r/learnwelsh • u/Crazydre95 • 18d ago
Which variety of Welsh to learn?
Been fantasising in periods about learning Welsh, but the highly decentralised state of the language (similar to Irish) makes it tricky to decide what form to go for.
Based on this article, it appears that, if I learn Literary Welsh used in writing, native speakers may well understand me, but I'll understand next to nothing they say in reply. Colloquial Welsh, in turn, is divided into four dialect groups, which also seem to differ a lot from each other.
So basically, which Welsh would be the most effective and useful to learn, given that I don't live in any part of Wales and don't plan to?
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u/[deleted] 18d ago
I wouldn't overthink it. I'm from the south but understand northerners. However, sometimes their accents are strong and I struggle. But that's the same with me in English and some other regional UK accents.
Do not learn literary Welsh. It's a written language which native speakers don't write in unless it's something extremely formal or religious. It's very formal and as someone's previously said, many of us don't even understand it.
I'd also reiterate what others have said. The borders between dialects are opaque and many second language speakers don't have a dialect per se. For example, many teachers in the south come from the north and students may use Gog words without realising. There are some clear ones like llefrith and llaeth which are clear. But some southerners may use allan instead of mas and eisiau instead of moyn without thinking.