Fab, thank you so much - I might find that going forward(the old-fashioned bit) then, the last time I spoke Welsh, dinosaurs were roaming the world and we still took O Levels in it! 
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If you are confusing âdwiânâ with ârwyânâ, thatâs no problem - if you learnt some Welsh years ago, ârwyânâ was the standard form, whereas âdwiânâ (or wiân) is a much more commonly heard spoken form. Stick with what youâre comfortable with but donât be surprised if you morph to âdwiânâ (or wiân) eventually!
If youâre confusing âdwiâmâ (notice the n rather than the n) with "rwyân, then thatâs slightly different - dwiâm with an m is negative (= I am not) whereas rwyân is positive (= I am), so yes, try not to mix those up.
Which area are you learning (i.e. North or South)?
Eisiau (spelt in spoken form as ishe or isio) is fine for to want - moyn is heard more in the South, but youâll hear plenty of eisiau too. There is a subtle difference though - in the South, moyn = to want and eisiau = to need but in the North eisiau = to want and angen = to need.
edit - ah, I see Aran has beaten me to it by not being quite so long-winded!
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Lucky you, you got to see dinosaurs⊠Do you have pictures, by any chance? 
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I have a question - I am finding it difficult to remember everything that is said on the longer sentences and find it impossible to finish saying the sentence in Welsh - any ideas? Diolch! Therese
Hi, @therese.danchin! If you type âlong sentencesâ into the search box here, youâll find lots of people with exactly the same problem! The most comforting thing that I read on this issue was that it doesnât really matter whether you say,â I met someone in the pub who used to work with your brotherâ or âI met someone in the pub who said he wanted to practise Welsh with youâ, as long as you say something. The idea is that you donât have time to over-think it, but just say what comes into your mind. As you go on with the course, eventually those long sentences will just come out effortlessly. Meanwhile, laugh at your mistakes, because theyâre part of the learning process!
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Hello, I am new to the course and new to the technology - not sure which is more challenging :). Seriously though, I think I have my head round the difference between I must and i 've got in challenge 4, but I am at a loss with 'andâfrom one of the earlier challenges. I got that itâs r if a consonant and ac if a vowel, but when I am doing the challenges I usually get it wrong for eg; fine if followed by dween, but when followed by ma, I assume it will be r but you say ac . I no comprendez and despite repeatedly trying to understand it, I donât - so please help, thank you - Sue
Helo Bronwent,
Thank you so much for your encouragement! Iâll try and remember that. Thanks again. Therese
Welcome Sue 
Try not to overthink it and after a while your mouth will say what your ears have heard rather than what your brain thinks ought to be there!
âAndâ is either âaâ or âacâ. When it comes before a word beginning with a consonant, itâs âaâ and when itâs before a word beginning with a vowel, itâs âacâ. However, there are occasions, like âac maeâ which seem to break this rule. This is because âac maeâ is actually a shortening of âac y maeâ which, over time, has lost its âyâ but not changed its âacâ! Itâs a little anomaly that âjust isâ, but honestly, if you say âa maeâ until you naturally switch to âac maeâ (and the more you hear it, the more itâll stick), itâs not a huge problem.
Hope that helps a bit, but the bottom line is, donât worry at this stage, just go with the flow!
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Hi, I joined and did the first lesson. I tried to go to the forum where I could ask to be put on the map, but somehow got redirected to a general forum list. I am in Knoxville, TN USA 37923.
I would like to know how to also learn to spell what Iâm learning to speak. How do I do that?
Also a friend directed me here to find a translation for the title of a knitting pattern I wrote, but after signing up and doing the first lesson, I canât find a place where I can translate. The name is âSoft, Leafy.â
Thank you (Dioch?)
~ Nikki
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Hi Nikki, welcome!
The forum is a bit of a behemoth, but donât worry, there are always people who can help you navigate it!
We have a thread for asking to be added to the map here The 'Please add me to the SSiW map' thread đș
but Iâll also tag @Sionned for you here, as sheâs the one who actually does the adding.
The course isnât designed to teach spelling, itâs designed to get people speaking first and foremost, but most people pick up spelling as they go along and by doing âextrasâ such as reading Welsh - you might find the articles on https://parallel.cymru/ useful. Generally though, we encourage people to speak and hear first and read and write much later. It does all click into place eventually, but trying to do it all at once can be overwhelming.
We donât have a built-in tool for translating on the site - but what we do have is lots of people who will help with a translation.
So âSoft, Leafyâ would be âMeddal, Deiliogâ
Hope you enjoy the rest of the course, and remember, weâre all here to help, most of us have been through or are going through exactly what you will come across, so never worry about asking on the forum if you need any help, support or encouragement!
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Hi, Nikki - Iâve added you to the map. Thanks!
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Hi there,
Iâve started a night school class with Dysgu Cymraeg Gwent. Great fun, feel iâm doing ok and could probably have a very basic conversation. Iâm listening to dialogues and can now understand quite a bit. Iâm trying to use all sorts of resources to broaden my understanding but speaking practice is not frequent hence i thought iâd have a go on here this site. HoweverâŠâŠ the first challenge (south) straight away shows differences, using âmoynâ rather than âeisiauâ, Using âeisiauâ where Iâve been taught âangenâ, iâve been taught âdw i ddim yn cofioâ etc etc. I appreciate theyâre all correct but It does confuse things somewhat and i wonder if i should continue or stop now to avoid confusion !!!
It also raises an interesting question which may be better suited to other topics on the forum, such as should there be a standardised regulated official vocabulary overseen by an organisation similar to Academie Francaise in France ??? How do the various methods reconcile or meet the needs for their students if they use different vocab etc etc ?? interesting stuff.
Hi Jonathan, and welcome!
If youâve been taught want/need as eisiau/angen rather than moyn/eisiau, it sounds like you may have been taught by a North-Welsh speaker - you caould always try the first challenge in Northern to see if that helps!
The thing is, SSiW tries to expose you to many different ways of saying the same thing, not to deliberately confuse you (though yes, depending on the degree of previous knowledge, it can be confusing), but because thatâs how you hear it spoken âin the wildâ - people use lots of different forms and whilst you are free to use whichever you prefer, at least you will recognise the ones you donât personally use when you come across them
This has actually been attempted and many book-based courses are based on this. Great for writing essays or passing written exams but the problem was/is is that the âstandardisedâ vocabulary isnât the one used by first-language Welsh speakers, so people would put a huge amount of effort into learning words and constructions that they would never get to hear in TV/radio/podcast/conversation etc, and by using what theyâd learnt in speech, people would always sound like a learner rather than develop a natural sounding Welsh vocabulary.
This can be why the SSiW method often seems confusing or counter-intuitive, and whilst no course will suit 100% of people, the results weâve seen from SSiW prove that it does get people speaking in Welsh much quicker than some other courses .
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This particular course is a national (Dysgu Cymraeg) course split into North Wales and South Wales, and iâm doing the South Wales version. The teacher West Walian (Llanelli/Burry Port) with Welsh as her first language so thats interesting ! Thanks for the reply !
Iâm sure everyone had asked this before but what is the best way to get that ll sound. When I hear it on the lesson it sounds more guttural and I find it very difficult to do after a G or a W
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The simplest way to do it is to put your tongue where it would be to make an L sound but instead of making a sound, blow air. It does take a bit of practise and it is trickier before and after certain letters, but it will come in time
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Iâm trying that but I donât seem to be able to get it quite as harsh thats probably the wrong word as it sounds. My dogs keep looking at me strangely as I was round trying to make the sound 
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You donât need to put any âvoiceâ in the actual ll sound, though letters before and after will have voice. The bare ll sound is mostly a kind of hissy sound. But donât worry about it too much. There are always variations in the way people say things, and this is no exception.
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How harsh the ll sound is partly comes down to accent. A first-language Welsh friend of mine from the Gower has such a soft ll that it sounds almost like an h to me. You donât need to mimic exactly how emphatic it sounds in the challenges - as long as you can make the sound to some extent, people will get what it is.
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Ah may be Iâm just overthinking this then. Thanks for the reply x
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