Croeso, welcome to people who have started on the 1 Welsh sentence challenge. This thread is especially for you, to get to know each other, and to give you your first glimpse of the SSiW forum, where you can find out literally anything you want to know about learning Welsh.
If you’re stuck with a certain word, or finding one (or all!) of the practices tough, then you’re not alone. Come here to find out how other people have got over the same challenge, and ask people who have already done what you want to do. They’ll give you much better advice than I could!
The biggest drawback of learning a language at home is that it can get quite lonely. So here’s the community to keep you interested and motivated and learning when things aren’t working out - and yes, we all get patches like that!
So, as your first post, let us know something about yourself. What do you think of your 1 Welsh sentence challenge so far? What do you want to do with your Welsh? How did you find your way here? Anything at all - just click on reply in the blue box under this post, and get going!
(If there’s no blue box there, check that you are logged in. If you can see the word “log in” in the top right hand corner, then click on it, and it should automatically log you in)
Hi there, This is my first step into learning Welsh. I admit I am very nervous because i am under pressure to make progress. I have been invited to move from New Zealand to take up a Welsh-speaking job in Wales next September. I’m coming over next week to meet the poeple. They suggested I try saysomethingin website as quite a few of them are second language Welsh speakers and have been helped by you guys. Here we go!
Haere mai Trevor! Croeso!
I grew up in New Zealand and now live in Wales, in Llandysul, Ceredigion. I’ve been speaking Welsh for 10 years now and it really helps you to become part of the community.
Whereabouts are you going to be?
I will be living in Abergele, but the job will take me around Wales. I may have a NZ passport, but originally I’m a Pom from South Yorkshire. So what on earth the locals will makes of me, I dread to think. I fly out on Friday to meet my prospective colleagues next Monday. I hope to be able to manage greetings and please and thank you and such social phrases by then (hopefully in a way that they understand what I’m trying to say!).
If you run through one lesson a day between now and then, without repeating any lessons (which will feel worrying) - and making sure you say something in EVERY gap, while using the pause button as little as possible (but the saying something takes precedence!) - you’ll do far more than just a couple of social phrases, and that may well help convince them that you’re serious about it… good luck!
Hi there! Dwi isio dysgu siarad Cymraeg achos (wink) I’m a member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druid’s and there is several Welsh words within the workings and I’d like to be able to actually PRONOUNCE them and heck, maybe know what they mean. So far it’s fun but I get the brain pain with Dysgu.
Hey there.
I only know english.
I wanted to learn a language to expand my horizons. At first my thought was I wanted to learn Portuguese or Japanese.
However, after reading sindarian was based off Welsh I looked more into welsh and got drawn to the language. (Want to learn neo-sindarian down the road)
I looked up learning welsh and came across this site. So day 1 and I completed the first days lesson.
I followed the instructions repeated the words after you said it in english. However, I did have to repeat the lesson a few times.
Can’t wait to continue learning Welsh.
Well done, and welcome @julia-4 to the Forum!
The normal recommendation is to do a lesson once only (I would say maximum twice) and then go on to the next one, even if you haven’t learned all the material in the first lesson, which is normal by the way.
The methodology of the course relies on repetition of the material throughout subsequent lessons. If you keep on repeating a single lesson until you learn it all, you will succeed, but it will be a very, very slow and inefficient way to learn. Best to push on with new lessons and not aim for perfection.
Best of luck!
Well, I’ve been away for a while, but ironically because I’ve been visiting Wales. I spoke my first sentence in Welsh and got a round of applause for it, thanks to this amazing course! I’m now back in New Zealand and will have to get my head down and do some serious learning!
Hello, this is brilliant so far and thank you. My ancestors on my fathers side were Welsh and my wife’s family on her fathers side are Welsh. I’ve loved Wales and all things Welsh for as long as I can remember and have recently moved to live in a lovely house which is literally metres from the Shropshire/Welsh border. This move made me think again about seriously learning Welsh so I began looking and hear I am. Diolch
Good morning,
My name is Corina. I live in Canada, west coast. Vancouver area.
I am here because I have been spending time with my 95 year old gram. Our Ancestors were Welsh. My great grandmother Grace Williams spoke, and the kids used to love to hear her speak. But she was apparently very shy to speak it as she said she was taught that it was wrong to do so.
I work at an Indigenous friendship center here. There is a big resurgence in reclaiming language. I thought it may be a good idea to learn the language of my Ancestors.
Hi. I’m American and live in Kansas. My maternal side of the family is Welsh. My great great grandparents settled in Bala, KS in the 1880’s. I want to visit Wales one day and have been researching the history and culture of the Welsh people. I love the fact that the language is still alive and well in the present day. I want to be able to converse with with the native speakers when I visit.
Croeso i’r ffrwm (Welcome to the forum) That’s a really cool place to work! How many different languages are spoken there? I’m asking as I spent almost all of my childhood and young adult life in Colorado which has a large indigenous population throughout the state. Wondering if there is a large diversity of tribes around Vancouver.
I live in Delaware, United States and I’m learning Welsh for the same reason as you and hopefully in the next two years will be able to take my Family to Wales. Of all the languages I’ve started learning and mastered none (French, Spanish and Latin), Welsh has been the most fun and challenging. But if you follow the challenges and supplement with additional material, you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll be able to have a conversation in Welsh. The tricky part, for those learners not living in Wales, is finding someone to practice with. Fortunately for you there are a couple of Welsh groups around Vancouver. The Welsh Society of Vancouver
215 East 17th Avenue
Vancouver , BC V5V 1A6
Canada
Phone: 604 876-2815
email: mail@welshsociety.com
Website: www.WelshSociety.com
Contact Name: The Executive
@amyshehi
Croeso i’r ffrwmn, hefyd (Welcome to the forum, too). Learning Welsh is fun and challenging but the SSiW course is structured to get your conversational skills up and running fairly quick. I live in Delaware and my biggest challenge is/was finding people to speak with. SSiW members are amazingly friendly and helpful, but the time difference for me creates issues for me to join online speaking groups. So I did a bit a research, found a local Welsh society, joined it and now host weekly Welsh speaking meet ups. Having someone to talk with, reinforces my language skills and encourages me to learn more. It’s too easy to let the early momentum and interest slip away. I had to find reasons to encourage and reinforce my learning. Joining a local group was immensely helpful. Below are groups I have found in Kansas. Not sure how active they are, but it’s worth the effort to reach out to them. KANSAS
Cada Dia Welsh is a unique approach to authentic Welsh conversation, through large group web meetings in “Virtual Immersion.” One hour meeting each day - Monday through Friday. We use Project-Based Learning (PBL) which supports independent learning through simple conversational activities to focus on social language exchange. Students and interested adults share stories, listen and learn in large scale online meetings with native or bilingual facilitators. Beginners may just listen, intermediate participants will read for the facilitators and advanced participants may share stories and learning tips. Join us and invite others to learn and speak Welsh. Free Web Meetings.
Bala Pioneer Heritage Society
No contact to publish
St. David’s Society of the State of Kansas
Sally Conard
918 Neosho Street
Emporia, KS 66801
I liked the opening very much and can appreciate the simplicity and directness of the method.
I am Anglo-Welsh in that my parents were from Gwent but I was born in England. I spent two longish spells in Gwent (Llanhilleth) during early childhood, having been evacuated from London during WW2. I picked up bits and pieces of Welsh at the time, but nothing of permanence because Welsh was not ‘on the menu’ then the way it is now. So when I resumed my childhood in England my very scrappy bits of Welsh evaporated, even though I returned to Gwent as often as I could. My childhood times in the Western Valley were the very best of my early years.
I now live (officially retired but not really) in SW France with my wife Angela who speaks fluent French and bits of several languages. I speak French reasonably and, due to my working background, used to be able to get by in German. Welsh however has always emotionally called to me across the years and the time has come for me answer the call of the beautiful language from the Land of Song.
