OK, so I just finished the challenge before last (week 50) 2 minutes ago. After having really knuckled down on Welsh daily in lockdown, this was a frustrating experience - I thought I was better than this. So please take this as roundly positive feedback, mixed with some temporary frustration.
After 50 weeks, I don’t think i’m a welsh speaker yet, I struggle understanding Welsh. This is a reflection on my study efforts, not the course. I never settled into a routine of study. I’ve religiously done the half hour vocabulary, the listening exercises much less so. Halfway, i found their speed was just beyond comprehension. From week 30 I finally had about 7 bruising but serious welsh speaking sessions. Despite the good intentions of my counterpart, I didn’t quite know how to structure or get advantage from them. Therefore, I’ve dipped my toe in grammar and Iaith ar Daith on S4C. I’ve also started the Work Welsh online modules on learnwelsh.cymru. Looking for a zoom style meet-up group to start talking.
In all, I am very happy to have taken the course, and am looking for the best way to push on. I would certainly not have achieved the present level without the “sentence” based structure, and Aran’s upbeat and friendly challenging to keep going.
Well, from the outside it sounds like a whole lot of achievements to me in a bit less than a year, though!
From what you write, I understand you feel you should have done even more, and maybe hoped to reach even more by now - do you?
Still if you don’t have a deadline or specific goal for which you need a certain level by a certain date…in my experience it’s better to take it maybe a bit easier, going a bit slower but keeping the process more enjoyable (meaning also from now on).
I think this pays in the long run, or at least I can tell it worked for me!
Thanks When i first considered learning Welsh I found the immersion course was not for beginners, and opted for SSiW as a precursor. The Covid-19 crisis has upset my plans a bit. It is tough staying the course, and that’s why I like the half hour vocab sessions - it is at once a challenge and a marker for progress. Without (external) structure I find my learning falters. I just end up spending more time finding all sorts of material more than actually learning (case in point https://soundcloud.com/user-905940977/y-teigr-a-ddaeth-i-dehttps://idoc.pub/documents/the-tiger-who-came-to-tea-dvlr069wgplz )
What would you say could a logical next step after SSiW levels 1 and 2?
Well level 3 - or the deep end is the structured version I think - carries on the learning journey in the style you are familiar with…
I found the Advanced Content a bit of a up-elavator ie hugely beneficial, in terms of both listening skills (and the need for a bit of heads-down work to make it work)…
…are you in a group to have practice with regular ‘normal’ conversation? If not, the lock down actually has an upside in a sense that there are quite a few virtual meetings going on now.
You can join the Leeds zoom meeting if you are interested - the geographic region is completely irrelevant really - weekly on Saturdays at noon (as can anyone else for that matter - just let me know ) - we have a full range of skills from ‘just started’ to first language speakers.
Starting reading books written in the spoken form is good for consolidation of the grammar you’ve learned via SSIW and broadening your vocab…
The listening exercises are purposely designed to be ‘too fast’ because that has the effect of making normal speech sound slower - and not doing them could be one reason that you still find listening/understanding spoken Welsh more difficult. I would recommend going back and doing them - but don’t try and translate or understand them at speed, just listen and don’t try and pick out words, let them jump out at you instead.
Without a doubt you are right, I have indeed orphaned my listening exercises. Although I do get the logic behind them, I find listening to Radio Cymru less stressful - at random and I rarely get what they talk about, but I guess that’s part of the charm. Horses for courses I guess. Thanks for checking in!
Thank you Rich, those are really helpful suggestions. In the mean time I signed up for an online event through LearnCymraeg next Sat, aptly called Siarad Sadwrn, so i’m in for an experience. I’ll keep your suggestion for the Leeds group in mind, though.
Theone question i have is how to continue on level 3 but I am qure Aran will tell me in the challenges next two weeks.
I had a look at your suggestion elsewhere of June last year (time flies!) on using Vocab on the BBC site to get transcripts for Welsh news bulletins. But I can’t seem to find the function anywhere, and the http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/vocab/ page says it is no longer updated. I suppose that one went.
Apart from Level 3 (for which you should indeed get links flagged up in the next couple of weeks) there are only two things you need to do now:
take as many opportunities as possible to talk to other people in Welsh (see www.saysomethingin.com/wsp for access to the free Welsh Speaking Practice community)
get as much listening work done as possible - I strongly recommend making the accelerated listening exercises a regular little 5 minute part of your day, but it’s also time for you to start drilling down into Beca’s advanced content - where you get (to start with) 30 minute conversations with transcripts and translations - mastering any one of these, to the point where you just understand all of it easily, will give you a hugely valuable jump forwards - by the time you’ve mastered 5 to 10 of them, you’ll find that listening to Radio Cymru will feel like a dramatically different experience…
And huge congratulations on having got so far already!
…you need to be on the website - bizarrely the App doesnt support it - it is a button in the top right hand corner - see screenshot below, when you swith it on, it adds urls under words so you can click on them for a translation if required,
Thank you Aran, I will email and sign up for the WSP.
Incidentally, I received word from the ‘DysguCymraeg’ people. They advised me not to participate in the “Foundational” level session tomorrow morning, as they figured atLevel 2 SSiW it would be challenging. I’ve taken their advice and ask for a refund (only a fiver), it’s no biggie.
When i first considered learning Welsh I found the immersion course was not for beginners, and opted for SSiW as a precursor. The Covid-19 crisis has upset my plans a bit. It is tough staying the course, and that’s why I like the half hour vocab sessions - it is at once a challenge and a marker for progress. Without (external) structure I find my learning falters. I just end up spending more time finding all sorts of material more than actually learning (case in point 
