Don’t forget to exhale, please. - hehe 
Gee @aran! You make my inner “tech kid” explode out of curiousity how ti works!
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It’s odd the way my brain works. When I started SSI and found I could actually learn I was very excited. Now I know some Welsh. But I also know I have to get out there and speak it to make real progress and it almost feels I’m back where I started, feeling it’s too hard.
I’ve been pretty much stressing all day about whether to go for this extra conversation. My hour a week is totally unstructured and the woman isn’t a teacher, which means it’s very much ‘in the wild’. Would Catrin’s conversations be the same, or would they be more linked to the stuff I’ve been learning? Or is that another silly question.
(You can tell I’m flapping somewhat, atm, can’t you? )
it’s odd the way everyones brain works! May I echo the SSIW advice: One/ of don’t get in a flap, don’t worry about it, 2/ At the beginning you seem to make rapid progress, later it on it seems slower, though isn’t really slower.
As Catrin has been in all the recording sessions, I’m sure she is very aware of phrases and vocabulary learnt with SSiW.
In the weekly Skype practice last night @ramblingjohn suggested that it can be better to ‘make stuff up’ rather than stick to saying things that are true. The advantage of this is that instead of expending mental effort of remembering things, you stick to talking about things you can say. So you practice what you know and integrate new words gradually. So it may be good to have a topic to talk about, so you can organise your thoughts on the topic beforehand, so you don’t have to ‘think in English’ when speaking Welsh. The problem with being a native single language speaker, the language gets very tied into your own thoughts and feelings.
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Oh, as much as I could hear while still being “there” you did that imaginary thingy just great. It was a shame I had to leave. And I have to admit, I just wasn’t too talkative yesterday and my imagination seamed to flee away. It obviously needed some spare hours without serving me. - hehe
How that yellow-blue-white parrot ended then? I hope it didin’t escape to the freedom -
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In which case, now isn’t the right time for you to be doing this. Stress is unhelpful for learning - it’s important to keep pushing your own personal envelope, but you’re aiming to push it, not tear it to pieces.
If you build your worries about speaking into enough of a fever pitch, you’ll eventually give up, and not achieve what you want - so if I were you, I’d put conversations off for a while (unless you’re happy to carry on with your current one hour a week without getting stressed).
Focus on getting through the course, achieving a good level of confidence with the spoken exercises and a strong level of familiarity with the listening exercises, and then when you feel more comfortable with your existing hour a week, you can start to reach out to other people to expand your range of conversation partners… 
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Diolch yn fawr iawn @Isata! it was a real pleasure chatting to you and I’m very pleased that it was useful. I was really impressed with your conversational Welsh and your accent is awesome! Have you been to the local shop yet? Looking forward to hearing that you’ve taken the plunge and started chatting with welsh speakers in your area, especially that farmer! 
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You sound absolutely normal, then!
Reading through previous replies, it seems that everybody has just about said everything, but if it helps:
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I think it has nothing to do with your ability to learn a language, or your ability to learn. I have always felt fairly confident about learning stuff, yet for some reason Welsh conversation has been about the hardest thing to face. I think it’s because with most things you learn, there’s a gentle step up to proficiency, and you only get tested when you’re thought to be at a level where you can pass. Conversation isn’t like that. You don’t know what’s coming, you can’t revise properly, or get an idea of the exam questions beforehand, and - for me, at least - the feeling of looking like an absolute tool opening and shutting your mouth with no words coming out, or the wrong words coming out, while someone is watching you expectantly, is just horrible. And I’m someone who is used to making a fool of myself all the time.
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For a long time I’ve made absolutely no progress with speaking because I just haven’t done it. I go to a class every week and we are encouraged to speak. It feels as though everybody else chats away and then when it comes to my turn, a kind of panic sets in. I forget every second word; words that bear no relation to the topic I’m talking about thrust themselves into my mouth; I can’t look at the person I’m speaking to, which makes me look weird, which makes me panic more… all in all, it’s a total disaster. Strange things happen to my conduct. A very nice man offered me a cup of tea once at work and I practically threw myself face down on a desk and grunted at him - I don’t know why. I just couldn’t cope with a simple 2 word reply!
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Since that embarrassing tea episode, I decided that I absolutely must just chill out a bit. I stopped bothering to try to talk in Welsh for a few weeks, and just listened in class instead. I had a nice long break over Christmas, then went through the whole of Level 1 in a couple of days to get back that feeling of being able to say things a bit more fluently instead of struggling to think about tenses and grammar forms that I’d just learned. Then, when I was feeling more comfortable, I made myself talk again in class, mistakes and all. I talk to myself all the time in Welsh and I listen and chat back to the radio as much as possible. I’m still really bad at conversation, but these days I feel like I can at least breathe in between the words, and there isn’t quite so much of a dark red mist behind my eyes and I can sometimes even hear the other person’s words over my heartbeat - so progress! I think the thing that has helped most is to stop worrying about how bad I am, or how little progress I’m making, and just enjoy the ride.
Recently, I booked in a conversation with Catrin, immediately thought I’d made a horrible mistake, then reminded myself that actually if I made a fool of myself it didn’t really matter. It was just an hour and then it would be over. And she was lovely! And encouraging, and calmly waited for me to find the right words. I realised afterwards that I’d said some very stupid things, but she didn’t even point and laugh.
My point is, please don’t get discouraged. I think it’s natural to get to points where you think you’re not progressing, or where it seems ridiculous to think that you will ever be able to talk to people, but brains are funny things, and a little while later you suddenly realise that the things you never thought you’d be able to learn are there, and coming out in beautifully formed sentences. Alright, so for me they only come out when I’m having an imaginary conversation in the shower, but that means that I can do it, and one day I will wow somebody with my unexpected fluency. And if I don’t, what’s the worst that can happen?
You’re way head of me, because you speak to a fluent Welsh speaker on a regular basis, and for a whole hour! This is amazing! I haven’t even had the courage to admit to any Welsh speakers that I’m learning Welsh! I’d say, if you’re not ready to speak to anyone else yet, then don’t. But speaking to Catrin and being struck dumb (or mixing up your sister with your daughter and messing up your words so badly that she’s fooled into thinking that your 16 year-old nephew might just be playing in the 6 nations) isn’t the worst thing in the world - trust me, I’ve done it and survived!
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Yay! I’ve done it!
Thank you for all your wise words
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Congratulations! How did it go? Was it horrifying or helpful?..
Down with the Portcullis! Archers to the battlements! Guards to the wine cellar! 
Justin
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Of course it was helpful!
And it was fun!
And it was terrifying!
Seems the answer to everything, though, is gwyn a mwy o wyn!
(And I might even do it again.)
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Justin, you’re wine cellar is safe. It was also exhausting, so I’m putting off the raid til later.
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@franhunni you were awesome today! What an interesting conversation we had and I learnt so much about you, which means that I clearly understood everything you said! You spoke clearly and coherently and with a great accent!
One important thing that I’ve learnt about you today is that you’re way too hard on yourself and I’m absolutely convinced that the odd little hiccup you have is purely down to nerves. So pop that bottle open n. ext time you’re in Rachub and let the language flow.
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Now that I’m not surprised to hear!..
Fran - think about what you’d say to a child who was learning - how encouraging you’d be, and how you’d tell them not to worry about mistakes - and then treat yourself as kindly as you’d treat that child…
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Oh, boy … you all are teasing me with those happy messages … but I’ll be merciful and won’t “torture” @CatrinLliarJones with my Cymraeg “inventions” just yet … She deserves better then that I believe.
Thanks Cattin, that’s very generous of you. I’m looking forward to meeting th ci bach next time:)
I doubt I’ll relax until I’ve got my head round all the tense changes. They make me tense. (See what I did there?)
It was great to get so much positive feedback, both from you, Catrin, and in the lessons, and on here.
It’s true iconfidence is an underrated necessity to learning and something key to being a successful learner. That’s why I’ve made it this far on SSI.
However, I think it’s also easy to learn how to fail/ be an unconfident learner and getting over that can be a challenge.
I did give myself a talking to on Monday night, which is why I took the plunge and booked a lesson. So I am trying.
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Good, well done you!..
Any time you hear the negative voices, remind yourself about the child…
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Diolch yn fawr iawn Catrin. Heddio, Catrin tried to make sense of my Cymraeg while her ci bach chewed away at her computer wires.
Oedd yn ddiddorel😀
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It was a lovely conversation to have when I called from Pwllheli, too - ‘oh, by the way, don’t come home without a new mouse’…
Let’s see him chew the cables on our new wireless mouse…! 
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Haha! Even wireless mouse has a littie piece of cable so [size=30]NJAMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!![/size]
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