This isn’t about speaking - but it is an example of guerilla Cymraeg seeping into my life!
I’ve been speeding through level 1 (due to lockdown) and feeling a bit saturated (Radio Cymru on in the background right now - not that I understand, mind!).
I’ve noticed that I’ve started putting little bits of Cymraeg in emails to (English) people. I didn’t intend to start doing this, but it feels quite nice.
PS I got pretty demoralised by level 1 challenges 13 + 14, but I’m pushing on - I consider this a small success as I am a recovering perfectionist so this is very much out of my comfort zone!
Those are infamously difficult, but they’re important. I found them really rough going at the time, but in hindsight they transformed my ability to use longer sentences, which is an important step.
I’m the same Sarah! They were solid! But I did them twice each then carried on and I actually can do the things from those lessons when they crop up now.
I’ve finally managed to see your video - dylet ti deimlo yn falch iawn ohonot ti dy hunan! Definitely should feel proud of yourself! (Can you tell me any more about the Ffit Cymru Soffa i 5K thing? What exactly is it / how does it work?)
S’mae @ann-6! Thank you!! I found out about Soffa i 5K in this thread started by Beca: FFIT Cymru - Podlediad Dysgwyr
There’s a Soffa i 5k plan with a podcast in Welsh (suitable for learners) to follow to get you from not running at all to running 5k! Its brilliant! There are more details about it, and links to the podcasts, on the FFIT Cymru website: https://www.ffit.cymru/en/podrediad/ Hope that helps!
I tried a sentence on a first language Welsh speaker from Cardiff today. She complimented my pronunciation and said “you’re getting to be a real Gog”. As an English person, I’ll take it!
Ok, so I really just started (level 1 challenge 4). But yesterday I joined the wsp slack and was scrolling through posts, trying to get the hang of it. Just scrolling, completely skipping anything in welsh. Then I paused. Looked at the welsh. Used my brain and I understood!!! I’m still dancing around from joy <3 maybe just a little more vocab and I‘ll be brave enough to join a hangout or get in touch with somebody.
And best of all: it really feels like a team effort, like we‘re all in this together. Have a good week you all!
Ah Hannah, this is lovely! I’m s few weeks ahead of you, and I’m still extremely excited by how much I’m understanding too. I would encourage you to take the plunge and chat with someone on slack! I’ve had a few chats and it’s very rewarding to chat use the language with a real person! I’m happy to chat although I’m still a beginner really, or just go on and see who’s about- everyone is ever so lovely and encouraging
I listened to a teacher reading Robin Hwd (a child’s reading scheme book) on Youtube and I felt that I understood enough without having to look anything up. It was the first time I had heard Welsh and the concepts had gone straight in rather than being translated through English - a very weird feeling!
Yesterday I was on a Zoom call and mentioned on the call that I was doing a lot of welsh study during lockdown.
One of the young people on the call immediately ask me a question in welsh and I immediately replied in welsh without thinking. We are talking three proper sentences! Very encouraging.
That’s gotta feel pretty good Ken! When you respond without thinking, and it is mostly correct to the point the other person understands, it’s immensely satisfying!
This is a very small success and feels even smaller than it is, but it took some doing so I’m going to post it.
After throwing around the odd sentence in Welsh over the last couple of months, I actually had a conversation today. It was only a few minutes (just shy of ten minutes I think) and good grief it was hard work! But I got through it.
Thank you! It was such a struggle that I feel like I didn’t do very well. I suppose I need to remember that in January the only thing I could say was “diolch yn fawr”!
Absolutely - it’s easy to get so focused on how much further there is to go on the path in front of us that we forget to turn round occasionally and see how far we’ve come!
So last week I was stuck, nothing going in, I could barely remember how to say ‘I’m Lynne!’ Just read a letter on our company intranet from a customer to one of our Welsh branches and I hadn’t even noticed it was in Welsh! I just read it without my brain registering it wasn’t English. Granted I didn’t understand it all but got the idea! Maybe I can remember more than I thought!
