While I’m waiting for the end of Level 2, to keep up some momentum I’m going through Course 1, started this week and doing two lessons a dal. It’s interesting to note Aran’s changes in philosophy between Course 1, Level 1 and now!
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Catrin will be recording 24 and 25 as soon as she gets a half-decent night’s sleep (thank you small dog and small children!) - and we’re also hoping to put on a bit of a growth spurt with the southern version in the near future.
And then L3 should be a much faster affair… 
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I spent Easter weekend in North Wales, I managed to follow most of the conversations, but I couldn’t formulate responses fast enough to get a word in, and by the time I had a sentence to say the whole topic had changed and wouldn’t fit in any more! But I definitely understood more than the last time so slow progress, but definitely progress!
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That’s actually a huge step forward - you’re definitely getting close to a tipping point now - how often are you managing to spend speaking Welsh each week?
I don’t manage it each week, I only get to see Tom every fortnight or so and in between tend to talk via text (and I can’t spell any of the Welsh I know!), so it’s usually just a few minutes every other week.
Even in English I struggle with other ways to say things, so when I don’t know how to say what I want I find it really hard to think of another way to phrase it that I can say in Welsh. I have a problem with perfection, and really struggle with accepting anything less than 100% accurate. I know when I say something slightly wrong the only person judging me is myself, but it can be an overwhelming feeling sometimes. It’s probably partly why I spend so long perfecting the sentence and miss the chance to say it.
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Okay - so the good news is that you’ve clearly identified exactly what now stands between you and conversational fluency!
There’s no reason why Tom should be the only person you use your Welsh with - there are plenty of people on here who are happy to find new practice partners - I strongly suggest that you try setting up a few sessions, see who you click with, and then try to stick to an hour once a week (if you make 4 contacts, that’s just one session a month for each of them).
With the perfectionism - you need to be aware what a dangerous enemy it is. I’ve seen it stop people who were otherwise learning very successfully.
How about trying to harness it differently?
Identify the process of making mistakes as a central part of the learning process (which it is), and set yourself a target of making 10 mistakes a day - and let your perfectionism kick in when you fail to hit your target of 10 mistakes a day…?
I suggest it because I’ve seen that tactic work for perfectionists before…
Pob lwc!
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This is true, but as well as being anxious about making mistakes I also have anxiety around talking to strangers and talking on the phone (I’m a mess basically). Those are also things I need to get over, particularly for work, however tackling all three in one go might just push me over the edge!
I am aware that the perfectionism is holding me back, however it’s so engrained in everything I do that I’m not sure I’d be comfortable even with a predefined allowance of mistakes. It’s definitely something I need to conquer, I just don’t know how to start.
On a more positive note, I’m glad to see the last two challenges of Level 2 are published, I’ll tackle those tomorrow!
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I hear you - it’s important not to try and force yourself into behaviour that makes you seriously uncomfortable/unhappy - that doesn’t help learning.
Of course, it’s also important to keep on testing your boundaries, and seeing where you can extend them by taking a step outside your comfort zone…
I think it might be a good idea for you to keep revisiting the notion of perfectionism - it surely ought to be about doing your best, rather than just hating mistakes - hating mistakes in itself isn’t the same as perfectionism. In terms of memory formation, it is a solid, researched fact that mistakes contribute to building memories… maybe you could make one deliberate mistake per day, quietly, to yourself, and see if you can start to make friends with them?..
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