So, for now I feel relaxed enough to ditch the grammar problem, just really needed a reminder that I’m capable of recognizing structures 
But I’d really like to hear some more thoughts about vocab (until I’m brave enough to join WSP activities).
Thank you all for your advice <3 I hope that in a while I will be able to give back and also offer support
Please, please, don’t put off trying WSP because you think you don’t have enough vocab because it can become an excuse that never ends! and one of the best ways to pick up extra words is to hear people using them!
WSP is very informal - everyone would be happy to explain/translate new words that stump you, you only have to ask, and don’t be embarrassed about asking because we all have to ask sometimes!
Rather than jump in on a group chat (although you’d be more than welcome to sit in and just listen if you prefer), maybe try a few one-to-one chats first. That way the pace is more controlled. And if you need a word you don’t know in the middle of a sentence, it’s fine to use the English one or ask what word you need - sometimes it helps the word stick when you’ve learnt it in a conversation rather than from a written source.
One of the great things about practical Welsh in the wild, at least where I am (Gwynedd), is that even first-language Welsh speakers frequently drop in English words, so people don’t think anything of it if you have to do that. I think that does make it less scary for a learner.
That is exactly what you should be doing, and what will ultimately turn you into a Welsh speaker. That, and trying WSP as @siaronjames has said (have I seen you there already?), where several of us will be happy to have an introductory chat with you and help you take your first steps.
Thank you @siaronjames @AlanP @alan-charlesworth for the encouragement!
Set goal is to join my first chat when I have finished challenge 10, for the latest! I have already joined the slack and sort of figured out how it works.
I think I will just look up some words every now and then when I feel I can’t find a way to express something with the words I already know.
Have a good day you all!
Hello! I will share my experience but it doesn’t necessarily make it right or wrong, it’s just what works for me 
I tend to play each challenge 3 times. First time, I haven’t a clue, 2nd makes more sense and 3rd I’m pretty much there. I do look at the vocab for that challenge but only really to check I’ve heard the sounds correctly and so I know what the word looks like (I learn visually also.) I am finding that my brain is now more prepared and understands the new way of learning and it feels a little easier (I’m up to challenge 9)
I too need a bit of theory in everything I do to understand what I’m doing. However! I have just started an online ‘traditional’ course, mainly because it is free but also to increase my exposure to the language. This is much more focused on rules and vocab lists. I am finding it much harder to remember this and knowing a little (but not enough) about the grammar has actually been detrimental which surprised me! I’m too busy thinking about the tense/mutation etc.rather than the conversation.
I’m still doing and enjoying both but for me at least, the SSI method definitely works better
Do what works for you though but most of all enjoy it! Best of luck!
Oh, it may take some extra time, but I’ll find some more! 
In the meantime, the easier ones are post I previously wrote with my own experience.
About vocabulary, I think we all feel we need to know way more words before being able to actually try and speak. But the more I challenged myself, the more I realized it’s probably neither true nor the most efficient approach.
Since WSP was mentioned above, I’ll start with a link to the report of my first chat (3 weeks after starting SSiW).
About vocabulary here’s a post I had written somewhere else and now copy and paste here:
Planning how to understand and speak enough Welsh in the wild
[when I started planning my first trip to Wales, about two weeks after starting Level 1], I was only able to:
I guessed I’d need a bit more than that, to survive in the wild. So I looked for tips and hints here on the Forum and around the web, especially on polyglots’ websites and YouTube channels.
Among those, the most enlightening for me was a video (found via https://www.fluentin3months.com ) of this talk by Anthony Lauder: https://youtu.be/2X7XTui58Qs
The first guideline I decided to follow was:
“Fluency is not about a big vocabulary. Fluency is about being quick, smooth and in control of what you already have” .
Then second guideline , that I heard several times from polyglots and also often found mentioned here, for example by @aran and @garethrking:
Just give your brain exposure to the language, even if you don’t [completely, consciously] understand what you hear.
So I quit trying to learn words with flashcards, illustrated dictionaries and apps - proven an useless and boring effort for me.
For structured learning , I focused just on SSiW challenges: Level 1 and 2 and later Advanced Content. With lotsa questions on this forum (with plenty thanks to all those who take the time to answer to all our beginners’ questions!)
For exposure , I listened to Radio Cymru, watched programmes and series on S4C (now officially available outside the UK, at last!) and of course kept on listening to Datblygu songs - plus a few others that I discovered mostly thanks to this forum and especially @robbruce .
For extra self-training , I just tried to think of sentences I’d be likely to need or want to say.
(then if you want to hear if/how it worked, I’ll find more stuff for you to read. However this was just meant to give hints so that you can find the way that works best for you. And for this, I’m sure I’ll be able to find more links unless someone with a very different approach decides to write their experiences here in the meantime)
These two are both true. First guideline: everyday use of any language involves no more than about 800 words - this can be fitted pretty much on a couple of sides of A4, can’t it? Incredible but true. Second guideline: I always told all my Welsh students to keep Radio Cymru burbling on in the background all day while they were in the house, and not even make a conscious effort to listen. The brain magically absorbs the language in all kinds of ways, and it really does help. I have just made the same recommendation to my son who has embarked on German. (though what good Radio Cymru will be to him with German I can’t imagine! 
)
Well, despite my continuous effort claiming that Welsh language sounds a lot like Italian, most people here seem to think that it sounds like German instead.
So maybe listening to Radio Cymru while learning it makes more sense than one might think! 
Lots of English people say that as well - it’s the ch sound that they notice.
Yes, sure…but I mean…that’s ONE sound out of a whole alphabet!
Isn’t it odd that everybody seems to focus just on that - I wonder?
It’s very distinctive, so I suppose that’s why it is noticed. The LL is as well, of course.
Thanks for sharing! Good to hear about your experience with a traditional course in comparison to ssi.
All the best and above all FUN for your journey learning Welsh!
Thank you so so much for all the tips and links and material, that’s great! Your help is much appreciated!!
…and I’ll figure out how to answer to posts more elegantly hahaha.
Until then @garethrking I’m German and whenever I say something in Welsh to any of my friends they get this dreamy look with a soft yet broad smile. The sound of Welsh seems to be hitting a soft spot. It sounds just like such a wonderful and mysterious language and like the greatest adventure exploring it! Hahah sounds awful, but it’s so true! And if your son is looking for a chat partner sometime, I’d be glad to get in touch with him. I’m not much help about Welsh yet, but I can surely help out with some German practise. Just send me a message, I’ll give you some information on who I am, what I’m doing etc. and then you and your son can decide whether that might be a match!
That’s because it is!
I will mention your offer to my son when I speak to him next - das ist sehr nett von Dir!
I don’t understand why most of my compatriots resist this evident fact. Must be some latin DNA thing.
However this suddenly reminded me that despite being the first foreign language I’ve ever heard, I never managed to learn German.
And when I tried to say a few words in a shop in Austria, and the lady didn’t seem to understand, I realized I was actually using Welsh.
So maybe they’re more linked than I would think. 
I think that’s very heroic, Gisella - more people should do this when visiting German-speaking countries. 
I was thinking at the weekend actually, about the vocab theory thing and it occured to me that I’d actually forgotten what nouns/verbs/adjectives are because I’ve not had to think about English theory since having to pass exams at school. And the fact that I’ve forgotten what they are, doesn’t affect my ability to speak English. I guess what I’m trying to say (dw’i isio trio dweud i think?!) is it helped to relax my thought processes. Just recognising when something sounds right is working for now at least:-) As Aran says, don’t worry about it
Indeed Aran is right that one should not allow oneself to be worried by grammar. And you are right that grammar is not really needed when speaking one’s native language - it is already prewired from infancy, really. On the other hand, when acquiring a language in adulthood a certain level of grammar can, I think, be beneficial in clarifying structures and patterns that might otherwise seem random or opaque.
I was not here. I did not say this.