I’ve not done my homework. At all.
I should be on week 14, but I’ve actually only just finished week 10. I needed to redo some (and I’m still far from clear on many - the ‘he told me to tell you’ still gets my noggin in knots, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to pronounce ‘a glass or two’!, but I do my best.
This week I had a massive realisation I had been skipping the bits underneath the challenge, and have now caught up to my homework (apart from all thereally important listening and practice bits - which I did start last night and will continue). I feel a bit sick honestly. I’m hoping I can catch up, but when I listen to what other people can say (example the five minute sentences) I’m absolutely scoobied as to what is being said. Is it because I’m doing Southern? How have people got such a larger vocabulary at this stage? I don’t think I’ve heard of siopas or mynd i nofio yet.
Diolch pawb.
I’d relax and enjoy!..I think it works better that way…I’ve listened to your sentences and they are a very high standard. Yes, the courses have slightly different content but it all evens out in the end…
…the general recommendation is not to over repeat because there is significant repetition of content - 12 and 13 are world famously the hardest and everyone struggles with them (a quick search of the forum will show this!).
However getting to a point where you are comfortable is also important. You can pause the course if you really want to - to catch up (email admin@saysomethingin.com) - but I’d probably - chillax first…keep going and see what happens! You might be surprised.
The course if very weird in that things are ‘going in’ when you absolutely would swear that they aren’t - and then they pop out of your mouth a bit later in the most extraordinary way.
Thanks Rich, much appreciated. The dog is started to get his lead when I say ‘oes isie ti fynd nawr?’ so I hope I’m saying that bit right! The weirdest thing that’s happening is I’m started to remember random French words from learning at school - so I’m guessing the language bit of my brain is busy doing something!
I have done that. First real chat I panicked over a word and French tumbled out.
@Lydia_N I confess to skipping a lot of the homework too. Don’t worry you will catch up. Everyone’s journey is different and some people just get it quicker than others so try not to judge against someone else. You are doing great.
Hi @Lydia_N
Yes, I too have used French words and heard others use them, but it really didn’t matter. I also come up with German and once even Latin, which I gave up 55 years ago. The brain is odd.
As for the extra tasks and homework - we old timers just had the challenges which we worked through at our own speed. We even had to wait while the next challenge was being prepared. The structured courses with extra tasks were introduced later, so you are doing more than we ever did. As @rich said, relax and enjoy. Don’t bother about comparing yourself with other people. It’s a collaboration, not a competition. If you choose to pause the course then that’s fine - but do please come back!
Best wishes,
Sue
I feel like there’s a button in my brain which is just “Foreign Language” and it when it gets pressed who knows what language the words will be in when they come out – quite often not the one I’m trying to speak. I think this is very normal.
I seem to have hit a wall with Challenge 14, all this “I met someone in the pub last night who says he knows someone who works with your brother…” And did he want or does he want AARGH I can’t even remember the sentence in English! But sometimes if you just let it all sit in your head for awhile it sinks in. At least I’m hoping that happens this time!
I love the fact that so many other people have random French words slip out! Our brain is clearly panicking and just throwing any random “foreign” word out!
I’m also having my brain twisted by the ‘he said that you’ etc. I’m trying to learn Mandarin as well, and that keeps popping out instead. The heartening thing is the Welsh seems to be going in quicker than the Mandarin ever has (four years and I still can’t understand anything people are talking about)
I was delighted that ‘na’ seems to be ‘that’ in both languages.
Also am feeling guilty as I’ve failed at uploading any kind of sentence. I tried for a whole afternoon, and nearly threw the computer across the room.
It’s usually Spanish for me, but I bet everyone does it. I haven’t done all the homework for various reasons but I always do the challenges. I’m sure it’s possible to catch up and it’s probably easier if you don’t stress about it.
Hi Lydia,
I wouldn’t worry, just do it at your own speed. As far as understanding others, it’s always harder to understand things in the wild, at the beginning. I have found that I’ve been fine translating the sentences in the challenges, but then hearing something on the TV, say, I’ll know that I know that word but can’t for the life of me remember what it is in English. You’ll get there though. When my husband isn’t around I’ll often put S4C on and just listen to it, whatever it is, and I’m finding as I go through the course that I can pick out more and more odd words. I’m sure eventually I’ll grasp a whole sentence!!!
I’m so glad to hear people say they insert random foreign language words, because I thought it was just me! I randomly insert bits of German as that’s the language I’ve been learning longest!
I have to say I sadly cancelled my subscription this week. I felt under too much pressure to go at the speed the course wanted me to, and I’d get to sunday and realise I was going to get another email the following day.
Can’t be dealing with that sort of pressure. Good luck to everyone else who can!
That’s a shame Lee, but you don’t have to follow the structured course (the one with the weekly emails, extra tasks and support), you can subscribe on a standard subscription and work through the challenges at whatever pace you wish with no pressure - and this forum and the Slack WSP group will still be here to help you
Thank you for posting this, Lydia. I am in exactly the same position! It has given me a new impetus to keep on keeping on, as I now see that others are experiencing the same, so maybe it’s not that I’m just a dud!! I am finding that, while the new stuff is rather difficult, prior challenges seem to pop up, sometimes when you least expect them. I’m not sure if it is frowned on to write down the vocabulary, but I find it helps me considerably. I have a full set of all the words and phrases we’ve had so far and I go back and say them out loud (not all at once, of course), then try to make up simple sentences using them. I’m not suggesting you should do that because, as I say, it may not be the way it should be don. Just saying that it seems to be helping me. Anyway, good luck, Lydia, and know “you are NOT alone”!! Joyce xx
Ooh! Does this really matter? I couldn’t possibly do it every day for so many reasons. I’m just beginning and I find the challenges a bit long at the moment, so I often only do half. I have to write everything down and go back over it.
I don’t stress over it because it was the same when I was learning Spanish, I used a podcast and had to constantly rewind at the start, but picked up as time went by.
Is there any time limit? I hope not!
No, there’s no time limit! With the structured course you get weekly tasks and emails, but you can always request a pause if things get too far ahead of you. With the standard subscription (no weekly tasks or emails), you can take all the time you want.
One other tip - writing everything down and going back over it might feel like it helps, but very often it actually slows you down because it interrupts the ear-to-brain process by sticking eyes in there… and this course (although many do write bits down) is specifically designed for that ear-to-brain-skipping-the-eyes process to work as efficiently as possible. But don’t worry - there is no “one-size-fits-all”, no competition, and definitely no time limit!
I have done that. First real chat I panicked over a word and French tumbled out.