I went on a date today with a lovely girl from Blaenau Ffestiniog and we spoke Welsh with each other all day. I was originally going to speak to her in English as I thought that it would be really hard to get to know each other properly if I attempted to speak Welsh with her and I was nervous enough as it was and didn’t want the extra pressure but when we met we greeted each other in Welsh and that’s how it carried on ! There were obviously quite a few occasions during the day when I had to ask her to repeat herself but it just felt more natural to speak Welsh with each other .
Just wanted to say thankyou to all the SSIW team as without SSIW it never would have been possible . I’ve still got a long way to go but today was definitely an unexpected step forward
we spoke Welsh with each other all day
More evidence, if you need it, that Welsh is the “language of lurrrv” 
It’s such a good thing that you started off with Cymraeg. It’s often really hard to turn from English to Cymraeg even if the ‘native’ speaker knows you want to. It often feels strange, or just wrong. So you started off on the right foot. Da iawn a Phob Lwc.
Is she a first-language Welsh speaker, would you say?
Anyway, da iawn ti! 
How lovely! I’m sure your Welsh made a terrific impression on her as it’s so good and natural! Good luck…
Thanks @margaretnock your right , it was best to start off in Cymraeg first as it will now be more natural to speak Welsh with each other in the future
Yes @mikeellwood she is a native speaker and doesn’t feel as comfortable speaking in English
Thanks so much for your kind words @netmouse . We seem to have made a good impression on each other as things are going very well
It’s not really a breakthrough…well, maybe another kind of breakthrough. I’ve decided to make a pause with learning Welsh. I’m not a quitter, but also not stupid enough not to realise when a task isn’t reachable and unrealistic to tackle successfully for me. Learning Welsh this way is extremely difficult and exhausting for me; and I need my energy to solve problems in life, there have always been plenty of them and a lot of family members depend on me. You know, the fun and joy of learning diminishes quickly when there is so ridiculously little success for damn hard work. I did the Challenges for hours at work, at home…I did the homework suggested at the beginning of level one, but kept forgetting and forgetting and forgetting. See, if I cannot even build a stable base on which I can rely and continue learning and making progresses from, the whole thing is prone to fail.
Sorry to see you go, Claudia - but we’ll be here to support you when you feel like carrying on…
Diolch o galon for all your help, support and encouragement…and know that I’m deeply, deeply sorry and sad. You all here on the forum are wonderful people! 
But hey, I’m no loss as a leaner, I just “adjusted the statistics downwards” 
Claudia, don’t worry, but don’t put yourself down either - everyone learns at different speeds and there is no ‘one-size fits all’ method. There is absolutely no shame in taking a break, however long it may turn out to be, and if I may, I’d like to suggest you put Radio Cymru or S4C on in the background from time to time - but (and this is imperative!) do not try and listen to or understand it, indeed, ignore it and treat it as audio wallpaper and just let it wash over you - that way, if and when life allows and you feel ready to try again, it won’t feel like starting from scratch and be such a huge step.
Thank you so much for your understanding, Siaron! My fascination and affection for Wales and Welsh hasn’t gone away a bit, just because I have such problems learning. That’s a great idea, I will put Radio Cymru on from time to time and let it wash over me - that way, I can still stay in touch with Gymraeg and keep its feel and sound alive in my memory. And I will stick around in the forum, if this is okay…
Hey @Claudia_Beryan! I’ve just “discovered” you and you go away? 
What about kind of stopping learning and still hanging around? The more you say you can’t acheave what you think is “normal” to be acheaved with your amount of work, the more I feel the temptation to be able to Skype with you at one (not so distant if not really short) point.
I bet you can produce more than you think and I believe if you’d hear me really speaking (not singing) you’d be just aware I do many more mistakes that you’d ever do. It might be heard that I speak Welsh really good, but my welsh is more of inovations of all kinds and grammar is really not my brightest spot of speaking. I speak, this is true but if one would pay attention to the usage of my Welsh - I mean structure of sentences with that - that one woudl surely say “ohoh … ayayay …” The main point is that all who spoke with me and visited me like @margaretnock and @brigitte could somehow understand me. I know for sure sometimes one who listens to me has to think really hard (when I try to tell some more complex things) to be able to cope with what I tried to tell.
You still expect too much from yourself I think and it’s just lack of opportunities to use your Welsh which prevents you to learn more and being able to remember/understand more.
The deceision is yours of course but you should know we’re all here for you when you decide to continue (ohhh, I wish I could talk you into just not stopping at all ).
If you really go … pob lwc (good luck) and safely return “home” (read “here” to this forum) when you decide to do so.
Tatjana
It would be great if you could stick around @Claudia_Beryan . I think everyone on here can vouch that there are periods when it feels you have gone back to square one , and that you are making no progress at all and it is hard to have the enthusiasm to keep on going .Try not to be too hard on yourself
@Claudia_Beryan may i echo all those begging you to stay! I suspect we all stop and start when it comes to learning - just watch S4C or listen to Radio Cymru for a bit, or pop into the Forum for a chat! Pauses are probably good - there is a saying in English, “a change is as good as a rest”. Clearly both change and rest are good for us!
@tatjana @Sam84 @henddraig Really, you do sometimes stop learning, too? Thank you so much for your understanding and support…honestly, I often cannot believe how kind, sympathetic and helpful people in this Forum are! I will stick around in the Forum, if this is okay for you…and I’m so curious to hear news from the Bootcamp!
Yes, as everyone else is saying, please carry on visiting the forum. We would miss you if you disappeared. @siaronjames’s suggestion of having Radio Cymru on in the background is an excellent one, I think. I like to have its podcasts on for the sound even though I don’t understand them. Enjoy your rest from the challenges. If you are able to start again later then that will be great.
OK? We are all saying it will NOT be OK if you go! So, Please, os gwelwch chi’n dda, aros yma! Stay on the Forum!
I’m with the others. Do stay.
Ooo, yes. For the matter in fact I did stop doing challenges quite some time ago and didn’t finish the new material which just came out (Level 3 Southern to Challenge 6). I stopped somewhere at Level 2 Challenge 17 and now only now and then I do some lessons to maintain my knowledge. I know this is why my speaking (regarding forming more “modern” structures of sentences) is so poor, but this didn’t stop me from lurking here around and now and then showing my face on here from time to time.
If this is OK for us? This is crazily awesome! You’ve heard the rest of the people here so “If this is OK?” is unneccessary question.
You are welcome and thank you.
Thank you sooooo so much…and forgive me for talking absolute nonsense sometimes. You all ARE angels! 