Why did you decide to try SSiW?

@Aran - I’d say that it was useful! :slight_smile: Also, I would love to know if you still conduct Google Hangouts or if you know of any Cymraeg learning hangouts I could join?

Thanks for leading this community.

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The English speaking side of Gower!

Yes - although there were a few places down in Oystermouth I recall hearing Cymraeg spoken.

Oh, I am sure more and more, people move, children move, time passes and I hope more Cymraeg will spread where for so long it was not!!! :sunny:

Haven’t done any Hangouts for a while, and the ‘to do’ list looks pretty busy for the start of 2017 - although it’s something I think it would be good if we could manage to get up and running again at some point… I’m afraid I don’t know of any other regular ones - apart from some of the meetups that people in the community do online - have a look in the weekly email for those :slight_smile:

Put your name down for this, it looks promising.

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I live very far away (in Belarus) so when I started learning I had no one who could tell me which Welsh is really spoken nowadays. I wanted to do a course in Modern Welsh and later turn to the Middle Welsh, which I need to study some historical and literary documents. I found a book and learned the “bod” forms by heart and was feeling very proud of myself, and was already forming my first sentences, when I found another book and all the “bod” forms were looking different (shortened). I was feeling a bit lost so I decided to go check in a third book. And they looked different again, so I sat down and cried:) Then, after I calmed down a bit, I understood that what I need is a good very recent colloquial course, with lots of audio and possibly a community that would help me clarify the doubts that would certainly arise along the way. So, I found SSIW and it gave me all I wanted and more because even after half a year of not speaking it at all (because of some personal difficulties, not because of a lack of desire - I’m still very much in love with the language), I still can understand the articles on BBC Cymru Fyw and I still can speak a bit, and the only skill that has suffered in these months is my listening skill, which is generally my weakest point in all the languages I speak.

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Thank you very much for that, Stella, it’s really helpful… :star2:

I think it’s inevitably the toughest piece of the jigsaw, because you just can’t crack it without the right levels of exposure, and getting that exposure is really difficult - it takes a LOT of time, and you have to be happy with a LOT of not understanding. I hope our next big project after Level 3 will help make a difference… :slight_smile:

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Totally agree. I can think of lots to say (mostly ysbwriel) but conversations are hard when words and phrases are lost.

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I’m looking forward to it very much. It’s very hard to find some comprehensive input for A2-B1 levels (possibly with scripts). And working on listening is even harder if you are “emosiynol iawn”, and get upset with yourself for not understanding things.

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Yes, it’s so important to be able to go through the ‘what the hell?!’ stage without beating yourself up too badly. [I’d be very surprised if anyone described your Welsh as A2, by the way!].

I think you’ll find Level 3 (and the listening exercises for Level 2, coming very soon) useful - but then we’re going to be working on a vocab-building approach which I’m hoping is going to be a real help. :slight_smile:

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Diolch:) But I haven’t been speaking much since summer, I’m afraid, so it’s really about A2 now, in the best of cases. Will be looking forward to the new level:)

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I’m sure you’ll shake off the rust fairly quickly when you get the chance… :slight_smile:

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Thank you:) Getting there, with the help of all the wonderful people here who are willing to skype:)

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Saw your post pop up! Shmae! I’m refreshing my aged memory. When I can hold a reasonable conversation, I’ll try to set up Skyping!

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I’ll be looking forward to an opportunity to talk to you:) Talking about Star Trek in Welsh would be thrilling.:slight_smile:

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Yn wir!! :smile:
Original? Next Generation? Later versions? I am very rooted in the Original series, but am OK with their movies. Janet hates the movies, except the first (which I do not like). and likes Next Gen, but she is very loyal to Gene, whom she got to know pretty well, I liked some later stuff as SF, but not as Trek! Could I discuss any of it in Welsh? I doubt it very much. Would Vulcan still be Vulcan or Fylcan?

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Original, Next Generation, Voyageur and the movies are all equally good topics for me, but I have a soft spot for Captain Janeway:) I’m sure that we could discuss our favourite characters and favourite moments a bit, unless we get very technical, and if we get very technical I won’t be able to say anything in English or even in Russian!

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I will try very hard to keep off my soapbox on the subject of so-called Scientific advisers! I became convinced they asked physicists about biology and, probably, botanists about physics! grrrr! (I had to go into work next day and be asked, “How can you watch that rubbish? UV light safer than visible?” etc.etc.!!) :wink:

You’re making me think there was an episode filmed entirely through hidden cameras in Janeway’s quarters.

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