Ha, yeah: Buzzing. da iawn i ti
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I heard this joke today:
Posh English man walks into a pub in Aberystwyth. āJust won the lottery, chaps. Drinks on me. Oh yes, whatās Welsh for CHEERS?ā
āCadeiriauā came the answer.
āOK, Cadeiriauā shouted the Englishman brandishing his drink.
And I got the joke first time!!!
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As a complete beginner, I have started to feel more confident using Welsh with KS2 pupils in my school.
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I was surprised but very pleased to get two letters published in āLingo Newyddā. Iād sent them in thinking it was a good exercise to respond to the prompts on the letter page but really never thought theyād make it into the magazine. 
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Today I successfully ranted in Welsh.
Next goal: having a sweary rant in Welsh. 
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Oh Howard I wish I had your confidence! I am on week2 level 2, and still havenāt got the confidence to speak apart from my partner who is a Welsh Speaker as is his daughter and children. I will say the occasional sentence but I never get past there, and I am very slow! But I hope that you have inspired me, so thank you or diolch !
Jacqui
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Sounds fine Jaqui. One sentence is a brilliant place to start with a stranger - even in English a sentence each is plenty to get going
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Hi Jacqui, Iām doing the same Week 2 Level 2 too. Iām still too nervous to try speaking although I have used the cash machines in the Welsh languageā¦not sure I understood every sentence but I got the right amount of cash out and I got a receipt. Hurray!
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I spoke to my daughterās Welsh school in Welsh - for the first time in the 6 years sheās been there. I didnāt intend to (scary!) but the voice at the other end saying āBore daā flipped the Welsh speaking switch in my brain and I just carried on in Welsh.
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I just conducted my first business transaction in Welsh! I found a few things I liked in the online shop at Cymdeithas Yr Iaith and wrote a brief query yn y Gymraeg to ask whether they could mail merch. to the U.S. I got a prompt and enthusiastic reply that I had to spend some time translating, but the answer was yes. So I ordered what I wanted in Welsh, checking in English only at the end to make sure Iād ordered what I thought I had. 
Then I wrote a note of thanks to the woman whoād responded to me, yn y Gymraeg. Iām sure I made mistakes, but I did it! And I felt happy I was able to support their work from afar by buying merch and making a donation.
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Just been out for a meal with two Welsh speaking friends. As it turned out, we were sitting next to a an extended family who all spoke Welsh and wanted to chat to us as my friends originally came from the same valley: Cwmtwrch. It took me a few minutes to zone in, with my friends translating to Cwmtawe Welsh (About 5 miles away) . I soon adapted though, and it went well. Goto say it was a more chilled experience than pouncing on unsuspecting shopkeepers.
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Dwāi wedi pasio fy arholiad Cymraeg! (I have passed my Welsh exam!) Only mynediad level speaking (not full exam because of covid) very pleased with myself.
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So pleased to have been able to chat in Welsh with a Welsh speaking customer in the library where I work. Although weāre in England serving her in Welsh felt like the most natural thing to do and it was wonderful to hear her speaking Welsh with her daughter.
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I had a similar experience and you are right: it is much better than pouncing on a shopkeeper cos you end up talking about natural topics rather than the usual āwhy have you learned welsh; how have you learnedā etc.
I had a time in the pub recently where I was with my welsh speaking mate (who i donāt talk to in welsh cos weāve gone to long speaking English and it feels really weird changing to welsh). Anyway, a load of his mates came in and we all just used welsh to speak and had a whole evening in welsh. Man itās easier after a few pints.
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I always used to reckon I needed either three days in France or three pastis to start speaking French; I still have yet to work out the beer:Pernod exchange rate for Welsh.
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A small success for a relative beginner and Englanderā¦ but as my first interaction out in the real world, I popped into a Welsh supermarket on my way back from the Brecon Beacons the other day and found I was comfortably navigating the aisles via the bilingual signs like a nativeā¦
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Another one. I was idly working through a SSIW lesson on my walk to work the other day, and translated something like āshe will take the breadā ā¦ and out of nowhere I properly rolled the ārā in bara.
Hasnāt happened before or again since, but hey for one brief moment any passer-by might have thought I was a proper fluent Welsh nutter talking randomly to himselfā¦
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Finally signed up for MHz Choice & with the help of subtitles managed to recognize āBore da, iawn, beā tiān ddudoddā
Progress.
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It took me almost four years to unlearn the anti-mistakes perfectionism I was taught in school. Iāve heard Aran say that mistakes were a way for the brain to learn, but I wasnāt able to implement it. Iāve given up learning Welsh a million times, cursing my poor working memory. Now, I feel the grain of the SSI-method is beginning to bear fruit ā¦
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Fear of failure is crippling and constantly being corrected is unproductive, making you feel like youāre not good enough. Since starting to learn this beautiful language Iāve had nothing but support and encouragement- from the wonderful SSiW community, from my various tutors at Dysgu Cymraeg, from people in my village and wider area and from every single person Iāve attempted to speak to in Welsh. I constantly berate myself for my mistakes but the difference now is that they donāt stop me from trying. And that has made a difference on so many levels and itās down to everyone single one of you. Diolch o galon i bawb
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