Why did you decide to try SSiW?

Welsh General / Questions
#78

I always thought I was useless at languages, no doubt, thanks to the education system at the time! Though after many holidays in France in the 90’s I discovered that I picked up a lot of French in those 2 weeks. Though I promptly lost it all within days of coming back. This though shifted my view point on my uselessness at learning a language!
So when I started to learn Welsh I knew I had to immerse myself into the language as much as possible and use the language as much as possible. That is what I did without even trying on those French holidays!
SSiW was a big part of that immersion. I went to Welsh classes, had Radio Cymru in my car and discovered SSiW within a couple of weeks of starting classes back in October 2010.
SSiW gave me the confidence to use the language and not worry about mistakes. I am sure if I hadn’t used SSiW, I don’t think I would be advanced in speaking Welsh or even attempted to speak to strangers knowing full well that I would make mistakes!

A month a go I worked with someone that I haven’t seen since we were students some 14 years ago. I asked what she has been up to since then, she got a degree in Humanities. I said well I have learnt a language, Welsh. She said oh ti’n siarad Cymraeg nawr! A tithau I responded. It was her first language and we spoke Welsh thereafter.
I felt pleased with myself that I was able to say that ’ I have learnt a language’ for the first time in my life.
SSiW has been the backbone of that learning by being so accessible, motivating, encouraging and fun! Diolch yn fawr iawn!

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#79

That’s a hugely inspiring story, Tricia - diolch o galon am dy eiriau caredig iawn :star: :star2:

I know it’s a fair old while now - any chance you can remember how that happened? And what made it look like an option worth testing for you? :slight_smile:

#80

I started to learn Welsh with Owainlurch, yes I am that ‘someone’ he fell in love with!
We had website addresses from the Welsh class to aid us with our Welsh learning. Owain was checking out those websites where he found a link to SSiW. He showed it to me and I tried out the first lesson and I was most impressed!
Alas I got stuck on those lessons at lesson 6 even though it had been separated into 2 lessons. I started back on the course the following March and flew through those tough lessons and didn’t look back!
The frustrating thing was, that the Mynediad course was too slow as I had picked up so much Welsh with SSiW! Though the people on the same course were surprised that I knew so much Welsh as I was very much at their level at the start of the course.
I found SSiW suited me as I would prefer to pull my teeth out than sit down and read a grammar book! It eased me into Welsh the easy way. Don’t get me wrong, grammar is essential but I prefer to look it up when needed or to discuss it’s finer points with yours truly - Owain! I am also lucky to have a friend who is a Welsh translator to help out with grammar.
I still use the SSiW lessons as there are times that I am unable to use Welsh or go to Welsh classes namely due to work. So I use the new lessons to get me back on track.! So even after all these years, SSiW is still part of my life!

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#81

I didn’t say why I was impressed when I first tried out a lesson, way back then!
I was eager to learn anything Welsh (still am!) out of everything that was available then as it is now SSIW shone through as it taught tenses and patterns in an almost natural way. The biggest hang ups from my school Welsh were mutations and prepositions, I didn’t notice them with SSiW. They were there of course but no big deal!
Also what kind of Welsh I was learning was important to me. Again school Welsh affected me, it was a formal Welsh not the Welsh spoken by my father and people around me. SSiW South sounded right to me, I sounded like a Welsh speaker not someone learning Welsh.
I think I said at the time to Owain ’ I think with this SSiW I’m going to learn real welsh’.
All I have ever wanted to do was to learn Welsh as people on the street speak and SSiW ticks the box there!
I haven’t tried Rosetta Stone as I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and find it was not the right kind of Welsh ( for me) I don’t know if it is. I hope that answers your question.:nerd_face:

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#82

I’ve attempted to learn five different languages on and off over the last 20 odd years or so. I think of myself as a language dabbler, as I’ve never reached a level that even comes close to fluency…German was perhaps the only language I came nearly close with, only because I studied it over four years at University, but like all my dabblings, it is long lost and forgotten.

So I have tried nearly every possible way of learning a language. Now how I came to SSiWelsh…
well I have some Welsh ancestry, so there has always been something of an interest in Wales, but aside from that, I was in Cardiff last August and for the first time I heard Welsh spoken and thought wow, there are more people speaking Welsh than I thought, and wow I really like the sound of it. So it had been in my mind since then that I’d really fancy a go at learning Welsh.

Finally a couple months ago I decided now was the time to attempt my next language dabble (Welsh). I started with duolingo and dug through some other online stuff. I subscribed to all the Radio Cymru programmes (just to get the sound of Welsh in my ear and listen for words I knew), and about a month ago I heard SSiWelsh mentioned on Bore Cothi, so I decided to check it out.

It was pretty apparent that this was a completely different approach to learning than I had ever encountered before. I’m only on lesson 12 of the first course…but putting aside my perfectionist critical self…I can say I have never felt this confident in learning a language as I have with this course and I’m actually pretty amazed with how much I’ve progressed in such a short amount of time.

Several things drew me in, the fact that the first course is free, that there is an online community, which I see as being incredibly helpful (especially for those of us living far far away like myself down here in Perth, Australia), the way the site is laid out - very clear and well organised, the fact I can download the lessons on my ipod, the way the lessons are presented - this is number one really, I have a tendency to jump into the grammar first ( I can blame that on my University German) so approaching a language emphasised on listening and speaking is brilliant (it keeps my grammar Nazi at bay) and the friendly manner in which each lesson is presented makes me want to learn…oh and the helpful lighthearted emails sent in the beginning really helped keep my enthusiasm up…especially through the first 6 lessons (felt a bit like my brain was going to explode, but in a good way ha ha ha)

I think besides what I’ve mentioned, what sticks out most for me is a feeling that you, and everyone involved in SSiW, really care and have put your heart into making a programme that creates an opportunity for us learners to really succeed…it’s genuine and that makes me feel excited about continuing with you guys to learn Welsh!

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#83

I knew that before you said it … oh, yes, I had that privedge to wave you hello when I spoke with @owainlurch back at the time. :slight_smile: [quote=“triciaroberts, post:81, topic:5145”]
Also what kind of Welsh I was learning was important to me.
[/quote]

This reminded me on this post … i read it with heart and rememberred it probably forever … [quote=“Emilie, post:82, topic:5145”]
my perfectionist critical self
[/quote]

from the first hand … get rid of it (a bit). :slight_smile: and the life will be easier (at least it is for me now (and for all around me probably)) :smile:

This makes me wonder: is on here still someone (apart from “big 4” who has learnt when there was only one Lesson 6? And for the more curiousity, was Bonus Lesson 6 already in place at the time. (hope I’m not too nosy. :slight_smile: )

Were they really so horrible? Then not seing well is my advantage here. :smile:

#84

No. I know it was early 2013 because it says so in my Profile, but all I know is that, having moved up to Yr Alban for good reasons, both convenience and finance, all went not too badly. I could still watch all the rugby I wanted via Sky and I could watch BBC Wales for news, politics etc… But, as my health got worse, I realised I’d burnt my boats and couldn’t up sticks and go back home if I wanted to. Hiraeth attack!!
I already watched the Eisteddfod and Sioe Frenhinol on S4C, but started to look for other programs. Alys, I recall. I soon realised that, without subtitles, I was lost!! I’d forgotten all my Welsh!! So I Googled, got you and never looked back!! I loved your method at first earful!! I love the chat on the Forum. Like certain others, I spend so much time here, I don’t learn/re-learn much!! But who cares!! You answered my need! Diolch yn fawr iawn!! Not that mine was a need you were aiming to fill!!!
p.s. I remember, I found Hwb and Cariad@Iaith on S4C and both, I think, mentioned SSiW. There was also a program on BBC Wales challenging Celebs (horrible word) to learn. That may have mentioned you too!!

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#85

Yes, @aran, this made me to remember … What was with that offer to CCG to teach 2 non Welsh speakers the language? Was it accepted or not? Nothing was heard afterwards about this (or I’ve missed it). (Oh, and, just curiousity. If you don’t want to answer you don’t need to.)

For all who don’t know what I’m talking about the article from Daily Post is here.

#86

Hello all, I’m Jeff and this is my first post.

One of the talks at the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin (in May this year) inspired me to have a look at the language (Again! Last time was around -94/-95…). Among the resources mentioned was SsiW so I decided to give it a go and registered on the 14th of May - and did lesson 26 from Course 1 just half an hour ago. I like the length of the lessons and the approach (similar to the Michel Thomas method which I’ve used to refresh my Spanish). I have not taken any notes, nor used the pause button. I have indeed found some lessons more difficult than others, and as a result, I haven’t been able to produce.those sentence (patterns) as quickly (or at all!). But this is my first round with Course 26. My immediate plan is to do the Vocabulary lessons (10 of them), and maybe to go through (some of) Course 1 again. Then I have Course 2 and 3 and all the levels if I want. I won’t drop Welsh this time - dwi’n licio siarad Cymraeg. :slight_smile:

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#87

Helo.

Croeso yma @plumflower ac llongyfarchiadau i ti! :slight_smile: Ti wedi gwneud yn da iawn!

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#88

Ffab - diolch o galon - it certainly does! :star: :star2:

I’ll have to tweet my thanks to Shân…:wink: What a fantastic piece of feedback, Emilie - thank you so much! Delighted to hear you’re doing so well, and looking forward to seeing how far you get… :star: :star2:

Gwych! :slight_smile:

Nope, afraid not - we offered in partnership with Bangor University in the end, but we were both turned down flat…

A very warm welcome to the forum, Jeff! And thank you so much for taking the time to answer this question, which is so helpful for us… :slight_smile: It’s always particularly interesting to hear what polyglotters think of the approach, so great to hear that you’re doing so well! :slight_smile:

#89

Oh, it’s a shame … :frowning: I have to say I’m a bit sad. … and … they don’t know what they’re missing in deed.

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#90

Someone on another forum recommended SSiW. I had a look. In big letters it said ‘the lazy way to learn welsh’. I liked that idea. It was free so I gave it a try and I really enjoyed it. It really did seem easy.

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#91

I was here when there was only one lesson 6. I think bonus lesson 6 came later, but I can’t really remember. Was bonus lesson 6 the one with ‘Sut mae’r gwaith?’ and that long rant about speaking Welsh, but ending with ‘Dw i angen siarad Saesneg rwan’ in it?

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#92

You’re absolutely right… :slight_smile:

And thank you very much for your feedback! :thumbsup:

#93

Diolch @emmamartindale.

This means I’ve just had a priviledge to meet one of the oldest members here (apart from 4 brilliant persons who made it possible SSi to come into light). I’m honoured. :slight_smile:

#94

There must still be others here who survived original lesson 6. Or maybe they’re all fluent speakers now and don’t visit the forum any more. Actually lesson 6 wasn’t really that bad after the third or fourth time. For me, it was hearing the difference between bydd and fydd that made it difficult. The sense of achievement when it all began to fall into place was pretty awesome though. :sunny:

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#95

Dim problem! Go for it if you want.

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#96

Fantastic to hear about your degree - what’s the story there?! :sunny:

Well, I’ve been very passionate about language my entire life. I’ve a laundry list of ones I’d like to learn, but the Celtic languages are easily my favorite - Welsh being at the very top of the list. I feel confident in saying that I’m really good at it, and it’s had a huge impact on my life in several ways. I feel that I could be very useful if I dedicated my life to its preservation and passing it along to others, however that might be (not horribly keen on being a teacher, but you never know! I love helping other people improve their Welsh, so maybe I should be). I’ve been emailing someone from the University of Bangor about admissions for a little while now. Hoping to visit next year and be in school the year after that!

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#97

I had over time tinkered with a bunch that were not all too good - usually cheap, basic and shallow apps. Can’t remember exact thoughts when I came across ssiw app but gave it a go, and the rest I guess, is history.

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