I was interested in the claim at the end of Challenge 2 that STM would improve with practice. I am 80 and nearly all the errors I make are due to forgetting a part of the English sentence. It would be nice to think that this will get better, but is there any real evidence that it will? Please note that this is not a complaint!
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I actually found my STM did improve, at least a little. I’ve always had a terrible STM and mental arithmetic tests were always a nightmare for me as a child, so doing the SSiW course in my 60s wasn’t easy, but I did notice a slight improvement in STM after a while. However, I also developed a few tricks to help me and even made a video about it. I’ve linked to it in this thread which you might find helpful.
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Great feedback, Margaret, thank you so much for that 
@michael-morgan-1 - yes, there is academic evidence for task improvement on short term memory (although I’m not aware of anything robust yet that suggests the improvements can be sustained across different tasks) - we’ll also be adding optional subtitles to our new AutoMagic delivery system that should help with this… 
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was interested to read this as I’ve got M.E. and I’m finding I muddle the last part of the English with long sentences on SSIW - but I find most of the time I translate correctly what I “think” was said- it’s just I may have got the English wrong at the end! So I’m consoling myself with that - and I sometimes find that the sentence I’d actually translated is the next one being said! 
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Same here! My M.E. and autism usually mean i get genders or people switched (especially in challenge 13 onwards - “he wanted me to tell you that you need to say to her”/exaggerated), so I’m constantly getting the sentences wrong. At least I know that what I’m trying to say is correct! I believe at some point in one of the challenges it’s said that getting the phrasing ‘wrong’ but still having a grammatically correct sentence is proof that we’re using language the way it’s supposed to be used, so there’s that I suppose. (Wishing you lots of spoons by the way)
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ah a fellow spoonie! (people will be wondering what the…!!!) Yes I used up a lot of spoons today in the fresh air but well worth it. I’m finding I can’t remember the day / night at the end of later challenges - eg they may have said Saturday night but I can’t remember so I just make something up- Sunday afternoon or whatever!! 
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I find that I confuse either words with different meanings but similar spellings (rhoi/rhai) or different spellings but similar meanings (deud/siarad).
Also sometimes place names - the number of times I have said, and continue to say, Llangefni when I mean Llanfairfechan (or vice versa) makes my partner laugh. 
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I was pleased to see this thread because auditory verbal memory is something I also struggle with (as part of my ADHD) - well, actually it has really hindered me in life (and continues to do so), especially in education. My preferred learning method is visually - basically, through reading and writing. Anyway, when I tried to do SSIW a couple of years ago I did not get very far, because it took so much effort to concentrate so that my mind would just wander constantly.
So, fast forward quite a few years, and I was determined to try again - due to my ambition to learn Welsh - and I started listening whilst driving to and from work everyday… and this is working for me! I think it’s partly doing two things at once, and not having the option of using the pause button.
I think, because of the repetition, I have got a lot better at knowing what the sentences are, or even just guessing correctly. Like other people have said, I also get mixed up especially on similar words like hogan and hogyn, and I can never remember if the person in question is in their t(h)ridegau or (h)ugeiniau… I also struggle to hear the difference between some letters, such as b and f… so sometimes I must come out with a load of gobbledygook… however, at other times, I surprise myself by coming out with a correct sentence before my brain has had chance to engage.
Overall, when I get to a level where the sentences are getting longer and I’m not keeping up, then I don’t worry about it, but I just keep going, get the odd word here and there, and then go back to the lesson again when it’s finished. Also, I get excited about what new words are coming up, so I listen to more lessons even when I’m not keeping up, after which I rewind and go over it again.
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That’s really interesting, Lorna - well done on getting back into it - I’m really delighted to hear that it’s going better for you now 
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yes da iawn it ti Lorna - glad you’re sticking with it! 
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I can’t just sit and listen either. I used Say Something in Welsh while doing the ironing or going for walks. I’m now doing Say Something in Spanish, mostly while doing the washing up. In order to focus, it seems I need to be doing something routine with my hands.
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My wife, who has never done a single challenge or lesson in SSiW, absolutely loves them. When I was doing them, there was no way that I could just sit passively and listen (my own hyperactivity). Do you know how much housework I managed to do during all those Levels, Courses, North and South? 
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I’m the opposite, I can only take in one thing at a time. I tried SSIW while driving to work but couldn’t even attempt to say anything because my head was full of driving stuff. I have to be free of any other sensory input or activities. Even something mindless like putting away the laundry still takes too much of my attention. It seems I’m afflicted with monotasking
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I am about the same age as you Michael and No, STM doesn’t improve. It stays the same for EVERYBODY no matter what age they are. STM is somewhere between 5 and 9 chunks of information. To get things into LTM you have to be able to attach the information in STM to something you already know. As you keep learning, more and more things slip into your LTM and so the transfer of information gets faster. So, although your STM won’t improve (neither will anyone else’s), you will remember more and more, and more easily as you go on. And you probably won’t even notice it happening.
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