Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

The Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies has received an award from the Irish Government to support the teaching of Irish Language and Literature at Aberystwyth University. The Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has awarded a generous sum of money to Aberystwyth University over the course of three years through an Irish Government programme which supports the teaching of Modern Irish. The award will also be used to create a number of language scholarships allowing Aberystwyth students to attend summer courses in an Irish-speaking area in Ireland. Dr Cathryn Charnell-White, Head of the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies said: “We are delighted that the award will allow us to establish a named scholarship scheme allowing students to experience the Irish language in its heartland, and to bring that experience back to Aberystwyth with them.” Irish language and literature is a key focus in the work of the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Ab...

Shakespeare’s birthday (23rd April) is being celebrated with the launch of a multi-lingual performance of ‘Sonnet 30’, Two members of staff at Aberystwyth University, Dewi Huw Owen, Research Officer at the Mercator Institute, and Adam Wilson, New Media Developer at the University’s Marketing Department, have been working hard during the past few weeks preparing a short film to celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday, which falls on the 23rd of April. In the film, ‘Sonnet 30’, one of Shakespeare’s most famous poems, is performed by a multi-lingual cast. The performance begins and ends with a reading of lines from the Welsh translation of the poem, by Hynek Janoušek, a native of Prague who is currently an MA student at the Department of Welsh, Aberystwyth University. This translation is also to be seen in full along with the original English text in the fideo’s subtitles. The other lines of the poem are read by speakers from all over the world in many different languages, from Spanish t...

The founder of an online social community for language learners is the first winner of the £20,000 Aberystwyth University InvEnterPrize student competition. Jake Stainer is a second year student studying Marketing and Spanish at Aberystwyth and founder and Managing Director of language website Papora, www.papora.com . Papora was inspired by an exchange visit to the Spanish city of Gijon in 2007 and Jake’s desire to keep in touch with friends and improve his Spanish. Free to use and designed to bring native speakers and learners together to exchange languages, Papora now boasts around 11,000 users from 135 countries learning more than 100 languages. Jake plans to use his £20,000 prize to develop the site, add new features, increase its online presence and develop mobile applications. He said: “I am very pleased to be the first winner of the University’s InvEnterPrize. I have been developing the idea behind Papora since I was 16 and this competition has given me the opportunity to test...

Jude Rogers: The Welsh language is too precious to be allowed to disappear - Commentators - Opinion - The Independent It rolls, it lilts, and it rasps. It begins in the back of the throat, turns around the mouth, then it sings. It is also the tongue of the country I come from . . . Jude Rogers discusses why Welsh is important in The Independent.

This week, English tutors from Germany will be given the opportunity to enrich their understanding of bilingualism and teaching a language on a visit to Aberystwyth University. The tutors, from the Saxony-Anhalt region, will attend the week long School of Education and Lifelong Learning’s Continuing Professional Development Summer School, and will also visit the National Library of Wales, the Welsh National History Museum at St Fagans and the Senedd in Cardiff Bay as an introduction to Wales’ language and culture. The sessions available to the tutors during the week will, amongst other things, look at how teachers use language in communicating with English learners, and will provide an introduction to how English is taught in schools in Wales. Summer School participants will also give an overview of the education system and bilingualism in Wales. “We have brought together the expertise of lecturers from the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, the Aberystwyth University Intern...