BARRY-BORN weatherman Derek Brockway is forecasting an improvement in his Welsh language repertoire after signing up for a week-long crash course.

The former Holton and Romilly schools pupil and Weatherman walking will go back to class with seven other stars to learn Welsh on S4C.

His knowledge will be put to the test in the new series of hit reality show cariad@iaith:love4language.

Joining Derek are former Barry Comprehensive teacher turned comedian and radio presenter, Chris Corcoran, Jamie Baulch, Caroline Sheen, Rebecca Keatley, Nicola Reynolds, and Steve Speirs.

The Centre for Alternative Technology, near Machynlleth, will be their home for a week.

Their language learning, with presenters Wynne Evans and Nia Parry, takes place every night from Sunday, June 14 and the learners will engage in a gruelling week of lessons and outdoor activities.

Derek, who is looking forward to the challenge, said: "I was invited on the programme last year, but it was my mother's 80th birthday so my fellow Wales Today weather presenter Behnaz went instead. She said it was the best thing she's ever done and so I thought 'Why not?'

"I already have some Welsh after studying O-level in 1984 and I took part in BBC Wales' Big Welsh Challenge in 2006 and I'm lucky enough to be able to practise Welsh at the workplace.

"But this is the first time that I've ever done anything like this and it's very different from presenting the weather or my walking programme. I would never go on anything like Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity but I'm really looking forward to this challenge."

The stars will try to master as much Welsh as possible by using a unique teaching method known as 'desuggestopedia'.

They will be led by tutors Nia Parry and Ioan Talfryn.

Ioan said: "Desuggestopedia is an unusual but pioneering method of language teaching. It comes from Bulgaria originally and it completely undermines the unfortunate tendency people have to underestimate their ability to learn anything new.

"In your average language lesson, people learn around a dozen new words and repeat them like parrots. Desuggestopedia immerses the learners in about a thousand words from the first lesson and makes extensive use of stories, games and songs in every lesson. After a while, the vocabulary that has found its way into the subconscious comes out and people are able to express themselves naturally."

The Welsh Government is sponsoring this year’s series.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "As a government we are committed to giving people of all ages the opportunity to learn Welsh and are keen to encourage them to use the language in their day to day lives.

"The Welsh for Adults programme is key to ensuring that adults have opportunities to learn Welsh and I am pleased that we are working with S4C to support cariad@iaith to encourage more adults to learn Welsh or improve their skills."