Gareth King

Typically I do not bother with pocket dictionaries, much less a bilingual one, preferring to scribble stuff down until I can check something more authoritative. But this dictionary - while not perfect by any means - is pretty damn handy, as the example sentences trend colloquial and the vocabulary is typically high frequency. For what it is, very good, especially if you have a digital OCR version so you can CTRL + F.

Of all the Welsh grammar books I've used, this is my firm favourite. Most either concentrate on the formal written language of literature or an artificial "standard" version that nobody actually speaks. This book is a descriptive grammar of modern spoken Welsh, which embraces dialect variations rather than trying to impose a standard. It is clearly laid out and provides many examples of usage from North and South Wales.

I have mixed feelings about this dictionary. It is edited by Gareth King, the author of my favourite Welsh grammar book. On the positive side, the layout is extremely clear, the translations seem to be accurate and there are plenty of examples given to help choose the right word and apply it correctly, including good coverage of idioms. However, it seems to have a fairly limited range of vocabulary and is missing even some fairly common words. I find my Welsh children's dictionary (Geiriadur show more Gomer i'r Ifanc) to be much more comprehensive. This book is, however, great for the words that it covers and would make an excellent choice as a learner's dictionary. It is still my main two-way bilingual Welsh-English dictionary. show less

Language & Literature