The original plan was to listen to Day 2 while trying to draw on the computer. But I wound up concentrating more on that, rather than trying to form the sentences in my head. And when I thought, “Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be focusing on this,” I was slower than molasses and struggling. Maybe it doesn’t help that I went to bed late and I’m getting over a cold. Listened to it again after dinner and gave it my full attention, and this time I actually succeeded. Apparently that whole “listen while doing something else” concept just wasn’t working out.
Now, if I could just quit mutating it into “dwi’n garu” instead of “dwi’n caru”… 
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I find it depends on what the “something else” is. I can do the challenges while going for a walk. In fact that works very well. I can also do them while ironing or knitting or crocheting something simple. But the minute I have to count stitches or think about what I’m doing, I lose track of the challenge. Perhaps drawing was too creative and was using the same part of the brain?
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I bet they were! Leaping into using it is the absolute gold standard for fast progress… the more you do, the more fun you’ll have, the faster you’ll go… 
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Helo
Marco dw i. Dw i’n CARU cwmraeg. Dw i’n dysgu cwmraeg llaes Duolingo a SSI.
Dw i ddim yn hoffi gweithio mewn swyddfa (haha i LOVE saying that!). Dw i’n dysgu siarad cwmraeg achos I am going to learn to play the harp and I have a particular fondness for traditional welsh, irish and scottish folk tunes. The lyrics to these tunes are amazing. Welsh has such a poetically passionate expression! I’ve been learning welsh for 10 days and I can say without doubt that I am in love with the language. I’m at level 10 on Duolingo and just started SSI yesterday. I think I will need a few more levels to be able to hold a rudimentary conversation entirely in welsh - maybe in a month or so!?!
I speak a few other languages and have found that there are three phrases that, once learned in the target language, allow you to pester fluent speakers most effectively! These phrases are:
How do you say (point at or show object whose name you don’t know - or say it in english!)?
Is it correct to say (use word or phrase you’re not sure about) ?
and
What does ------ mean?
I am planning to find a well-educated welsh speaking online tutor for some skype practice soon. I am keen to do as much of my learning IN WELSH as possible as soon as possible and also to avoid bad habits and to clarify some differences in pronunciation, eg, Duolingo has ‘eisiau’ as ay-shee-eye whereas SSI has it as ee-sho ?!?! I know there are regional differences and dialects but I want to know it ALL! lol
Anyways - best of luck to one and all!
Hwyl!
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Yeah, I think I was concentrating too hard on the doodling. I decided to just focus on the lesson without doing anything else. Worked out better. Well, except for the occasional problem of my brain jamming and pretending it forgot every Welsh word I’ve ever learned. But based on what people have said on the forum, it seems to be a normal, albeit frustrating part of the process.
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Helo Marco,
I actually just answered you on another thread, but since nobody’s done it so far, I can also welcome you to the Forum! 
Since you’re mentioning on-line practice, did you hear about Slack Welsh practice group/practice partners yet?
Here a few info:
p.s. I see I wasn’t the only one on Duolingo who thought that “Dw i’n hoffi gweithio mewn syddfa” didn’t sound right! 
It was even in a farm, wasn’t it? 
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Ciao gisella - diolch for the info on Slack. I will look into it shortly.
Oh yes, it’s definitely the telyn…
I will certainly be reading your account of your welsh travels later today so many thanks for that link!
Here is a glimpse into my welsh soul, played so beautifully on ‘my’ harp…: When I can play this version of this song I will have ‘arrived’…
Dw i’n caru yr iaith Gymraeg a ysbryd.
Til next time.
Hywl!
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About to do Day 5, and can’t help but tremble in fear at what it says. “WARNING: LONG SENTENCES AHEAD” You mean… they get longer? 
(starts lesson) Okay, so far they’re short. Getting longer… longer…
In case you’re wondering about the evening I’m having, I just got excited over building long sentences. 
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Wait till you reach the double-vodka…
Mostly the long sentences comprise of phrases you know…even if you don’t know that you know them yet…
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Yes, all great fun and so satisfying when you crack it. As with the long English sentenced in the comments above, its mainly about having s suiable word to link the various contributing phrases.
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I just did Challenge 1, first lesson after the ‘1 sentence’ stuff. Things that happened during the lesson:
“Oh no, this is more fast-paced.” 
“I’m dying. I’m gonna die.”
“Dwi angen a break.”
“Another word? You’re crazy, man.”
“Argh, I used ‘dwi’ instead of ‘dwi’n’. And I messed up the mutations AGAIN.”
“I forgot the word.”
“Naaaaaa!!!” 
“‘I can’t speak Welsh’? Well, isn’t that the truth.”
“I forgot a word again.”
“Is it over yet? Oh no, there’s still six minutes left.”
“Oh man, I’ve never been so grateful for the end of a lesson.”
“Wait, you’re suggesting I should be able to do most of it without the pause button?” 
In short, I suspect Aran is trying to kill my brain.
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We are the SSiborg…you will be assimilated
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Resistance is futile.
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Hi All,
I am originally from Port Talbot; left in 1974 to join RN, but heart is still in Wales. When I was in school, Welsh was treated as a foreign language, and in year 9 we were given the choice of carrying on with Welsh or French. I chose French, which, as it happens was the right choice, at the time, as I lived in Belgium for two years.
After many attempts at trying to learn Welsh, I am determined to give it another go, particualry as I would one day like to return to Wales to live.
My main concern is not having someone else to converse with. How do those not living in Wales cope with this?
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Hi Gary,
There is the Welsh Speaking Practice via Slack - which is the same sort of idea as Skype - there are group conversations at certain days and times or you can have a conversation with anyone at anytime, yourself. To sign up is free - just send an email to admin@saysomethingin.com and put WSP in the title.
I live in Yorkshire and go to an SSIW meeting in Leeds - not sure where you are at the moment (?) - there is an email newsletter which you can get which has all the meetings in weird an wonderful places. I will tag @Deborah-SSi on that / she has a link I think which I can’t find at the the moment (sorry Dee!).
Oh…and croeso! 
…if you want to speak Welsh you’ve come to the right place (it works!)
Rich
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Did Challenge 1 again tonight, and although it wasn’t forty minutes of agony, there was still some struggling, so I’ll have to go through it again. If I could just get through most of the stuff without panicking and my brain jamming, that would be great. It’s amazing how we suddenly forget the words we think are right there. I don’t know how much of it is my brain overloading and dying, and how much is haste or worry of messing up. Also should have redone this challenge earlier, so I could have done it a second time this afternoon, and a third time tonight. But instead I procrastinated until ten p.m.
Well in the beginning there is a chaotic moment when you still haven’t found the best balance for you since each learner is a bit different): pause/no pause? repetition/no repetition? one challenge all at once or in smaller blocks throughout the day (of say 5 minutes, or maybe 10 or 15)?
It all settles, after a few challenges.
But most of all one thing it might seem impossible is that even though while you do a challenge it seems a disaster, and when you finish you feel as if you won’t remember anything…if you just go on with the next challenges, you’ll find out you’ve actually learned much more than you expected!
That’s why I would ask you…have you considered trying Challenge 2? You can always go back to 1 later…
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…forming new pathways…passive learning…embedding…melting and assimilating…SSiborgs accepting your uniqueness into the collective…resistance is futile…there is nothing to worry about…trust the process…
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Since I know a handful of random words, and I did the ‘sentence a day’ first, the beginning of Challenge 1 is easy. Then, as more words are added and I have to form longer sentences, the ability to recall things and string it all together starts to slow. Then I’m going, “What was the word? What sentence was I supposed to translate again? ARGH…” ‘Sut’ is forgotten, ‘cofio’ runs away from me (even though I already knew it), and ‘gwella’ means… uh… Maybe it’s because the word is towards the end of the lesson, but I’ve done the challenge twice and forgotten it both times.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll run through Challenge 1 a third time, and then go on to Challenge 2. They’ll probably overview all the stuff from the first one anyway. I know I shouldn’t obsess over getting everything perfect and doing the long sentences within the time limit, but I also hate feeling like I haven’t grasped things well enough yet.
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Yes, they will. You should be fine to go on to Challenge 2 now.
Sue
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