About This Course
J.R.R. Tolkien once asserted that Welsh “is of this soil, this island, the senior language of…Britain; and Welsh is beautiful”. As Wales develops into a dynamic bilingual country there has never been a more exciting time to study the most vibrant of the Celtic languages. Follow the story of Welsh from the medieval tales of the Mabinogion to the multifaceted Welsh-language culture of contemporary Wales. This four-year programme is designed for beginners and unconfident speakers. It includes an intensive language-focussed Foundation Year, followed by the comprehensive Welsh (second-language pathway) three-year BA degree scheme.
Along this path, Welsh-medium teaching increases gradually as your skills develop, and special modules are designed to facilitate 'crossing the bridge' from learner to enterprising speaker with a degree in Welsh .
Don't worry if you don't have A levels Welsh - we are always happy to consider other qualifications, and alternative experiences: Welsh is a subject for students of all backgrounds. And this four year course allows complete beginners to study with us, even if they have never spoken a word of Welsh.
Doing a degree in Welsh allows you to enjoy and appreciate one of Europe's richest literary cultures - the culture of Wales. You will be given every help to fully participate in the Welsh life of the university and the locality, and you will also learn about Welsh in wider international contexts. We ask questions such as how the fate of the language compares with languages such as Basque and Irish, or how Welsh writers and poets have responded to global themes such as slavery, the Holocaust and the ecological challenge of the modern world.
Why choose Bangor University for this course?
- 1st in the UK for Celtic Studies (Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021).
- 1st in the UK for Student Satisfaction (Complete University Guide 2021).
- 90% go on to work and / or study within 15 months after the course (Discover Uni).
- A world-renowned centre for the study of Welsh and Celtic Studies.
- Study in the unique Celtic linguistic environment of Gwynedd (north-west Wales) where Welsh remains the language of the majority.
Course Content
During the Foundation Year, you will follow intensive language courses with professional tutors from the Welsh for Adults Centre, a centre with over 40 years experience of providing language learning courses. Learn more about Welsh literature, history and culture. You then have three years learning through lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops. You will write essays, undertake various weekly exercises and tasks, reading and preparing for seminar discussions. Assessments vary from coursework to exams. At least half of your modules in your second year will be specially designed for students from a second language background, in order to develop specific skills. You will join first language students in other modules, and special tutorials will be arranged to support you. Additional language support is also provided in the third and fourth years.
After the Foundation Year you will have the opportunity to build on your experiences and open new doors: e.g. discussing the language in contexts relating to its history and present-day state, learning new critical skills and responding initially to literature. In the following two years, you will have a wide choice of modules: e.g. the Welsh novel; Welsh theatre; modern poetry and eisteddfod odes (awdlau); television dramas; Dafydd ap Gwilym; the Mabinogion - or why not study American Welsh culture and even ask "What is Literature?" Language modules range from historical to sociological, from the opportunity to learn Irish or Breton to modules that develop professional Welsh language skills in the workplace and also Welsh language skills for creative purposes. In the final year, you will have the opportunity to explore in more depth a topic of particular interest to you, and write a dissertation. Students have recently written dissertations on individuals such as Dafydd ap Gwilym, Caryl Lewis, Meic Stevens and Geraint Jarman, and on areas such as eco-criticism, gender and transgender, literature and slavery, attitudes to linguistic regeneration, and football in literature.
Facilities
General University Facilities
Library and Archive Services
Our four libraries provide a range of attractive study environments including collaborative work areas, meeting rooms and silent study spaces.
We have an extensive collection of books and journals and many of the journals are available online in full-text format.
We house one of the largest university-based archives not only in Wales, but also the UK. Allied to the Archives is the Special Collections of rare printed books.
Learning Resources
There is a range of learning resources available, supported by experienced staff, to help you in your studies.
The University’s IT Services provides computing, media and reprographics facilities and services including:
- Over 1,150 computers for students, with some PC rooms open 24 hours a day
- Blackboard, a commercial Virtual Learning Environment, that makes learning materials available on-line.
Careers
Bangor's second language students have enjoyed great success recently. Many have gained first class degrees, and some have won University awards for their work (competing with first language students). Some have chosen to go on to successful careers where their Welsh language skills are essential; others have decided to stay in academia, and complete postgraduate degrees in Welsh, either here at Bangor or at other universities internationally.
There has never been a more exciting time to study Welsh at Bangor. There has never been more demand for a workforce that can use Welsh at senior professional levels. The goal is clear, it has been set by the Welsh Government: a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and a truly bilingual Wales.
In pursuit of this goal there will be a considerable demand for confident Welsh speaking graduates. A degree in Welsh will qualify you as well as any other route in the Humanities would - and doing so better than many other subjects. Employability statistics show, year on year, that graduates from the School of Welsh succeed exceptionally well in finding qualified work. The ability to communicate effectively in spoken and written Welsh is an essential skill in an ever-increasing number of jobs, and Welsh is not a subject that closes any doors on finding work internationally either.
The remarkable professional success of our students in employment - and their varied careers - already proves how entirely relevant this course is to the requirements of contemporary Wales. A proportion of graduates go into education, to be primary and secondary teachers, headteachers, education officers and directors of education. Others go into further education and others become university lecturers. Teaching Welsh for adults is also a key area. Television and digital and print media - including the BBC centre in Bangor - offer a cross-section of interesting jobs and have attracted other alumni into book publishing, creative writing and television scripting, public relations and marketing. There is also continuing demand for bilingual administrators and local government officers.
EXPLORE MORE IN WELSH AND CELTIC STUDIES
Our honours degrees offer a wealth of valuable experience whether you wish to study courses relating to Welsh as a subject, or the fields of theatre, journalism or the media.
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