Well, I certainly feel the need to read people, other than the things they say - yes!
As an example, I find it very difficult to understand people in my first language when (and I know how ridiculous it sounds) I’m wearing sunglasses. I rely on nonverbal stuff so much that not seeing them as clearly makes me feel deaf! When someone speaks Welsh to me, it can feel like that too, probably because my senses are grabbing at visual clues in desperation, more than actually listening. [quote=“Claudia_Beryan, post:22, topic:9246”]
I find it difficult to feel what they wish a conversation to be…how they need me to react…how much I should reveal about myself…how to not overwhelm them completely
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You are clearly very thoughtful about other people!
I’m just glad if I get out the other side without being an idiot!
The Skype thing is kind of claustrophobic. As soon as I see a room full of relatives looming on the screen, I need to walk the dog.
It’s true. I met my tutor from Aberystwyth University at the Eisteddfod and began our chat in Welsh, you could see it in his face, ‘but he’s an English speaker wasn’t he???’ It’s understandable it’s too much to store information on relative language competence, just flag whether they are Welsh speaking or not!
I still get nervous, for me it’s the desire to have a ‘perfect’ conversation in Welsh, the initial greetings are fine but as conversation progresses ‘holes’ or gaps in knowledge or speed start to frustrate, so conversations are dreaded. Familiar people, who know more about your learning are a lot less stressful, you don’t feel the pressure to perform.
I expect I will be nervous too. Although Welsh scares me less than it used to, and something about the scariness of talking to someone new is nicer when it’s in Welsh!
[quote=“siaronjames, post:16, topic:9246, full:true”]
I’m hopeless at skype. The thought of using that terrifies me far more than the thought of attempting any language with anyone in person! My theory is that the lack of ‘proper’ eye contact makes it unsettling.[/quote]
But that’s why when I Skype (or more recently Zoom) with someone in Welsh, we do it with full video. At least we can see (in a sense) what each other is saying even if the eye contact is very long distance and not really “contacting.”
[quote=“cat-1, post:20, topic:9246”]
Mind you, I suppose if your intention is to practise Welsh then it would be an idea to prepare some questions, or something you want to talk about. If you shared this with the other person, I think it could take out a lot of the awkwardness and give you common ground before you did that naturally. Shame I can’t do that with the relatives isn’t it? [/quote]
I often do that when I’m planning to chat with someone “long distance” - try to think of things to chat about and look up the words I don’t know before we get together. I’ve learned a lot of new (and for me, useful) words that way, too!
I’ve been using the app to learn Welsh since March on and off and I’ve just completed Level 1.
I love every minute of my welsh learning but still I won’t have a ‘proper’ conversation with someone in Welsh and I know so many fluent Welsh speakers, it’s a disgrace for me to have to admit it! Both my parents are fluent Welsh speakers (please don’t go down the route of why they didn’t speak Welsh to us, it’s a bone of contention)!
I often use welsh phrases and am constantly conversing with myself but I freeze when someone starts trying to have an actual conversation with me.
I’m going to take some advice and have ‘drafted’ conversations. I won’t feel so threatened then.
Wish me luck!!
I am not really nervous, it’s more a case of feeling inadequate. My solution,over the years, has been to try and learn five Welsh words a day. I was making quite good progress, but through a lack of practice I am now back to square one. There must be a list of say 200 English words that are spoken on a regular basis through your daily life, if you can learn the Welsh equivalent then you will at least be able to understand a coversation. I have never worried too much about the mutation etc., as very often the mutations are a natural reaction to speaking. I am looking to join an intensive Welsh class this year, hopefully to put me back on track.
Wishing you lots of luck aliC. I can see that’s a difficult situation for you to be in and I can definitely see that you need some people to try out and build your conversation skills with who aren’t too close to you.
I love this thread Aran. Thanks for the advice. I am starting to realize – perhaps it’s related to welsh having so many dialects/variants? Anyway that different people’s welsh really does sound very different. So it’s totally reasonable for me as a learner to focus on building up my currently quite basic conversational skills in welsh with particular kind people who are willing to have a chat with me on a regular basis. So to treat ‘wild welsh’ encounters as an added extra and keep in mind that those will definitely be a stretch for my skills for quite some time, and keep my expectations for those situations good and low.
That’s what my mother has thought my sister and me, and I’m very thankful for it. My mum was, and still is at heart, a hippie. We’ve been introduced to the so called esoteric believes, lived in an ashram, joined Wicca covens when we were children; and all this taught us to be open and tune in to people…to nature. You know, my own sons favour dapper suits over “Jesus sandals” anytime! Back in school, I used to skip math lessons (which I didn’t comprehend, anyway), went to the lake of Zurich instead and chanted mantras with the Krishna people…ah, memories…
I’m afraid my skipped maths lessons were spent sneaking out to the back lane and smoking cigarettes with Meredith Hinton. Spiritually, a far cry from chanting Hare Krishna by a lake!
Oh no, don’t say this…smoking can have very spiritual effects… I’ve learned that Meredith is a Welsh name for boys and girls, it that true? Was your Meredith a boy or a girl?
I can imagine you two had lots of fun secretly smoking cigarettes! Yes, I came to love the name Meredith, too, especially since I read about this Welsh prince of the 12th century that was called Maredudd ap Gruffyd…I fell in love with him for a reason. Merry means happy, right? That’s a beautiful nickname, Merry Meredith
Ooph, at last - I have just finished my first Skype conversation in Welsh (well, my first Welsh conversation ever, full stop) and I feel torn between elation that I’ve finally plucked up the courage to press that fatal button and the deep shame of all the stuttering and hand-waving I was forced to resort to. It appears there is somewhat of a gap between what I smugly thought I had learnt and what was actually in there.
Either way it may be time for one of those double vodkas Aran keeps mentioning so tantalisingly. And it’s definitely time to doff the hat to him and all at SSIW for these brilliantly effective and enjoyable courses - they really do work (reaches for that bottle)…
sunglasses! Oh i am infamous for answering the phone years back, about 59 years back, and saying, “sorry, wait 'til i take my sunglasses off, I can’t hear you!” On skype it is mainly if there is no video if i have problems, but that’s because I can’t be sure who is speaking. Mind, same person on the phone - no vision - but in English, no problem! (unless i have sunglasses, i guess, but that can’t happen now, my glasses react to sunlight by darkening, so indoors they are clear!)
I believe that the vodka is not compulsory…gin, whisky, wine or beer are probably equally effective. Doesn’t even have to be Welsh whisky or beer…although that would be best of course…
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