Claudia - how you really compare

So, @Claudia_Beryan - talk me through it.

How far have you got? How often have you done those lessons? Which lessons have you revisited? And what is your idea of ‘very little’? :slight_smile:

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Sorry @aran, but from my point of view (as non-native English speaker) this is a bit unclear. Do you want @Claudia_Beryan answers your questions you’ve put here or she challenged you to open this topic for us to provide what you’ve discussed previously somewhere (Skype?)?

Sorry to interfear though but I just had to ask as there might be more people wondering about this.

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if this is saying, "Please stay with us @Claudia_Beryan, I’ll second that, bur I agree with @tatjana that it is not clear!

Personally, I took it as Aran inviting Claudia to elaborate on her learning journey, at this point anyway.

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Yes, I would like Claudia to answer the questions I posted here… :slight_smile:

Just read @Claudia_Beryan post as the vibe seemed all too familiar. So, Claudia, please don’t try to measure yourself against an ideal, it’s just demoralising. The old music practice trick of ‘what can I do today that I couldn’t do yesterday’ works a lot better for me, particularly when my self esteem isn’t great and some fool’s just belittled me for learning Welsh. Learn a new word today, make a sentence and then see what tomorrow brings. Keep going, don’t beat yourself up (although we all do that to ourselves sometimes).
Now, is that enough instructions for now? :grinning:
Pob lŵc

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@Claudia_Beryan Today, I saw an inspiring lady on TV. She left school at 16 with no qualifications. She supported herself and at least one child by working at looking after elderly people in their homes. No qualifications were required so her pay was very low. But she joined a Union and worked to get rights to go to night school for herself and her colleagues. I am not sure what she has studied since, but I was very, very impressed by her eloquence and her breadth of vocabulary. So was a huge hall full of people at the Labour Party Conference, because this lady is now chosen as the Party spokesperson on Education and is working for free education for life for everyone in Britain. Her life is so like yours, Claudia! Her name is Angela Rayner. Look her up on Google and know that lack of opportunity is not the same as lack of ability!

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I’m very sorry for having been such a coward. I finally had to admit to myself that I loved Welsh too much already to give up, and that I missed it…a lot. I haven’t made it past lesson 16 from level one; and even though I didn’t count the revisits, I must have repeated nearly all the Challenges approximately 4 times - some Challenges up to 7 times, I’m sure. Still, from Challenge 7,8 onward, it was very likely that I stayed mute after the English sentence, or just managed to utter a couple of words in Welsh. My idea of ‘very little’ is not being able to make progresses, not being able to memorise new words even after repeating a Challenge 4 times. It seems that my brain’s memorising ressources are used up all too quickly, especially when the sentences become more complex.

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Swmae @Claudia_Beryan. It’s lovely to see you you here again!

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Hey, when I talked to you on Skype you could say things in Welsh! And you recognised many things I said to you that you thought you didn’t remember. So, if you look at how much Welsh you spoke before starting to learn it, I’d say you must have made progress. :slight_smile:

Great to see you back! Let me know if you want to talk again sometime!

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Thank you for the extra detail, Claudia, and well done for being brave enough to come back and carry on talking to us - it’s not cowardly to need a break, but it certainly takes courage to come back when you feel that it wasn’t going well… :thumbsup:

Okay, this is a definite warning flag. So tell me, how much are you using the pause button? :slight_smile:

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Not a coward at all, just a bit depressed and we have all been there from time to time! @Novem is right, look at what you have learned! And remember that very few of us could chat away as you do in a language we have been taught! @tatjana is one, @seren from Belarus and some from Germany and… well, OK maybe more than the fingers of one hand, but not many! I couldn’t! It is too long since I used my French!! So da iawn ti!!

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Diolch yn fawr iawn for the warm welcome words, it’s very, very kind of you! :rose: I’m really glad to have found my way back

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You’re being very, very kind, a gentlewoman :rose:…but really, I couldn’t remember and say many things in Welsh. Actually, I felt ashamed and avoided speaking Welsh; I was concerned you might feel terribly bored having to wait hours for me to remember a word, let alone a whole sentence, in Welsh.

I enjoyed talking with you on Skype and I wish I could offer more than just a couple of words. I must find a way to learn faster, so that we can have a real conversation - one that is not only educational for me, but at least a little bit enjoyable for you, too!

Yes, you’re certainly right, I should appreciate and focus on the things I have learned, instead of bemoaning my being a slow learner with a weak working memory. I cannot deny that I did foolishly compare myself to the folks in here that have been learning at light speed. I tried so hard to achieve that, too. Sometimes, I think feeling less enthusiasm for something and being more calm and in a way ‘distanced’ would be more helpful…:nerd:

When I started learning, I used the paus button quite often; and as you once pointed out, it sometimes almost doubled the length of a Challenge. Then, in order to break this habit, I downloaded the Challenges and listened to them at work, not being able to use the pause button at all. In a way, it was much more relaxed…in another way, I had much less time to think and my ‘speaking time’ diminished drastically. :disappointed: Maybe I just need to repeat the Challenges as often as it takes for my brain to finally memorize the words and sentences. :slight_smile:

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Okay, that won’t have been helping you - we encourage people to use the pause button as little as possible - but the aim is for you to be speaking, so if you don’t adapt to the pressure and say something about 70, 80% of the time (whether it’s right or not), then you’re better off using the pause button - it doesn’t matter if it doubles the length of the lesson, if it’s a more successful way to be learning…

But I would still recommend that you go through all the lessons in a Level before you repeat any… give that a shot, and let us know how it goes… :slight_smile:

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But you remembered and said something! I’m just trying to say that that is progress :slight_smile: I mean, just look at the name of the course :smile:

It was enjoyable for me :slight_smile: I know native speakers and other fluent speakers already. When I told you I’d be happy to talk to you it wasn’t because I was looking for an extensive conversation on complicated matters, it was because I wanted to chat, hear your story and try to help :smile:

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Oh, of course I could say something, but being aware that it most possibly isn’t entirely right (or completely wrong), I take too much time thinking and ‘forget’ to speak. Hmmm, yeah, first rule: mistakes are gooooooooood! It’s dawning on me that my worst enemy isn’t my brain, even with a weak working memory, but my :rage::scream::skull_crossbones:perfectionism. Or so I hope…

Yesterday at work, I did Challenges 1 to 7, and I was positively flabbergasted that it wasn’t that bad, even after the long pause. For the first time, I experienced this ‘just blurting out words and sentences without thinking’ other learners have been talking about; and the flabbergasting part was that not all of them were wrong

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That’s a great way to look at it…you’re right, I did indeed say something in Welsh! :smiley_cat: Next time, I’ll do my best not to chicken out again and say much more in Welsh :chicken:

:rose::kissing_heart:

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