…forming new pathways…passive learning…embedding…melting and assimilating…SSiborgs accepting your uniqueness into the collective…resistance is futile…there is nothing to worry about…trust the process…
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Since I know a handful of random words, and I did the ‘sentence a day’ first, the beginning of Challenge 1 is easy. Then, as more words are added and I have to form longer sentences, the ability to recall things and string it all together starts to slow. Then I’m going, “What was the word? What sentence was I supposed to translate again? ARGH…” ‘Sut’ is forgotten, ‘cofio’ runs away from me (even though I already knew it), and ‘gwella’ means… uh… Maybe it’s because the word is towards the end of the lesson, but I’ve done the challenge twice and forgotten it both times.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll run through Challenge 1 a third time, and then go on to Challenge 2. They’ll probably overview all the stuff from the first one anyway. I know I shouldn’t obsess over getting everything perfect and doing the long sentences within the time limit, but I also hate feeling like I haven’t grasped things well enough yet.
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Yes, they will. You should be fine to go on to Challenge 2 now.
Sue
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Alright, I’ve got bad news and good news, for you. 
Bad news: I’m in Level 3 now and what you’ve just so perfectly described still happens every time I do a new Challenge. It’s just part of the process (right @Sean-O?).
Good news: as @Betterlatethan said, the next Challenges will keep on using the words and structures you’ve found in previous ones. So apart from a handful of words that for some reason just don’t seem to want to stick, 95% of those that you feel you’re not remembering now, will appear again and again and again…and guaranteed they’ll just pop up of your memory at some point!
There’s actually a few posts somewhere on the forum addressing the feelings you describe about not having grasped enough yet and perfectionism… and @aran explaining a bit more of the method and giving specific tips also about repetition. (you may try searching a bit, and if I find some old thread on the topic I’ll post the link).
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Every now and then I jump forward a bunch of lessons and then drop back to regain that Cheshire (cat) 
So, not so much bad news as it’s totally normal!
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It’s very, very important not to aim for ‘getting everything right’ - these are memory building exercises - keep on doing them, and the memories will keep on strengthening. Be kind to yourself with the pause button, and don’t get caught in the repeat trap… 
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So is this how I need to approach the challenges? 
They said ‘lessons’ and my mind just went to that.
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WOW! I have just completed Challenge Week 1! Dw i ymarfer siarad Cymraeg. I even told my colleague - dw i angen coffi, they are all so very encouraging at work. I find myself saying the sentences in my head or our loud at home. On Wednesday I met a nice lady at the bus stop and I was brave enough to say to her that I was learning Welsh - in Welsh (dw i’n dysgu siarad Cymraeg) I am looking forward to week 2! Diolch yn fawr!
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Wow @camille-hill - and that’s only week 1!
What a fantastic start - if you’ve got people around you who you can speak Welsh with, combined with good old fashioned boldness (speaking with the woman at the bus stop on week 1 definitely counts ) you are going to fly through - you’ll be chatting away in no time.
Rich
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Diolch.
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Yes, that’s pretty much it!
Excuse my total ignorance, but what exactly is the ‘1 sentence in Welsh’ thing? Do we have to write or record ourselves saying a sentence in Welsh, and is it for those doing the challenges? Think I must’ve missed it somewhere along the line lol.
I think its a taster type course. As far as I’m aware, more esrablished students don’t usually see it because their computers/devices bypass it on the way to their chosen course material.
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Nope, it’s the new intro for new learners - some bite-sized lessons to warm them up for the real stuff…
Haven’t been doing the lessons for a while, and decided to get going again. I started going over them in the evening, and partway through Challenge 2, I began to get tired. But I was determined that I was going to finish before I went to bed. Survived the challenge, and now it’s past midnight and I want to sleep. Nos da, pawb. 
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Why say “dwi dal isio siarad”, when you can say “dwi dal ishad”? I’m getting to be a pro at combining words, apparently. Also said “ymarfad” for “ymarfer siarad”.
Gonna start Challenge 3 soon. Wish me luck. And for anyone reading this forum, prepare for the whinging and whining later when I forget words, mix things up, and draw a complete blank. If it feels anything like the first time I did Challenge 2, I’ll spend half the lesson on the pause button and the other half accusing Aran of trying to overload my brain.
Come to think of it, I don’t always do well with English either. Earlier today, while on the phone with my mother, I was saying, “Yeah, you asked if you wanted me to bring over… I mean, you had asked if you wanted me… AUGH! You asked if I wanted Dutch Brothers.” I could not for the life of me say “You asked if I wanted you to bring me Dutch Brothers.” (Dutch Bros does coffee drinks and smoothies, for clarification.) And this is the language I’m fluent in. 
Had to say “dechrau” in Challenge 3, and all of the sudden my attempts at CH sounded horrible and pathetic, and nothing like a CH should. This is going to bug me all through the lesson. 
I think I’m better at pronouncing LL than CH.
Okay, this isn’t too bad. I’m doing okay, other than CH. Maybe this lesson will be less painful.
What was this word? Huh? What? Oh, I think it was “bo’ ddi” or “boddi”, something like that. This doesn’t quite make sense to me, but okay. AUGH, I can’t get the hang of this. (brain implodes and parts of it catch on fire)
Drat, it was “bo’ fi”. And I’m still struggling to put it in sentences. How did a single thing mess me up so badly? I was doing okay up until that point, and then my brain died a horrendous death. 
Guess I have something to do tomorrow, go through this lesson again.
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Pob lwc.
Combining words or using one that sounds similar does happen a lot. But that’s usually hilarious, if you don’t take it too seriously. 
As for CH, don’t worry, when you reach Challenge 25 and the past tense of hearing you’ll get to practice that a lot!!!
However, for the unusual sounds of Welsh language, I can say that finding a song that you enjoy with a lot of those is very helpful. After about a million hollol, it became quite natural to me. So I could move to a new song going mynach sychder, yn mynychu cornel. Still working on this! 
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Diolch! 
My lessons are filled with moments of frustration when I forget stuff or struggle greatly, and moments of laughing helplessly at ridiculous errors I’ve made, like mixing up words and stringing them together in ways that make no sense.
The funny thing is, I’ve been aware of CH and rolled Rs for a long while, though I wasn’t that good at CH, and was no good at producing a rolled R. Perhaps the R is formed in the throat, sort of like CH? 
And after reading some things on rolled Rs, I’ve gained the impression I’m forming R the wrong way for trying to roll it. Yay. 
Anyway, I’ve listened to music and sometimes tried to sing along and mimic it. I’ve tried CH, but it doesn’t always come out well, and sometimes I forget about trying to pronounce it differently in songs. And I tend to envy everyone’s rolled Rs without making much effort to duplicate it (or get around to looking up explanations of how to say it, apparently).
The LL sound, on the other hand, was a new concept to me, and for whatever reason, I proceeded to hyper-focus on it. So those aren’t as intimidating to me. But CH is touch-and-go, and trilled Rs just don’t happen.
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That’s exactly the plan…