What a fantastic set up you have here, so pleased to have found this site…
A little about me, I live in rural mid Wales, have been for just over 6 years, obviously love this beautiful country, always had an interest in languages, have been looking at learning Cymraeg for a while, have books, don’t feel I would have gotten much benefit from really though, also considered doing a ‘learn welsh’ government course until I came across SSIW a few days ago…
I have completed the ‘5 sentences’, what a mind blowing method, unbelievable! I have an app on the phone for Level 1, the question I have is, is this the place to start? I have completed challenge 1 and 2, when I have completed level 1, what is the procedure please, is it the level 2 in 6 months?
Just trying to understand the structure and format if this is clear, hope it is?
Anyway, many thanks, look forward to getting involved, haven’t been so excited for a long long time.
Hi Shane, and Welcome. Sounds like you are doing really well. I’m not totally sure how the latest learning programmes are set up, as I followrd a slightly older plan. So someone should be in touch later to update you.
Cheers
John.
Hi Shane. I’m from rural Mid Wales! Welcome to learning Cymraeg.
While SSiW is amazing and taught me Welsh it does keep changing as exciting new techniques are developed.
The idea is simply to go from Challenge 1, then 2, then 3 and so on up to 25, ideally without repeating and as quickly as possible. It is possible to do the whole course in less than 6 months and be a Welsh speaker, there are an increasing number of people who have done this, there is even a special way of doing this with additional support. by signing up to the new 6-months course .
You can of course simply choose to go at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.
So, after Level 1, there is Level 2 and another 25 challenges, then Level 3. (You will be asked to pay for Level 2 and 3, but if you make it to the end of level 1 you will really want Level 2 and 3, trust me)
You can mix it up by switching dialect (North <> South), the listening exercises or even unearthing the original Courses (essentially mk 1 of the Levels).
Does this answer your question?
Hi, many thanks for your reply! Yes I think that answers my question, from what I can gather there does appear to be updated courses…? I did see somewhere an app mentioned so I downloaded that at level one, trust this will be fine for now and will continue to work through this until ready for level 2 and then enrol? Great to hear from you, best wishes, Shane
I used the ap, and you’ll do just fine that way. If you need encouragement to keep going this community is fantastic. You can enrol now in a more formal way if you would benefit from it to get closer and more regular opportunities to speak the Welsh you know; you can start that now, there is no need to complete level one before starting that or other things :O)
I would strongly suggest doing something else to supplement the recordings. I don’t know where you are exactly, but there is a very friendly group that meets weekly in Arvon Ales in Llandrindod and there was a monthly meet-up in places like Penybont or Rhaeadr . I think if you sign up to the monthly e-mail you will get notifications about events across Wales and any local meetups. If your more Northern and Wrexham isn’t too far away for our, Saith Seren is I hear the place to go. there is also the online Slack group, for you to dive in and start making those crucial mistakes. The most important thing I found was to make time for Welsh every day. If you are not doing a challenge or talking to people, there is always S4C and Radio Cymru. Hopefully you will find too that learning Welsh in Wales is a lot easier than anywhere else!
Some great advice thank you, I think I have signed up to the monthly email, struggling to navigate the website a little bit, alot of information which is all good though! I am actually based in Trefeglwys, between Caersws and Llanidloes, if I understand correctly, there are localish meet ups to me? Agree it probably more beneficial to enrol for more structure, I have been listening to BBC Cymru on advice, any thoughts on North / South decision, I have been following the North. Thanks for your help though, much appreciated…
The website had a revamp recently. The main thing is, you have Level 1 challenges available and can access the forum, which is all you need to start. You don’t need to know where everything is, just knowing that there is a map that someone has access to. I would have thought there would be something in Llanidloes. But as you live in Mid Wales you should be used to having to travel distances for so many things!
In the very distant past there was a whole Mid Wales dialect, which is sadly no more. Mid Wales is still a kind of Cymraeg wilderness, but we are the only people who know where North Wales and where South Wales start and that we are the ‘bit in the middle’. I did the Northern dialect to start with, but technically Mid Wales is south of the non-existant line! It’s your choice, but don’t spend too long thinking about it. If you search there are endless threads about which version to choose to start with.
Hi Shane, and a very warm welcome to the forum - it’s always great to see new learners with such enthusiasm!..
The main decision is how much framework/support you want. As things stand, you can access Level 1 for free (we’re going to be replacing this with scholarship access to the ‘6 minute a day’ framework in the not-too-distant future) and then pay £10 a month for access to Level 2 and 3 and then the advanced content…
Alternatively, you can sign up now for either the 6 month framework (which is £40 a month for the 6 months) or the ‘6 minutes a day’ framework (which is £10 a month) - both of those take you through Level 1 and 2 plus a range of additional tasks based on our intensive residentials, which we’ve found to be invaluable for learners who aren’t experienced or confident enough to jump straight in with only the lessons.
So, horses for courses, really - if you’re happy doing the challenges on your own, and then seeking out opportunities to use your Welsh in one-on-one conversations as much as possible, you’ll be fine without the frameworks - if you know that you could do with the extra accountability, and being kicked into building the habits/patterns that will make regular usage more automatic for you, then you might find them helpful…
The key thing, though, is that you’ve already found out how very supportive the forum is - ask on here any time you get stuck, and this unusually friendly community will get you through…
Actually, there’s a reasonable amount of Welsh in Trefeg/Caersws/Carno bit of Maldwyn, and it has its own recognisable slant on the language where the a vowel sound goes a bit weird and turns into an ê - so mam becomes mêm, glas becomes glês and so on. There are a few dialect-specific words, too, such as lodes for girl/lass. You’d be surprised how things change once you get up to Llangurig.
I met a Welsh speaker at a recent football between Llanidloes Town and Pontypridd Town. He had just recently moved into the Llanidloes area from Carmarthen.
Also, on a more dour note, when one of our guinea pigs recently passed away, the pet crematorium we used in Llanidloes was also run by a Welsh speaker…
We needed diesel for the journey back, so stopped by the petrol station across from the football ground and was served by another person who could speak Welsh!
…so despite these three people probably not being linked to each other, there are definitely Welsh speakers in and around Llanidloes… you just need to start hunting them out
Hi Aran, many thanks for your warm welcome and detailed reply, have followed your story, what an awesome ‘project’ you have created here…I am nicely working my way through this level one for now and will need to make a decision as to which is the best study plan, including which most appropriate, North or South? Whilst out in the car BBC Cymru is on…what exiting times, be in touch again real soon, best wishes, diolch yn fawr, Shane
Hi Nicky, thank you for your reply, interesting stuff, have been to the doctor’s surgery this morning in Llanidloes, an elderly couple speaking Welsh, delighted I was, I’m coming for them I hope in the very near future!
