And THAT’S the really important bit 
Well DONE!
Proud that I have stuck with completing the challenges but still need more practice so I sound a bit more fluent
2 Likes
I am very slow thinking of what to say and how to say it
1 Like
I was putting off recording my 3 stories and then the challenge came up to listen to them so I was shamed into recording them very quickly and pretending that I had done it earlier. Listening back to them wasn’t as horrendous as I thought it was going to be. I got into a terrible pickle on the very last word but no way was I going to re record the whole lot. Cut a long story short, my feeling on listening was “Phew, I made it!” and quietly pleased with myself.
4 Likes
I didn’t cringe as much because it flowed a little better than before. I did pick up my English word slipped in by mistake though!!
3 Likes
I have to admit that I haven’t kept up very well with saying my sentences to myself every day, which probably has something to do with how hesitant they sound on my recording. Even so, it feels quite exciting to compare the one sentence yn Gymraeg I learned at the beginning with being able to say 15 sentences that I pieced together myself. It’s a good feeling and a great reminder of how far I’ve come.
2 Likes
My tongue needs practice. My word choices and grammar are fine for what I’ve learned so far, but I’m stumbling over consonants.
I hate the sound of my voice, and I had trouble with recording it, it sounds like interference! I noticed a few mistakes, and I hesitated once or twice. I didn’t realise I was supposed to carry on practicing them after recording, so I’ve just started again doing them twice a day. The fact I noticed mistakes and hesitating makes me feel better, as I know I’m improving, even though it’s very slight improvement.
1 Like
Although I said 3 lots of 5 sentences I only managed to record one lot.
I am starting to speed up but my accent is still poor.
I sound so anxious and, stilted, worse still so English! The accent is terrible and I have lived in Wales for thirty years! Not sure how I get the flow! I love Wales and the beautiful language, I don’t want to wreck it! Jacqui
Dwi’n swnio’n ofnadwy , ond clywais I ble’ro’n i’n gwneud mistakes .
The thing with these recordings is that you can use them as a baseline - “this is how I sound now, but I’m working on it” - and you will improve. They help to give you awareness of where you can improve your pronunciation, but don’t worry about speaking Welsh with an accent.
Think about the people you’ve met speaking English with an accent - someone can come from overseas, study English, and speak grammatically perfectly, but still with an accent. The vast majority of people will never totally eliminate their accent from their mother tongue, but it doesn’t stop communication, and it’s part of who you are, so it’s not “terrible”, just different 
1 Like
Hi Deborah, thank you, that is reassuring! Please can I ask you what seems like a silly question…in Level 2 listening practice one, Aran says something quite often that phonetically sounds like “Andi Maroo”.
Obviously it isn’t that! I have read the script a few times but can’t see anything that fits the sound? It’s just ‘niggling’ at me, or my hearing!
Thanks
Jacqui
It’s probably “Yndyn, maen nhw” I would say.
1 Like
Brilliant! Thank you…
I sound really confident and am putting the emphasis in the right places. Noticed the mistake of hir instead of hen, so that’s good too. I am very happy with how much my speaking has improved since starting SSIW, thank you 
4 Likes
I sometimes try to say random sentences that I’ve just said in English in Welsh and nearly always find gaps in my knowledge which makes me think how little I know. However, having put 3 stories together and after only a week or so noticing mistakes in my recording I can appreciate that I have learned an awful lot already. This spurs me on to learn more and more to plug the gaps. Need to practice pronunciation though!
2 Likes
I sounded more confident than the last time I had to record myself. I found it difficult to follow what I was saying sometimes, even though it was only recorded last week and the pronunciation was not too bad (I thought…). It also felt more comfortable speaking this time. I try thinking in Welsh when out walking - describing the day, imagining a conversation etc. - but don’t generally speak aloud even when only the birds would hear!
1 Like
This is actually a good way to start building your own personal vocabulary. You can identify words that you would often use in English - topics that you like to talk about - then look up individual words in an online dictionary, or another source. This website, for example, has vocabulary grouped into topics and has pronunciation as well: https://www.learn-welsh.net/welshvocabulary
By building your own vocabulary in this way and adding it into the structures and patterns that you learn with us, you can truly make Welsh your own language.
3 Likes
That’s an important next step - you do need to speak aloud. Every language uses the muscles of your mouth and speech production in a subtly different way, and you need to physically get used to pronouncing different sounds. That’s something that will help you to sound more natural in the long run.
1 Like