- The Guardian,
- Tuesday May 23 2000
BBC Wales
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Aimed at: everyone
An English version of BBC Wales sits at bbc.co.uk/wales but the Welsh version puts more emphasis on news and entertainment. A great deal is made of the BBC's Welsh soap, Pobol y Cwm, and you can also listen to radio in Welsh. There's also a useful guide to learning Welsh for older learners.
Snapdragon
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Aimed at: everyone
The bilingual red Snapdragon originated as a radio series. He now has a site of his own where key stage 1 and pre-school children can play simple counting games, identify animal sounds, set an alarm clock and colour in pictures. The taught phrases appear (and are spoken) in English and Welsh. To see all the activities, visitors need to download Flash.
Welsh Language Board
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Aimed at: teachers
The board promotes the use of Welsh and provides basic background information and news on its site. The contacts list may be helpful, but there could be more for teachers and learners.
Welsh Informationary
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Aimed at: everyone
Gwybodiadur is a directory of Welsh-language resources, including CD-Roms, books and tapes. The author reviews new publications with considerable verve and enthusiasm. Those looking for a sense of Welsh culture will be disappointed, but anyone who appreciates language learning for its own sake should visit the site.
S4C
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Aimed at: everyone
Another completely bilingual site, this time from Welsh-language TV channel S4C. Learners won't be stuck with a translation, but equally they may not try very hard if they know the English version is one click away. Plenty of rugby, S4C schedules and a chatroom, but little else.
Searching Lexicon
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Aimed at: everyone
A growing online Welsh-English and English-Welsh dictionary and spell-checker containing over 22,000 entries. The site, however, is showing its age and doesn't appear to have been updated since 1996.
A Welsh Course
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Aimed at: everyone
From the same author as the Lexicon, this site is also rather primitive in terms of design and layout. Idiosyncratic and not readily adaptable for use in the classroom, it's still worth looking at if, say, you want to help your child learn Welsh.
Order a Welsh book
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Aimed at: teachers and parents
Although the navigation could be improved, this is a useful site for anyone who can't find Welsh or bilingual books easily. Recommended Key Stages and brief plot outlines are available.
Welsh Learner's Links
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Aimed at: everyone
A couple of language lessons, a freeware vocabulary builder in .zip format, links and a few pages in Welsh make for an amateurish site which, in time, could become a useful resource.
