[Edited as I got the Courses and Levels mixed up when I originally posted. Apologies for confusing people who’ve already helpfully replied!]
So… I’ve finally finished Lesson 26 of Course 1. Took a bit longer than I had originally hoped, as I fell off the SSIW wagon between April and October (despite several weeks in North Wales and a day-trip to the Eisteddfod).
I could now do with some advice about what to do next!
As I’m off to Bwtcamp in April, I obviously need to tackle the Course 1 vocab units. I’ve already made a start on Vocab 1
Looking further ahead, would I be better moving across to the Challenges now (and hopefully whizzing through some of the earlier ones) or continuing on with the Courses?
Hi, Jane.
Someone will give you the official answer fairly shortly. In the mean-time:
The “Challenges” are split into two “Levels”. The “Courses” are the older versions of these. So your next step after the level 1 vocabs will be Level 2.
Bearing April Bwtcamp in mind, it might be an idea to try Level 1 (the new courses, where “lessons” are “challenges”). Basically this will give you a rapid introduction to the most useful “short form” verbs, which in the old courses, don’t appear until Course 3.
I’d carry on with the Course 1 Vocab though, in parallel.
If you finish Level 1 with still loads of time to go before the bootcamp, well, the world is your oyster really. You could pick and mix between Course 2 and Level 2, or do just one or the other, or do both, depending on time available and energy and inclination…
Vocabulary is always handy for bootcamp (or anything else ), so you might have a try at some point at the Course 2 vocabulary, even if you haven’t completed all of Course 2 at that point.
OK, in that case, I would probably do the last two challenges of Level 1 as a revision plus slight widening of knowledge. Then on to level 2. The vocabs for these are within the level windows on desktop, or drop-down on phone app.
If you’ve done course 1, I think the official advice would be to move over to level 1 now, as Mike says. The course 1 vocab lessons will probably also be useful for bootcamp.
It really is mostly a matter of personal preference - but I would certainly personally recommend moving over to Level 1 (and starting from the beginning - the ‘too easy’ stuff won’t last very long!). Bootcamp should help focus your mind…
I’ll be at Bootcamp too!. I did Course 1, then course 2, before turning to the levels. Switching to the levels is a little unsettling and you lose your learning groove a bit, continuing to course 2 continues to build your confidence. It’s up to you really, but I would stick with the courses, as I did, and then switch. If i was starting at the beginning again, i would however start with the levels, but as you started with the courses i would stick with them. I would recommend the Levels listening practices though (the Chipmunk ones!
So, almost a month and a half on. Whilst not in the same league as Hen Ddraig’s, or the spectacular efforts of those on the Super Intensive, I’ve been having something of a mini-boot camp of my own!
Firstly, I’ve recapped the entire of Course 1. This not only reminded me of quite how much I’ve already learned, but also exposed a couple of places where I wasn’t as secure with the content as I would have really liked (which I’ve hopefully now rectified by going back over those lessons a couple more times). Just redid Lesson 26 for the first time since December. Probably only made 5 mistakes, and only had to use the pause button once (and that was because I was failing to multi-task at the time).
I’ve also been plodding steadily through Level 1, at a rate of 2-3 challenges a week. I’m aiming to have completed Level 1 (as well as Course 1) before Bwtcamp in April. Feel like i’m finally starting to make some progress here, and am about to move on to Challenge 13.
Did anyone else find Vocab 1 (masculine numbers) extremely painful? I ended up having to break it down into 15 minute blocks, as just couldn’t cope with it all in one go. Was very relieved to find that Vocab 2 (feminine numbers) and Vocab 3 (months) have been far less painful. Are there any other vocab units that come with a health warning (so I can make sure I leave enough time to get to grips with them)?
Now just need to get more comfortable speaking Welsh with other people…
Yes, I’ve found all the vocab units to be a decent workout each of which left me dazed to some extent or other, but easier second or third time round. (and the same with the first few units of level 2/course 2) I’m always a touch bemused by how intense it can be at times to work through one of the sessions in SSiW!
I’m also glad that the lessons are no more than 30 minutes – many’s the time that I’ve been looking at my watch, wondering “how much longer do I have to endure this?”
It’s rewarding but it’s also very intense at times.
That sounds like scampering along, rather than plodding!
And only 5 mistakes in 26 means you’re absolutely mastered that material - don’t waste any more time on it (unless you feel you need the odd refresher every six months or so).
If I were you, I’d focus more on Level 1 than the vocabs - Level 1 fills in most of the gaps that we needed to address in the vocabs - maybe worth running through just the Bootcamp vocabs, but otherwise I’d say you’re setting yourself up well for Bootcamp by keeping on with Level 1…
About time for an update… After finishing Course 1 (old course) back in December 2016, I completed Level 1 (new course) a week and a half before Bwtcamp. My plan had been to quickly whizz through Vocab Units 7-10 in the remaining time, which I had neglected in favour of finishing Level 1 properly. This didn’t quite materialise, as some really upsetting stuff then happened at work and my ability to concentrate went out the window for best part of a week.
I can report that it is possible to survive and thrive at Bwtcamp with the combination of just Course 1 and Level 1 (without having completed all the Course 1 Vocab Units). You will get frustrated, and you will have to get inventive to say what you want to say. However, you already have some really useful building blocks in the bag, and you just need to use them ‘in the wild’.
This next bit is really just for me, but I’m putting this here in writing so that when I feel like I’ve plateaued again in a couple of months, I can’t forget or try to minimize the progress I made at Bwtcamp. I can no longer hide behind the excuse that “I’m trying to learn Welsh”. I now can speak Welsh, just not very well yet.
With that in mind, I’m setting myself a challenge. I’m aiming for one Challenge from Level 2 and one Lesson from Course 2 each week. I like the old course because it is nice and formulaic, and I always feel that I really have got to grips with a new grammar pattern before the course moves on. However, I also like the real life Welsh and range of vocabulary covered in the new Levels, but am not so keen on the way stuff sometimes gets snuck in with no warning whatsoever. Hopefully, this is the best of both worlds… Oh and finishing off the Course 1 vocab units that I didn’t get a chance to do before Bwtcamp).
In addition, I’m setting myself the challenge of reading at least one Welsh book per month. One of the other Bwtcampers gave me her copy of ‘E-Ffrindiau’ during Bwtcamp (many thanks @amandalaing ), and I’m already more than half way through. Was initially bemused by the glossed vocabulary - I regularly found that I knew the glossed words from SSIW, but had to look up quite a few of the unglossed words. Have now done a little research, and it looks like the vocabulary used is heavily based on the words introduced in the WJEC 'Cwrs Mynediad’ textbook…
So… as I’ve just finished my first Welsh book, I think it is time for another update. “E-Ffrindiau” by Lois Arnold is an excellent introduction to reading in Welsh. It starts very simply, and progressively builds in complexity as the story develops. It comprises of a series of emails between two pen-friends, meaning you can read as much or as little as you like at any one time. It seems to tie in very closely with the Cwrs Mynediad textbook (which I’ve definitely not started working my way through in my spare time), and any words not covered or that can’t be guessed by sounding them out are glossed. If you are just doing SSIW, you’ll need access to a dictionary too.
Took me just under three weeks to read, as I effectively read each email twice. Once out loud (or as out loud as one can manage on the bus on the way to and from work), and then again going back through it to make sure I had understood every word. Didn’t want it to end, and would love to know what happened next… However, I’m not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it by expanding any further on that!
As someone doing the Northern Lessons and Challenges, it took me a little while to get my head round the Southern Welsh. Bwtcamp definitely helped, as I’d already had a week of getting used to hearing ‘gyda’ as well as ‘efo’, ‘mae gyda fi’ as well as mae gen i (etc), and f/e as well as f/o. However, one thing is still puzzling me - ‘yw’. Am I right in thinking that the Northern equivalent is ‘ydy’?
In other news, now on Level 2 Challenge 3 and Course 2 Lesson 4. No need to worry @yorkshireend, I suspect this month’s story will still be a real challenge for me if it is anything like the story we did back in March! More practice at reading aloud wouldn’t go amiss either!
