Helo pawb,
I must admit im feeling a little frustrated at the moment.
I have moved onto Level 2. However, at challenge 5 it brings back into the mix, a lot of words and phrases from Level 1 which, i am struggling to remember. This has knocked my confidence massively. As i thought id remembet more than i have.
Currently, i was trying yo remember at least 80% of the lesson before moving onto the next one. This challenge has been 6 days already and im still only about 50% there.
What is everyones take on this? Do I learn as much as possible in a week before moving on or do people tend to stick with a lesson until they have it and then move on? I fear that spending yoo much time on a lesson means im forgetting more.
I am on week 34 in total although if i did it a week at a time i should be on week 52. So ive lost 18 weeks already. Diolch
Bore da Stephen,
I would move on to the next challenge.
I got completely stuck on Level one Chalenges 12 -14 and had a good old moan on this forum. My experience now tells me that I am learning even when it doesnāt feel like it.
If you have got through level 1 then well done.
I had the same problem and it really knocks your confidence. The very long sentences donāt help either. I finished both levels but am going over all the vocabulary and phrases again in my own time.
Thereās always the odd challenge here and there where it seems to just bounce off me and not sink in. Iāve found that when that happens, I should just give it 2-3 runs through like any other challenge and then move on. So far itās worked out thanks to the way the challenges have you practicing the same things again in future anyway.
Getting hung up on one challenge will just discourage you and keep you stuck in one place, so Iād say move on even if you feel you havenāt got it yet.
Having said all of that, what works for you might be different. We donāt all learn in exactly the same way. For me, giving each challenge 2-3 listens seems to have worked best. For other people itās one go and done. Whatever seems to work best for you is the way to go. Iād just say donāt be afraid to move to the next challenge. Youāre more ready than you feel.
Did you move on after a week or did you stick at it until you knew most of ut?
When you completed both levels, congratulations by the way. Did it help when talking and listening to Welsh or were you still struggling?
Thanks
Steve
Thanks Alan. Much appreciated. My problem is im a perfectionist, no idea why? But, it annoys me when i cant do things i think i should be able to do.
Ah well, like you said. Best to move on then get frustrated and fall out of love with it.
Diolch yn fawr iawn
I can understand that. It took some conscious effort for me to resign myself to āclose enoughā!
Striving for perfection will prevent you moving forward. Besides, as I always try to remind myself, the idea is to be understood, not to be perfect. I talked to a native Welsh-speaking friend and realised afterwards that I messed up in how I was saying it, but he got my meaning and just answered me in Welsh. No one expects perfection from you, and itās worth trying to resist holding yourself to perfection as well.
Oh also, one of the wonderful things about using Welsh out in the wild is that if you canāt remember (or donāt know) how to say something, you can just drop some English in. First language Welsh speakers do it all the time for ease or convenience, sprinkling English words all over the place (at least where I am, in North Wales). No one will care.
Iām still trying to work through it all. Thing is,I usually never struggle with languages,I am fluent in French,German and Spanish,but this didnāt sink inā¦wonāt let it beat me thoughā¦mutations are a total mystery still,Iām afraid.
Iām working through level 3 now. I have always spent one week and moved on. I have never managed to assimilate it all but the repetition in later challenges helps and it seems to sink in. Iām occasionally surprised when I come out with stuff I didnāt realise I knew. I have been hampered by the lockdown in that I donāt get to speak the language with friends to practice. Iām still flummoxed by some of the verb constructions but figure that Iāll get them eventually. I will still do just one week and move on, perhaps have a think at the end of level 3.
For me itās complicated to keep my attention focused when I get bored.
And get bored very easily, with repetitions.
So I finished Level 1 and 2 without repeating any challenge (apart from the very first ones to figure out how to do them, and a few when I slept through most of them 
). I just moved on to the next, no matter how much I got right or wrong, or how.much felt I remembered at the end of each one.
I can tell that at the end there were still words or expressions I didnāt remember, but I definitely got enough of a grasp and feeling of the language structures that allowed me to just go and try to speak with people, enjoy watching TV (often with the help of subtitles but I think itās ok anyway), and later start reading and enjoy books, or the advanced material. And sure also go on with Level 3 after some time to let it all sink.
This is my experience, that might be a bit too āextremeā if youāre a perfectionist and find it hard to feel confident enough to move on unless you get almost everything correct.
But itās to let you know that if it worked for me like this, and starting from pretty much zero knowledge of Welsh, I would not to worry too much and experiment a bit: how about, for example, doing one lesson a week (or more) no matter what to the end of the level (s) and then start again from the first and see how much it has changed?
Or in batches of five, then go back to the first of the set (an official tip I remember hearing in the past).
In any case I would say the most important thing for me was doing an effort of course, but keeping the process enjoyable so good luck!
I was completely lost with mutations in the beginning and for quite a while.
But if you just donāt worry, Believe it or not, they will all become natural at some point!
(And although Iāve learnt English quite easily I did struggle with French and never managed to speak or understand German so I canāt even count myself as someone who learns any language with ease!)
Thankyou for your thoughts.
I tend to carry on week by week, I struggled with the first 5 challenges in level 2, everything you have learnt from lesson 1 will be in future lessons so I wouldnāt worry about it,
Thanks Alan, much appreciated.
I also try to learn around 80% before going on to the next level. I also struggle more with some challanges over others. I would be surprised if anyone did the challanges to perfection before moving on. Some days I will forget one sentance, the next day i will remember it but forget one that i remembered the previous day! I am 2 weeks behind, but expect to get further behind, however I have a never give up mentalaty so will carry on regardless. Dont get downhearted, none of us are perfect, it will all come with time, or I hope it will anyway.
Lorraine
Thank you for your response. Much appreciated.
Since my first"whinge" i have persisted and pushing through.
Currently on week 34.
One thing i will say is i should have finished a month ago, so dont worry about falling behind. However, you still have to pay each month otherwise you will lose the online facility.
Apparently, you can download the lessons as you receive them.