Our Students Speak

I first came to the Cwrs Cymraeg as a 16-year-old student interested in both language in general and my specific family history, since my dad’s family immigrated from Wales. That year the course was in Alberta, Canada and to be honest, I was extremely nervous that I would be an outsider amongst old friends and fluent Welsh speakers. It turned out that I absolutely started as an outsider amongst long-time Cwrs Cymraeg attendees but I left, after just one short week, a member of a group of amazing people. One of the many strengths of Cwrs Cymraeg is the strong and lasting community of Welsh enthusiasts that they have successfully brought together. The fact that many of the course attendees that year had been there several times before really attests to the solidarity of the group. I challenge anyone to come to Cwrs Cymraeg once and leave without exchanging emails, watery eyes and promises to return again. This, I believe, is because of the excellent community that the course has built. Learning anything, but especially a language, should be fun and engaging yet challenging and applicable to the world outside of a textbook or lecture hall. At Cwrs Cymraeg all of these things are realized. Want to learn how to speak, read, write, or understand Welsh? Check. Want to have other learners and native speakers to practice what you learned in class with? Check. Are cultural activities more your thing? Cwrs Cymraeg has got you covered. Do you want to accomplish all of these things with a group of friends and then go out to a pub for a drink? Cwrs Cymraeg is perfect for you. The bottom line is if you want to learn Welsh, there are a lot of options available to you; however, I guarantee that you will not find a better combination of top notch, rigorous language instruction and light-hearted fun than at Cwrs Cymraeg.

Trisha Thomas, Indiana

What Is Cymdeithas Madog?

Cymdeithas Madog, the Welsh Studies Institute in North America Inc., is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to helping North Americans learn, use and enjoy the Welsh language. It takes its name from Madog ab Owain Gwynedd, a Welsh prince who sailed (according to legend) to America in the 12th century. That makes him a fitting symbol of the cultural and linguistic links which Cymdeithas Madog maintains between Wales and the New World.

Cymdeithas Madog is a clearinghouse for information about Welsh language resources. We can help you find Welsh literature, publications from Wales, books about Wales and Welsh in Welsh and English, Welsh music, and Welsh resources on the internet.

The Welsh language is alive and active, and is waiting for you. So don’t delay. Write today to see what Cymdeithas Madog has to offer you. Write or e-mail:

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Video For Hwb

Maria Bartholdi, a frequent student on Cwrs Cymraeg, made a video about Cwrs Cymraeg 2012 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT for Hwb, a Welsh TV program for Welsh language learners. For a flavour of Cwrs Cymraeg, have a look at the video below.

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Not a member of our email group? Well, here’s the latest Cymdeithas Madog news sent out to our subscribers.

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Cwrs Cymraeg Y Gefaill-Ddinasoedd: A Very Busy Week Of Welsh Language Learning

What kind of week did we have in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, for Cymdeithas Madog’s 2018 Cwrs Cymraeg Welsh language week?  Well, it was a very hot week indeed.  Cwrs Cymraeg Y Gefaill-Ddinasoedd (“The Twin Cities Welsh Course”), July 15th to 22nd, 2018, at Hamline University in St. Paul was a very busy week of Welsh language learning that kept us going from the dawn’s early light to nightfall.  There was lots of Welsh to learn for every myfyriwr (“student”) from the complete beginner to the most experienced of Welsh language learners.  Our tutors made sure that our minds were filled to overflowing with yr hen iaith (“the old language”).  There were also a variety of workshops to attend, a cwrs newspaper, and the famous Cymdeithas Madog Cwrs Cymraeg choir to attend. But when we weren’t busy learning, there was time for relaxing evening activities including folk dancing, a quiz in the pub, a Welsh film night, Cwrs Cymraeg’s Eisteddfod, a sumptuous banquet and a noson lawen (a talent night where everyone takes part).  The highlight of the week was all the Welsh that we learned.  A close second was our Wednesday field trip off campus to Fort Snelling. When Sunday rolled around after a full week of Welsh learning, we backed our bags, said “hwyl fawr” (“good bye”) to friends old and new, and made our way home.  But we won’t forget the Welsh that we learned this week.  Now we have 51 weeks to practice the Welsh we have learned and prepare ourselves for the 2019 Cwrs Cymraeg in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  See you there.

Class Pictures

It’s always great to look back at all your classmates. To help bring back the great time on Cwrs Cymraeg Y Gefaill-Ddinasoedd / The Twin City Welsh Course at Hamline University in St. Paul, here are the class pictures. To see the pictures, click on the icon below

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The Passing Of A Beloved Cwrs Cymraeg Veteran

It is with the greatest sadness that we note the passing of Tom Reilly, a beloved member of the Cymdeithas Madog family, on Wednesday, April 27th. Tom started his Cwrs Cymraeg career at the 1978 course at Bucknell University, only the second Cwrs Cymraeg ever held, and attended every single course until the past year. Throughout those years his interest and enthusiasm for the Cwrs and the Welsh language never wavered. Tom will be fondly remembered by every student who has ever attended a Cwrs Cymraeg as a true gentleman. He will be greatly missed.

Sarah Stevenson’s Memories of Tom Reilly

The very first Cwrs Cymraeg Cymdeithas Madog was held in 1977—the year I was born. The following year, Tom Reilly attended his first Cwrs Cymraeg at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania—and, until very recently, attended every course since. When I think about the dedication it takes for someone to devote an entire week of their lives every single year to not only learning Welsh, but attacking it with enthusiasm, good cheer, and hwyl, it staggers me, especially when I think that Tom attended Cwrs Cymraeg for a number of years that spanned most of my life.

When I first began coming to the Cwrs, in 1999, I quickly came to realize that not only was Tom a veteran on the Cwrs—a fact that was inspiring in itself—but also that he was a longtime friend and mentor to countless other attendees. Course regulars we all know well, such as John and Ruth Kudlaty, became close friends of Tom’s after getting to know him during our annual summer week of learning and camaraderie.

During my own years attending the course, I had the pleasure of talking to Tom about his many intriguing life experiences, including his time in the Army, and came to regard him as a friend and mentor myself. Not only that, I was privileged to listen in on some fascinating conversations between Tom and some of the other multilingual Cwrs participants. As someone who enjoys languages, I was surprised and delighted to hear him discussing Turkish linguistics with another student over dinner at a residential Welsh course! Moments such as those increased my excitement about the environment of the Cwrs, but moreover, they only heightened my sense of admiration for Tom and his intelligence, kindness, and unflagging devotion to Cwrs Cymraeg and to lifelong learning.

His positive attitude toward Cwrs Cymraeg’s unique educational environment was summed up this way, in an article by Bernard Joseph in the 2001 Cwrs paper, Yr Emory Bwrdd:

“This is a good way to learn and have fun, or a good way to have fun and learn.”

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Cymdeithas Madog, may we all follow in Tom Reilly’s footsteps, and continue to learn and have fun with as much gusto, in his memory.

Sarah Stevenson, Cymdeithas Madog Secretary

Below is a copy of his obituary.

Thomas P. Reilly

Friday, April 29, 2011

BRONX, N.Y. — Thomas P. Reilly, 85, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 27 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, N.Y. Thomas was born on July 7, 1925 in Waterbury, and was the son of the late Thomas F. and Katherine (Killeen) Reilly. Thomas graduated from Naugatuck High School in 1942, class president and valedictorian. He received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and M.A. from Middlebury College, Vermont. He did further graduate work at the University of Grenoble, France, Laval University, Quebec, University of Mexico, Columbia University and NYU. Thomas served his country in the army during WWII. Thomas retired from the Horace-Mann School, Riverdale, N.Y. in 1996 ending a 44-year career as a foreign language teacher and he also served as chair of the Upper Division Foreign Languages Department for 32 years.

He is survived by his sister Ann Rutigliano and her husband Frank from Watertown, his brother Eugene J. Reilly of Prospect and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his sister Mary Mukosey.

Funeral services will be held from the Buckmiller Brother’s Funeral Home 26 Waterbury Road, Prospect, CT on Tuesday, May 3, at 9:30 a.m. for a mass of Christian burial at St. Mary’s Church in Naugatuck, CT at 10:30 a.m. Burial will be in St. James Cemetery Naugatuck. Calling hours will be held on Monday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation or Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

For more information and online condolences please visit www.buckmillerbrothers.com.

Mae Mark Stonelake wedi dysgu ar sawl Cwrs Cymraeg Cymdeithas
Madog dros y blynyddoedd.  Ysgrifennodd yr erthygl hon ar ôl gwibdaith i
Harper’s Ferry yn ystod Cwrs Dyffryn Shenandoah, 2011.

Gwibdaith i Harpers Ferry

Ro’n i’n breuddwydio am seidr oer a hufen iâ pan stopiodd y bws
a dihunais i weld ein bod wedi cyrraedd y dre fach hanesyddol ar
*‘brynhawngwaith teg o haf hirfelyn tesog’. Yn wahanol i’r ‘Bardd Cwsg’,
doedd dim * ‘spienddrych’ gyda fi ‘i helpu fy ngolwg egwan, i weled pell yn agos,
a phetheu bychain yn fawr’. Diawch, roedd hi’n dwym! Dwedodd rhywun ei bod yn
94 gradd. Felly, ni *‘chymerais hynt i ben un o fynyddoedd’ yr ardal ac
arhosais yn y dref gyda fy sbectol haul. Cawson ni ein tywys o gwmpas y dref gan
ddau ddyn gwybodus, wedi’u gwisgo mewn dillad y 19eg ganrif gan gynnwys
drylliau’r cyfnod. Clywon ni am ba mor bwysig oedd safle strategol y dref yn ei
datblygiad, ar aber dwy afon – y Shenandoah a’r Potomac, rhwng tair talaith
– Virginia, West Virginia a Maryland ac ar gamlas Chesapeake ac Ohio heb sôn
am reilfordd Baltimore ac Ohio a Winchester a Potomac a’r arfdy a godwyd yn 1790.
Dim syndod bod John Brown wedi ceisio dechrau ei wrthryfel yn erbyn caethwasiaeth
yma drwy ymosod ar yr arfdy i ddwyn ei gynnwys yn 1859, a bod y lle wedi newid
dwylo wyth gwaith rhwng 1861 a 1865 yn ystod y Rhyfel Cartref. Mae Llwybr
Appalachia yn mynd trwy’r dref a thwristiaeth, nid diwydiant sy’n cadw’r
blaidd o’r drws erbyn hyn.

Wedi dysgu llwyth o bethau am y lle a’i hanes, aethon ni am
dro o gwmpas y dref gan alw heibio i’r siop lyfrau. Diolch byth am yr aerdymheru,
meddwn i. Cyrhaeddodd pawb y bws mewn da bryd a dechreuon ni ein taith yn ôl i’r
brifysgol. Roedd pawb yn rhy flinedig i ganu, felly setlais yn ôl yn fy sedd…

*‘ac wedi â ‘m Meddwl daeth blinder, ac ynghyscod Blinder
daeth fy Meistr Cwsc yn lledradaidd i ‘m rhwymo; ac â ‘i goriadeu plwm fe
gloes ffenestri fy Llygaid a ‘m holl Synhwyreu eraill yn dynn ddiogel.’

Mewn geiriau eraill, ro’n i wedi blino’n lân ac es i i gysgu.
Rwy’n gwybod nad yw hwnnw mor bert a geiriau Ellis Wynne, ond beth dych chi’n ei
ddisgwyl, nid y ‘Bardd Cwsg’ mohonof.

*Gweledigaethau’r Bardd Cwsg gan Ellis Wynne

Geirfa

• hanesyddol – historical
• talaith – state
• spienddrych – spyglass
• camlas – canal
• tywys – to lead/guide
• gwrthryfel – revolt
• gwybodus – knowledgeable
• caethwasiaeth – slavery
• dryll – gun
• rhyfel cartref – civil war
• safle – site
• aerdymheru – air conditioning