Not enough time to speak

I’ve just started week 1 of the 6 minutes a day welsh speaker course. There’s a couple of things I’m finding frustrating:
Firstly - the first (female) voice cuts in far too quickly - much quicker than on the introductory course. It puts me off as I haven’t had time to formulate my response. Stressful!
Secondly - I’m trying to do just 6 minutes a day, rather doing the lesson all in one 30 minute block. When I return to the lesson, it has always rewound back to the beginning, rather than where I stopped it.
Minor issues, but annoying!
Thought it was worth saying something as other people may be finding this a problem too.

I use the pause button if I don’t have enough time. You get used to the gaps so much that after a while you know exactly when she’s going to start talking so you can hit pause if you’ve not finished :grinning:

A couple of things.

Firstly, don’t be afraid to use the pause button liberally. I use it a lot on my first attempt at a challenge, and then try to cut it down on repeat tries. I think just giving yourself permission to do lots of pausing on the first try takes some pressure off.

Secondly, some of the challenges do have a very short window. I think it’s challenge 2 (maybe 3 as well) which has really short gaps, too short to be realistically doable. So if you’re at that point, don’t worry - it does ease up a bit after that.

The inline player doesn’t let you have a lot of control, but there are a couple of ways to do this. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can download the SSiW app which gives you access to the audio files and always keeps where you stopped so you can just carry on from the same place.

Otherwise, download the files using the little download arrow and save them as mp3 files. It’s a good idea to do that anyway so you can use them offline. Then use any mp3 player software that comes with your device, and they give you more control over stopping and restarting as well.

1 Like

Thanks Emma - I think I’d thought I’d be failing if I hit the pause button, so I’m not ashamed to do it now!

2 Likes

You’re absolutely right. As I said to Emma - I felt as if I was being a failure if I couldn’t think and say the words fast enough, but I’ve done as you both said tonight and feel a lot less stressed. Thank you.

2 Likes

Will try Deborah, thank you for that. Not very techno savvy, but will definitely have a go. Thank you.

Fantastic! Done both the things you suggest - so much easier!

3 Likes