Cornish/Getting started

People are now learning Cornish all over the world, and more and more opportunities for learning are presenting themselves every year. There are two main problems for any learner, deciding which orthography to use, and where to find resources. In the past, the first decision limited your choice in the second, basically because it was very difficult to find out what anyone else was doing outside of the spelling system chosen by you. Now, the long list of resources presented by this website allows everyone access to everyone else's resources, a big step forward.

Choosing a starting point

The Treyarnon Agreement was meant to bring all variants of the language together in a Single Written Form. However a lack of compromise meant that SWF (now called Standard Written Form) had four variants, of which three are used to a greater or lesser degree. People continued to use previous spelling systems as well, and the lack of agreement meant that Nicholas Williams further developed his proposal into the confusingly named Kernowek Standard. The period 2009 - now has seen 5 main variants of the language being used:

• Standard Written Form (Middle) - Main graphs, used by Cornwall Council, Akademi Kernewek, Kowethas an Yeth and Kesva an Taves (the examination board) (25% of published Cornish)
• Kernewek Kemmyn - the previous system used by Kowethas and Kesva, (15% of published Cornish)
• Kernowek Standard - Nicholas Williams' variant, now also used for examinations by Skeulantavas (35% of published Cornish)
• Kernewek Unys - Unified Cornish, the original version used by Kesva, (10% of published Cornish)
• Modern (or Late) Cornish, which includes SWF (L), both Main and Traditional Graphs, (15% of published Cornish).

For all variants, contacting Rosweyth will enable anyone to find a face-to-face or online class.

Many people start with SWF (M)'s SaySomethingInCornish, published by a Welsh company with a proven track record in producing quality ways for learning a language. Audio courses are also available for Modern Cornish.

Correspondence courses are available with Kernewek Dre Lyther in Kernewek Kemmyn and SWF (M) Mg.

The Resources section lists many other more ways of learning the language. Every book and magazine published in every spelling system is listed here.

Using the language

Online dictionaries are available for SWF (M) and (L) here, and in Kernowek Standard here. There are a number of online conjugation and mutation aids available through the Resources section.

Dialects and Using the Language

The best way of using the language is through practice, and in person and online conversation groups can be found via Rosweyth. Speakers' accents and language use depend in a large way on who taught them, and the spelling system (Modern Cornish makes more use of pre-occlusion and has slightly different vowel sounds).