Got behind- what to do now?

Hi,

I’m doing the 6minute course and was very motivated at the beginning and even disappointed when there wasn’t a new audio lesson every week. Fast forward a few months and I’ve hit my first blip… due to life getting in the way I fell behind…I’m now on week 19 so just received lesson 9 but I still haven’t done lesson 8. I’ve just tried to start lesson 8 but couldn’t remember any of the content from recent lessons…though words learnt early on are fine…so I abandoned it after 5minutes.

What do you suggest do I press on with lesson 8 even though I’m not answering much even with pausing? or do I go back …either to lesson 7 (which I remember felt okay and didn’t need many pauses even though I can’t remember it now!) Or go back further?

I need to get caught back up so looking for advice

Thanks

Claire

2 Likes

Hi Claire,

I guess we often get caught in a sort of back-to-school anxiety, don’t we?
But if you think about it, even though the courses are designed to help keep learners on track, you’re not going to have to pass an exam at the end so…it’s going to be alright anyway, if you finish it a bit later.

And since I tend to beat myself up when I fall behind my plans I would also say that in my experience one of the things that helped me more with this course is making sure to enjoy myself learning.

So first of all I would suggest to always remember this: don’t worry! :slight_smile:

As for what’s the best way to catch up, I see we (learners in this Forum) tend to have their own preferences. In Level 1 I used pause button a lot, but just pressed on even though I did a lot of mistakes and didn’t understand everything. I never repeated challenges - except a couple of times when I tried the next one and felt totally lost, and I mean totally!

However, other learners prefer repeating challenges them a few times so…I don’t know what’s best for you, you might experiment a little bit.
Or we can ask @Deborah-SSi or @aran for a more official answer!

2 Likes

Good Morning Claire: I am just getting started with this forum thing. I am just getting started with SSI WELSH. You are way ahead of me. But I would go back and review a previous lesson to give me some confidence to move forward. You got this. I don’t know how to say that in Welsh. Bore Da! Lucinda

2 Likes

We went away for 7 weeks (is been on lesson 7) and I had the same problem - by the time I came back I was three lessons behind which very quickly became four. I tried going one back but it wasn’t enough- so I started at lesson 5. I’m now on lesson ten and have only one more to catch up.

2 Likes

I would send an email to admin@saysomethingin.com and ask to be put back to Week 18, giving yourself more time to go through Challenge 8. That will give you time to catch up without the pressure, then you can move onto Week 19 next week … or the week after that if you feel you need a bit more. The main thing is not to get stuck though. Even if you don’t feel like you remember anything, don’t go through more than 2-3 times. Move on, then once you get on a little further, if you still want to you can come back and have another run through.

1 Like

Thanks Dee. So would your recommendation be to push on with lesson 8, even if I need to repeat it, rather than going back?

1 Like

At this point, yes, push on and see how you go. Remember that you’re just practising some Welsh, not expecting to get it all perfect, so even if all you manage in the gaps is a few words, that’s fine. Listen carefully to the Welsh that comes back, then move on.

If you get a couple of challenges further on and feel that you need another run through, you can easily do that. Go back to 7 then run through them again.

1 Like

I’m/I can be/have been a bit of a “stopper, and starter, and oh hell! I can’t fit this into my life and where am I now?” person.

I find I need a really good laugh in a Welsh Speaking Context, and perhaps find something that grabs my attention again, so I can “catch myself on” again, somehow…

I do recommend the absurdly preposterous Welsh Singing Practice (Noson Canu or summit) which is a relatively private hangout - i.e. not on YouTube - Thursday evening on the WSP (Welsh Speaking Practice) Slack.

My eyes were streaming with tears of laughter, coughing fits, urgent need to find the tŷ bach… and you’ll be glad to know that Ruth in Canada “won” the song we were singing about coloured goats…

Next week will be differently emotional: Calon Lân… Hoping to see/witness you having fun somewhere around our community, @claire-16 - do check whether you are subscribed to WSP & fit in some fun if you can “canu” gyda ni a @nia.llywelyn! Hwyl fawr i ti! Dal ati! Pob lwc! xxx Lorna

Thank you everybody for helping me when i had a wobble, i decided to brave it on Monday and push through with lesson 8…yes i needed to use the pause button more than usual but i was surprised by what i could remember once i got going again.

I really enjoyed the lesson in the end, so much so i started lesson 9 straight after, then did a bit more last night and got up 10mins earlier this morning to finish it. Lesson 9 i found consolidated lesson 8 so i didn’t need the pause button as much.

I may have got behind with life getting in the way recently but ive rediscovered my love of SSiW this week, gained confidence in the method after realising that i am retaining most of what I’ve learnt and refocused on what learning to speak welsh means to me.

I chose the 6 minute course originally as i felt it was achievable. Given how much I want to learn i realise i can find 6minutes each day to make the time for me…i must easily waste 6 minutes a day that can be put to better use doing something i enjoy! So tonight i took the leap abd joined slack and recorded my sentence on soundcloud and now im back to waiting for Monday when the next lesson arrives - learning Welsh with SSiW is addictive!