Course 1 vs Level 1 - which? Why? When? What?!

Hi there,
First post on here as a Rhymney Valley boy living just outside Bristol and just re-visiting lessons 1-3 of Course 1 after completing them a month or so ago.
Slightly confused as to what i should be doing ??
1/ Do i complete course 1 then go to level 1
or
2/ Do i forget Course 1 and go straight to Level 1 ??

Answers appreciated

Personally Iā€™d recommend going to Level 1, cover new stuff before repeating :slight_smile: Iā€™ve not done course 1 yet (started on levels), but hopefully some similar stuff will be covered but in a different way so youā€™ll be a more flexible speaker (and listener!).

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As I see Course(s) theyā€™re somehow more ā€œstep by stepā€. At least at the beginning you learn word by word rather then whole phrases/structures and shortenings come in full only in Course 3. Actually, if I think more closely, Course 1 deals with beginnerā€™s things like words, how to make past and future tense, some mutations are learnt etc. Course 2 deals more with possessives and reflexives (ahhh ā€¦ my trouble number 1 :slight_smile: ) and Course 3 goes with shortenings of all kinds I believe southern version even more then northern (I did south all the way through and did only Level 1 Challenge 25 northern as there was not southern one that time yet).

So, now you know what approximately old course brings to you. Levels you know though ā€¦ they bring a little of everything and for the record, possessives and reflexives start quite early in the process so do soem shortenings especially creating past tense ones.

Well, if I did some wrong explanation, please feel free to correct me, but thatā€™s what remain in my memory (and didnā€™t escape it through my brain holes. - hehe) :slight_smile:

Oh, @jonathanwilliams, but even if you decide to begin with levels rather then continue with Courses, HEY! donā€™t miss Lesson 6b - bonus lesson which offers you not only something new to learn but endless fun also. I wonā€™t tell you anything more. Let your curiousity drive you there to do it. (however might be wise to come to either Lesson 6-1 and 6-2 or doing at least 10 or so Challenges first). :slight_smile: [size=9]Ohh, I love to tease people a bit :slight_smile: [/size]

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Iā€™d go straight for Level 1, but Iā€™m slightly biased (because Course 1 was my ā€˜jump-in-and-hopeā€™ draft, and Level 1 is the result of 5 years of feedback/learning/experimentation)ā€¦:wink:

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Thanks for the replies, level 1 it is then. !!!

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Thanks for this thread - very useful. I had only done a few episodes of Course 1 when I saw this and now Iā€™ve switched to Level 1. Itā€™s great - Thanks !

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Just to add to the thread; started last November and did course 1, then course 2, then mixed in course 1 vocab, then started course 2 vocab, and am now up to level 2 challenge 9 after deciding to switch to the levels. Have not done level 1 but may go back to that. Also try and listen to Radio Cymru and watch S4C as much as possible and am looking to go to some SSiW talking groups soon. I did do O level Welsh in 1984 so did not start from scratch. Just to say this website is a fabulous way of learning and Iā€™ll be lost when all material is completed!

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Thanks very much for the kind words, Mike, much appreciated :sunny:

Weā€™ll try and have new material coming out consistently enough to keep you occupied for as long as possibleā€¦:wink:

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Have just finished course 1 and am half way through the the vocabulary units. Just wondering whether to go to level 1 when I finish, corse 2 or level 2? Are any of them on the app? I like to listen to them when Iā€™m driving to work.

They all should be - although if youā€™re using the iOS app, youā€™ll be better off if you update to the new oneā€¦ :sunny:

Itā€™s personal choice, really - but Iā€™d recommend going for Level 1 - weā€™re going to be starting to tuck the older stuff away in the corners before too longā€¦:wink:

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Ah! Iā€™ve just discovered that if I login on the app I get the new level 1! Diolch

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Iā€™ve just started level 1 having finished course 1 and half the vocab units and Iā€™m really struggling. It seems much harder and introduces lots of new tenses really quickly. I thought I was doing well on course one and Iā€™m feeling a bit rubbish now!

I think over the course of the first 5 sessions Level 1 introduces a couple of extra tenses (wedi and wedi bod) - it probably seems more to you because itā€™s based on a conversational model, and moves around a bit more quickly than some of the more repetitive stuff in the old course.

But donā€™t let that make you feel bad about yourself - if you find this material more challenging than Course 1, that just means itā€™s not as good a fit for you personally, so itā€™s going to take a bit more patience to get through it - the results will still be good, though, if you stick with itā€¦ :sunny:

How often do you repeat individual lessons?

I did course 1 & 2 before doing the levels. The transition isnā€™t simple. You become used to the style of the course, so when it subtly changes you need some time to adapt to the slightly different way of using SSiW, this will come with time.
also the levels are a little more intense, cover more ground and are a little less repetitive. Learning Welsh is a rollercoaster, you have great days and terrible days, the important thing is to stick at it. The big change is the order things are taught, so it is like starting again, but some parts you will already know so these will be easier.
For example ā€˜Fedra iā€™ ā€™ I can/am able to "(N) is taught right at the end of the course, but appears in lesson 1 of the levels. Paid becso - Donā€™t worry about it.

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Iā€™ve done the first three lessons twice each, on 4 now. I was just throwing a bit of a fit yesterday because I suppose Iā€™d got so used to the format of the old course and thereā€™s less explanation in this one. Currently struggling with bod meaning to be and how it can be used as ā€˜thatā€™. Just got to relax and go with it! But looking back I really struggled with the first 6 of course 1. Am doing Cwrs Mynediad too at evening class and itā€™s really really boring and slow!

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Thanks! Iā€™m beginning to see the patterns and why rhaid i mi is then followed by Mae gen i. I just got used to the layout of course 1

Thatā€™s a pretty reasonable approach (although if you feel like the wind in your hair at any point, you might try running through 10 or so without any repetition, and then see how the earlier sessions feel when you revisit them).

Yes, it pulls you around more than the old stuff - but as Y Ddraig Las says, the more you can go with the flow, the easier it will start to feel, and even the tricky stuff will end up seeming okay. And if you got through 6.1 and 6.2 of the old stuff, you can definitely cope with anything we throw at you in the Levelsā€¦ :sunny:

Just wondering when challenges 18-25 of level 2 South will be completed. Will have to fill my time with Level 1, Course 3 and practices in the meantime as not done these yet. Diolch, Mike

Weā€™re managing to release about one per week at the moment, although itā€™s hard to be entirely certain that weā€™ll get the whole way through to the end at that rate - weā€™ll do our best, thoughā€¦ :sunny:

Diolch Aran, had my first proper conversation with a real Welsh speaker last night at our rugby club dinner on the Wirral. Alcohol gives you confidence! It was basic stuff but great fun all the same and the other chap couldnā€™t believe there was someone else in the club who spoke Welsh. Thanks for giving me the tools to get out there and start speaking. Diolch, Mike.

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