school for two years now. I can use the present tense, the past perfect, a sort of imperfect, the future in several forms and some conditional tenses and even a kind of limited subjunctive mood.

On the whole, Welsh has (so far) been easier than I expected. It's not the incomprehensible jumble of letters it always looked like on road signs when we used to visit my Grandma in Rhossili when I was a child. In fact, in many ways it's a lot easier than the languages I'd been taught at school.

This is something I've started feeling quite strongly about lately, although I admit I'm partial to a bit of bias given my current enthusiasm for Cymraeg, but...

...why don't we teach Welsh as a second language in England? I say England because in Scotland and Northern Ireland they already have native languages that should be taught, but England does not.

I know some people will think, "Are you mad?!" but hear me out; my reasoning is sound:

1. Many children are more likely to visit Wales than Germany. German is taught in many British schools, yet British tourists to Germany number around 2 million per year compared to 10 million in Wales (2015 figure). This means more chance to practice a language learnt in school.

2. Welsh is the language of these islands. English people may not appreciate this, but our ancestors spoke something similar to Welsh. Before the Romans, Saxons and then Normans invaded, the native languages of these islands were the Brythonic languages, of these Welsh is the one currently in the healthiest state. Learning Welsh is a link to our past, even as Englishmen.

3. Learning any language has benefits beyond just that language. Learning one language helps a child understand other languages and their own language much better. There is nothing to be lost by learning Welsh and much to be gained.

4. Welsh is different. Welsh is not like French, German or Spanish; the languages children usually learn in school. The structure is different and it borrows little from Romance or Germanic languages. Learning Welsh gives children a different perspective on language learning yet remains relevant as it's spoken as a living language by 700,000 people and is an official language of the UK, unlike Cantonese, Mandarin or Satsuma ;)

5. Welsh is easy. Well, sort of. As I've covered previously, simple Welsh sentences in the past, present and future tenses can involve very little conjugation beyond the verb "bod" (to be). This makes progress fast and enthuses children to learn. Why spend two years mastering present tense conjugations in French when you can learn the same sentences in Welsh in a fraction of the time?

Not everyone will agree with me. I know the counter argument will be "but more people speak language X than speak Welsh!" or the usual "Welsh is a dead language! What's the point?!". But Welsh is growing. By teaching it as a second language it will grow more and these questions will answer themselves.

On Saturday I was crossing the Second Severn Crossing into Wales and, of course, I stopped at the toll booth to pay the crossing toll. The man operating the booth greeted me with a fairly cheery, "Hello" and I replied likewise, paid, thanked him and drove off. As we left, Lulu said, "Why didn't you say thank you in Welsh?" and I replied "Because I didn't know if he spoke Welsh".

I know I've mentioned this previously, but it still strikes me as odd. I'm entering Wales, but I can't guarantee that the (presumably) Welshman I'm talking to can speak the language of his nation. Later in the supermarket, the same thing. The (very clearly) Welsh lady greeted me, we had a chat about the weather and Cardiff in general, I thanked her and I left. Again, it would have been great to practice a bit of Welsh with her, even a "S'mae!" or "Prynhawn da", but again I couldn't be sure that she'd be able to speak Welsh.

Funnily enough I'd have been more confident that younger people spoke the language than older people, due to the push that's been made in recent years with teaching it in schools and some schools being entirely Welsh medium. This is in contrast to other indiginous languages of the UK, such as Scottish Gaelic, where the vast majority of speakers are older people and the languages are, quite literally, dying out.

The Welsh government is pushing for 1,000,000 Welsh speakers by 2050, and DuoLingo reports more users than that learning Welsh now, although I don't know how many live in the UK, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can know beforehand that it's safe to speak Welsh to a Welshman in Wales!

If you're learning a language, one of the best ways to gain exposure to that language and increase fluency is to visit a country where that language is spoken.

Herein lies the problem with Welsh: not all Welsh people speak it. They all speak English, but only around 20% of the population speaks Welsh. This means that if I'm in Wales, I can't initiate a conversation in Welsh because I can't guarantee that the other person will be a Welsh speaker.

Such a situation, where a native does not speak the native language, would be inconceivable in most other countries.

The fact that there are no monoglot Welsh speakers remaining also doesn't help. Because everyone speaks English fluently there's less incentive to make the effort to learn and speak Welsh.

Then there's the problem with signage. In France, other than at some touristy areas, all signs are in French. Signs alerting me to the "dèrniere sortie avant péage" will do so only in French. Translating and understanding the signs becomes part of the learning experience. Unfortunately, in Wales most signs are bilingual. The order of the languages is left to the discretion of the local authority, but an English translation will be on the sign somewhere. On the one hand, this allows you to quickly confirm that your translation of the Welsh was correct. On the other, it takes a lot of the fun and the necessity out of translating in the first place. It's very hard not to notice the English accidentally before you've had chance to attempt the Welsh.

What I have discovered, to my surprise and delight, is that several of my colleagues speak varying levels of Welsh. Remember, this is Somerset, England, not the north of Wales, so it's not entirely expected. One even speaks fluent Welsh, having attended a Welsh medium school. And he's said he's always happy to help with my Welsh learning.

So things are looking up.

One of the more daunting things about Welsh which is common to all the Celtic languages is the concept of mutations: consonants that change to a different letter, or even group of letters, depending on context.

As an English speaker and someone who has learnt German and French in the past, this is a truly alien concept. German may have given us some pretty monstrous words, but at least they're always spelt the same way whenever you encounter them. The French may be sloppy when pronouncing the ends of their words, but at least the beginnings don't go changing.

In Welsh, however, certain initial consonants of words change to other consonants. This is a mutation, and exists in all the Celtic languages of the British Isles in various forms. Welsh has three types of mutation: soft, nasal and aspirate (which I won't go into here). The most common of these is the soft mutation. What this means, in practical terms, is that in certain circumstances the following letter changes occur at the start of a word:

c becomes g

p becomes b

t becomes d

d becomes dd

b and m become f

ll becomes l

rh becomes r

and g vanishes entirely!

One of the occasions these mutations occur is when a singular feminine noun follows the definite article "Y". So "cath" (a cat) becomes "y gath" (the cat). "Mam" (Mother) becomes "y fam" (the Mother). And so on. This change also occurs when we are going "from" or "to" somewhere. If we go "to Wales", for example, it's "i Gymru" with the usual C replaced by a G. I'm still getting accustomed to the various reasons for the soft mutation, and there are lots of them.

Then we have the nasal mutation. This is much less common, and comprises the following consonant changes, which I had to look up because they're not all yet very natural to me:

p -> mh

t -> nh

c -> ngh

b -> m

d -> n

g -> ng

I've principally encountered this mutation when saying I am "in" somewhere. As with the Cymru -> Gymru change above when we go to Wales, we change C to Ngh when we are in Wales. So one can like Cymru, go to Gymru, but be in Nghymru... argh! Still, all languages have their quirks, and the world would be a very boring place without these differences.

The purpose of mutations, so I've been led to believe, is to improve the flow of the language. I kind of buy that. Kind of. I can see that the words trip off the tongue a little better in the case of the nasal mutation ("my car" would be "fy car" ("vuh car") without the change but becomes "fy nghar" ("vunghar") with it), but I can't really see how abitrary changes to feminine singular nouns help the flow.

Still, it is what it is, and it's all part of language's rich tapestry!

Five months or so ago, I embarked on a language learning adventure. I decided to learn Welsh. I'm not Welsh, I don't live in Wales, and I'm not planning on moving to Wales any time soon. Not that Wales isn't a lovely place, but it's not currently part of my plans.

It started as a bit of a joke. My partner's daughter, Lulu, started at Cardiff University last autumn and has the option of taking free Welsh lessons as part of her course. She scoffed at the idea, "Everyone speaks English! Why would I need to learn Welsh?". I explained that it might not be necessary, but why not take advantage of a free route to learning another language, but to no avail.

I can't say I blame her; I'd always been dismissive of the minority languages of the United Kingdom: Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish. They're dying out, aren't they?

Well, yes and no. Cornish is down to just a few scores of speakers and Gaelic has only around 50,000. But Welsh is a bit different. Welsh is still used. And it's still used by young people, for some of whom it's both a native and a first language. In fact, following a decline in the first half of the 20th century, Welsh is actually thriving somewhat, with the aim set by the Welsh Assembly to get one million speakers by 2050.

So back to Lulu. Every time we spoke following her enrollment at university I would ask her "Learning Welsh yet?" and every time she'd say "no", getting increasingly fed up with me asking, until one day she snapped, "If you love Welsh so much, why don't you bloody learn it?!". I saw that as a challenge and tentatively started looking for resources online.

My first port of call was Babbel, which I'd used in an aborted attempt to learn Spanish before, but alas they offer no Welsh course. I then found some excellent YouTube videos from WelshPlus, but they focussed entirely on familiarisation with the Welsh alphabet and pronunciation. Then someone suggested DuoLingo. DuoLingo courses are run by volunteers, who use the DuoLingo platform tools to create content to teach others. And DuoLingo has a Welsh course. And it's free. I signed up and dived into Cymraeg!

So, I'm now a Welsh learner, or Dysgwr Cymraeg, and I intend to chart my Welsh odyssey here.

Welsh, like most European languages, assigns nouns a gender. Some of these are obvious: a man (dyn) is masculine. A woman (menyw or dynes) is feminine. A cat (cath) is feminine. A dog (ci) is masculine. Well, that makes sense to me, at least.

But what's a table? Or a bed? Or love?

And how do we differentiate between them? And how do we learn the gender of a new object?

Well, in other European languages you can tell whether a noun is masculine or feminine by the article in front of it. In French, we have the indefinite articles "un" and "une" and the definite articles "le" and "la". When you learn a new word you also learn the gender. While on holiday in Paris in 2003 I asked "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" while holder up a token to use the toilet in a bar, and I got the answer "un jeton". Un. Masculine. And I've never forgotten that a token, in French, is masculine: "un jeton".

So what about Welsh? Welsh doesn't have an indefinite article at all. There is no way of saying "a table" or "an apple", it's just "bwrdd" and "afal". There IS a definite article ("the table" or "the apple") and it has three forms:

Y for words following and preceding a consonant

Yr for words preceding a vowel, but following a consonant

'r for words following a vowel (regardless of what follows it)

Sadly, none of these differentiate by gender, so it's almost impossible when learning a new word as part of conversation or when reading to tell whether it's masculine or feminine. And it's this that is, so far, the most frustrating thing about learning Welsh. I find myself looking up words that I already know just to determine their gender. While writing this I had to check to see if "coffi" (coffee) is feminine (it isn't).

So, does that matter? Well, yes! Welsh also has no gender-neutral word for "it". When talking about an object you refer to it as either he or she depending on its gender. When talking about the weather, for example, you refer to "she". "Mae hi'n oer" is "it's cold", only it's really "she's cold". And not only that, but certain words mutate in certain ways depending on context and gender. Would a Welsh person understand you if you were to get a gender wrong? Yes, of course. But it would grate. It wouldn't sound right. And if I'm going to learn a language, I'm going to do it right.