[Premachu]

I'm wondering if i should bother learning any Welsh, is it needed or usefull?

When I Rang Aber they spoke in Welsh. So yeah

[DRJT]

It's not needed at all. If they spoke in welsh, then it was probably a welcoming message.

I have read though that most people seem to pick up a few words & phrases.

[BatmanUK]

Not needed at all really, bit awkward as I have to work in a supermarket when the customers starts speaking welsh, so I've learnt the odd phrases to get by.

[Isamin]

It's not needed at all. Learning how to pronounce place names would help though.

[n3wbz]

almost everyone in wales who speak welsh also speak english fluently, so dont worry

[nia512]

You'll probably be fine without learning it Learning words like thank you might come in handy though

[linkdapink]

Not needed or helpful... but interesting. I started to learn Welsh and can say some fairly basic things, but cannot read it at all. Learning pronunciation may also be helpful with place names!

P.S. I have never been to Wales in my life.

[Nightstar-27]

It's probably not needed but it can be helpful I suppose, especially when pronouncing the names of some of the places.

[Utahraptor27]

I'm up in the slightly less farmy end of North Wales and I've never bothered to use it since I left school. The only use I have for it is when I feel like jazzing up a 'hello, how are you?' It is a cool language though, so I might have a go at learning it when I start at Aber.

If you just learn 'thank you' ('diolch'), then some shopkeepers will think you're an awesome dude for the 2 seconds before you leave. Don't throw one out in the middle of a conversation though because some old people get proper excited about a young person who speaks Welsh and they will launch into paragraphs in Welsh while you stand their looking dazed. I've made that mistake a few times!

[Isamin]

I was born in South Wales but my family returned to England when I was 8. I know a few words and songs (like Happy birthday!) but from what I remember when I lived there no one ever spoke Welsh outside of the Welsh lesson.

[amt92]

Not needed. It's a bit helpful, but if you just learn the place names and how certain things are pronounced you should be alright. Such as Machynlleth is NOT pronounced the way it is spelled.
Also, if you end up getting a job in a place a lot of locals go, a little bit would be helpful I imagine, as the locals tend to speak Welsh.

[Erich Hartmann]

(Original post by Premachu)
I'm wondering if i should bother learning any Welsh, is it needed or usefull?

When I Rang Aber they spoke in Welsh. So yeah

Probably a random thing to be honest.

I've called up Aber plenty of times, it's always been in English.

As for whether it is needed or not, despite having a Welsh wife who is fluent in the Welsh language I've yet to even learn a single word of Welsh LOL..... other than Araf because it is on the road all the time LOL.

Actually the only Welsh words I know :-

Cymru
Croese
Prysfgol (can't even remember how it's spelt now)
Cwrt Mawr

Only time you would ever need to know Welsh is if you live in that dodgy hall called Pantycelyn, some announcements there used to be only in Welsh.

[Lewis :D]

I doubt you'd need it, lots of the students come from England. But about 40% of Aberystwyth (town)'s residents speak Welsh fluently, so it you're up for learning it, it may be advantageous. One of the reasons I'm planning on going to Aber is to improve my Welsh, I live in a very anglicised area of Wales, where only a minority (although a strong minority) speak Welsh, and I haven't spoken to someone in Welsh since May 2010 so it's really gone bad!

[NDG3030]

I'll just try to learn how to pronounce places probably and the 'thank you' does sound like it'd be a good thing to know

Currently I only know Araf and Gwasanaethau.
Funny story about gwasanaethau is that we were heading off on a camping holiday with family & friends. We called them to say which service station we were at, it was the grwasanaethau services so thats what we said.
A couple of service stations later we realised they all had the same name, and then thought maybe it's a service station chain.
Then a couple more later: "Maybe gwasanaethau is the Welsh for services!"

Had a great laugh about that when we arrived at the camp site and met up again

Anyway, doubt you'd need to know Welsh. I've been to Aber a few times and seen locals speak Welsh but they don't seem to mind using English with me if I wish to

[Premachu]

So far i've just had to change the way i pronounce train stations :P

cathays turns out to be cat-tays, i was close to closing it kitties once...well not really..

[Lewis :D]

(Original post by Premachu)
So far i've just had to change the way i pronounce train stations :P

cathays turns out to be cat-tays, i was close to closing it kitties once...well not really..

Cathays in Cardiff? It's not a Welsh word

[Premachu]

(Original post by Lewis :D)
Cathays in Cardiff? It's not a Welsh word

heyheyhey. If it aint pronounced "caf-fees" like everyone in my flat expected, it's welsh :P

[Lunes93]

May just be good to learn how to pronounce the Welsh places... or you wake up the welsh people you're living with and ask them how to pronounce it )

[Kaiser MacCleg]

Not needed, but it'd be appreciated by us lot who do speak it!

(Original post by amt92)
It's a bit helpful, but if you just learn the place names and how certain things are pronounced you should be alright. Such as Machynlleth is NOT pronounced the way it is spelled.

Actually, it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled. Just not in English.

[Karanachan]

No, you don't need to learn Welsh. You will pick up pretty quickly how to pronounce place names and a few basic Welsh words.