www.youtube.com/learnwelshwithnicky *
*which ironically is really a second hand SSIW thing since I learned the vast majority of my Welsh here.
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You think English speakers do this? I have told elsewhere of the Israeli delegate at a scientific Symposium of which I was one of the organisers. He complimented my English! Confused, I said, âIt is my first language.â He explained that most first language people spoke too quickly and contracted things! I was used to folk who came to do research from everywhere from Mexico City to Beijing, so I automatically said things like, âI will giveâŚârather than âIâll giveâ but most did not!
But I thought the cliche of the English monoglot was that as long as they spoke slowly and loudly enough, everyone understood English? 
But yes, that was the point I was making. Itâs not that people speak particularly fast itâs because for example (in my native Manchester accent) Iâll say things like âshuntahâ instead of âshouldnât Iâ. Or âwiv already bin thereâ instead of âwe have already been thereâ.
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This all sounds very exciting to me and I love some of the suggestions.
I found a website when I was first learning Welsh that gave news in Welsh that wasnât slowed down, but was clearly enunciated and came with a transcript. It was useful for learning the kinds of words used in news bulletins, but wasnât actually accurate news. It would be great to have something like a weekly news summary available to listen to and read.
I think about this a lot and Iâve started talking about âsiaradwyr newyddâ most of the time. Anything can still be linked back to âlearnerâ in the mind of the listener if thatâs what they want, but if we can convey that they are âsiaradwyrâ first and foremost and only ânewyddâ as they didnât learn from birth, then maybe that would help.
How do we stand on copyright for things like radio programmes and S4C excerpts? What about snippets of TV programmes available on YouTube? Could we utilise anything like that and make transcripts for them? Would any of the media companies that make material for S4C be interested in some kind of partnership, e.g. provide a few different trailers for upcoming TV programmes that we could transcribe and make available?
I have some misgivings about the idea of prizes as well. Itâs more work to coordinate and organize and I wonder if enthusiasm would drop away after an initial burst. How about offering the production of this additional media as a project to media students in schools and colleges? Instead of a prize they would get something to add to their personal portfolio which could be useful for their future.
I would like to see more of a cooperative venture between SSi and Cymry Cymraeg as well. To me this is a way they can help support the idea of building a Welsh-speaking community and attaining the 1 million speakers goal. There are probably people in organisations such as Merched y Wawr and Ffermwyr Ifainc that would be happy to contribute. Maybe we could come up with a basic question script that SSiWers could use to interview people in different areas, and then it could be a practical exercise for anyone who wants to listen to the recording and make the transcript with several people cooperating to create the final version.
Iâve thought about this from time to time as well, and wondered how it could work. Would it be possible to just make something simple, e.g. a video of someone explaining they are learning Welsh, starting up the lesson, seeing them practising the first few phrases, then just go to the lesson itself with some kind of generic background, and returning to the person at the end, with them happily repeating some of the phrases theyâve learnt?
And I know I had another thought in the middle of the night, but I didnât write it down. Tonight I make sure I have pen and paper by the side of the bed!
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I have not posted or used the forum in a while, but after seeing this post in the weekly email I really wanted to post.
I think that audio with text to to compliment it is exactly what is missing for early and intermediate level Welsh learning. That is exactly how I have learnt large amounts of Spanish and have started learning French, especially to improve understanding and expand vocabulary.
However, when learning Welsh, and after finishing level 3 (the old course), I could not find material that was suitable. Graded welsh reading material with audio is hard to come by, but exactly what I wanted to find. In the end I settled for listening to Beti aâi phobl as much as I could, and reading as much as possible. Not understanding the majority of what I listened to, or being able to pronounce very well most of what I read, until eventually I was able to understand and pronounce the new words.
It worked in the end, but it was a hard slog at times, and would have been much more effective if I could have found comprehensible audio material with transcripts to check words etc.
In conclusion, this sounds like an absolutely fantastic idea, something I would wholeheartedly support, and would love to see more of for current learners, and learners of the future
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Because resources are difficult to find, have you or any other users considered using text-to-speech programs to create audio from written text. I have tried one such programâs free trial with spanish voices, TextAloud3 by NextUp.com. This program allows one to buy voices from Ivona, which has two Welsh voices available. There are samples of the Welsh voices on the Website. Unfortunately one canât try the program free trial with the Welsh voices, the program would have to be purchased with one or two Welsh voices.
I am learning Spanish, but I always read the Welsh Forum as the forum users are great at sharing their language learning experiences, tips, and resources.
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Hi Mike
I have used the Gweiadur online dictionary (in Beta, very good, but only occasionally allow new people to sign up while it is in beta), that has an audio file for most words, and I used to use the Ivona Welsh text to voice program. The problem with them in my opinion though, is they take away from the natural learning environment that is reading and listening to the language (natural in as far is how native speakers learn the language - one could argue reading is not a natural language skill).
Instead time is wasted looking for meaning and pronunciation of words, taking away from time immersed in the language. With my learning style, I try to spend as much time with the language as possible, and minimum time on explanations etc as is possible. Unfortunately lack of resources with Welsh has meant more time with such activities.
As an example, I use Lingq for Spanish and French, which has text and audio with quick translations available. I wish something was available like it for Welsh, as its ability to save phrases, which consequently appear highlighted in any consequent text has really helped me to notice patterns in Spanish, i.e. when âaâ follows a verb, or certain idiomatic expressions.
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This is a really interesting discussion.
Nicky and Dee mention learning/consolidating Welsh through news items. I like the BBC LearningEnglish approach to teaching through current affairs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/. (See Lingo Hack, News Review and archived News Reports.) Transcripts are available, as well as glossaries, language quizes for self-assessment and podcasts. My students find these lessons based on authentic material engaging, motivating and very useful in building up a stock of vocab items and expressions that are current and relevant. Possibly, for the future, a further dimension to SSIW courses?
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Diolch, Rhiannon! That looks very interesting, and itâs great to hear that people find it valuable.
There is Newyddion on S4C with subtitles in Welsh (or Engish). They do speak pretty clearly. Wouldnât stories or personal memories/experiences be better?
I think news items will cover more subjects that are relevant to all than personal anecdotes. Plus they will have more tenses than personal anecdotes set on the past.
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did you see the report of the award ceremony for ideas for promoting use of Welsh in NHS, or maybe you were there? Great to know that a lot of thought is going into the right envirnment for dementia patients who are forgetting their learned English, I presume also for small children who havenât learned it yet!
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Sorry for coming late to the party. I havenât been on the forums for a while. I just wanted to add my thoughts.
I fod yn onest (to be honest), Iâm not sure about changing the mandate of the company after building such a stellar reputation as arguably the best online language learning site out there. As a business owner myself, I worry about âdilution of brand.â However, I could be wrong - I certainly am several times a day. 
I am VERY interested, however, in your ideas for more content for those who have finished the courses. Iâve finished the second course up to lesson 6 of level 3, done the entire three levels of the first course, and am now working my way back through the second course again (in the middle of level 2 and delighted to see there are more lessons in level 3 now). The fact is that I intend to keep my subscription going after I finish again, if only just to support SSiW; but I would be thrilled if there was new, more advanced material for âgraduates.â The old adage stays true about it being easier to keep an existing customer than to try to get new ones, and this could be a good way to keep people subscribing after they have finished the courses.
Just my thoughts. I certainly donât mean to rain on your parade about the new direction. I hope this is helpful.
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Thatâs really helpful, Margaret - thank you both for your kind words and your input as a business owner - always particularly helpful, and I certainly hear you about dilution of brandâŚ
I think the unpleasant truth, though, is that we havenât built a stellar reputation as arguably the best online language learning site out there - that is a very, very niche opinion held by a certain number of utterly lovely Welsh learners, but not otherwise in general. If we had managed to do that, and had an income stream from our Spanish, it might have made more sense to carry on as wasâŚ
Having said that, apart from how we think of ourselves (or how we see our remit) I hope we wonât stop looking like a language training company - just that weâll be one that increasingly gives away material for free in order to reach more learners, and then focuses more and more on helping intermediate and advanced learners.
It feels a lot like doing something weâve wanted to do for a long time - focus more on more advanced learners - which I think is generally a bit of a gap in the market - there arenât many courses that genuinely go the whole way through to really strong advanced usageâŚ
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I certainly agree with you there, Aran! Thereâs a HUGE gap in advanced level learning, particularly for those of us who donât live in Wales, so canât attend Uwch lessons in person. As I understand it, there isnât even a textbook for the Uwch level; so, we canât even try to teach ourselves from that.
Iâd be thrilled with as much advanced stuff as you can provide.
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Terrific - thatâs exactly what Iâm hoping our advanced learners will feelâŚ
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Iâll definitely sign up for that! More, more, more, more âŚ!
What am I letting myself in for?
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Câest excellente - for my Welsh!
Not so good news for my French, or Italian, or German, or all those other languages Iâd like some basic proficiency with before a holidayâŚ
What are your plans for offering beginner courses in other languages in light of the news that Spanish hasnât generated an income stream?
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That weâll be pressing on with them as soon as the SSiBorg is ready - we hoping to be doing a new round of beta testing very early next year - which Iâm hoping will be maybe 6 or 7 new languages - and then if that works well (and/or once weâve solved the hiccups it finds, probably mostly surrounding automation) weâll hope to move on to the next 20 or 30. I would imagine that the beta round will probably take a year or soâŚ
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Weirdly I am now starting to get words and phrases pop into my head while I am going to sleep!