Thanks @aran !
I think I’m going to subscribe for the 6 month course.
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Hello 
My name’s Vanessa, I’m from Germany and Wales has a special place in my heart because I lived there for a year (near Swansea) when I was very small. My first birthday I spent there. Since then I haven’t managed to visit again, but I am planning to. That is also the Main reason why I want to learn Welsh.
I think the first sentence went quite well. I’m a bit (pleasantly) surprise by how melodic Welsh sounds; very beautiful.
Anyway, I hope I keep it going so I’ll be able to use the language once I’m coming back
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Hi Vanessa
Croeso (welcome)
You’ve come to the right place if you want to be able to speak Welsh naturally on your next visit.
Pob hwyl
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Make sure you let us know when you’re coming! We love meeting SSiWers from far afield
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I definitely will probably next year in the summer after I finish studying and before I start working full time. So more than enough time to learn
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Well since my earlier post, I have now progressed to challenge 6 on the app, and finding it great. The method of teaching really works. I’ve almost convinced my wife to let me join the 6 month course… Roll on Christmas!! 
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We’ve just recently moved into the Snowdonia area of North Wales from West Sussex and want to be able to communicate in Welsh rather than English in the community we are living in. This is particularly important on the job front, especially for the wife who does private maths tutoring and wants to be able to get into the local secondary schools. She heard about Speaksomethinginwelsh on a radio 4 program and I had already download the app on my phone. So we ae both taking our first steps in Welsh. The wife’s parents are Welsh coming from South Wales, but the only the wife’s elder sister was born in wales. Herself and her brothers were born in Essex. Our son (whose 7 ) has already picked up counting numbers in welsh, much to the delight and surprise of his Teacher and he has only been at the school this term.
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Question:
One of the e-mails says to listen to the lesson once, and then you can tick it off. But Aran says on the challenge to do it until you have about 85% of the Welsh without using the Pause button. Which is it? It takes me much longer than one listening to get approximately 85% of the Welsh out!
It’s not recommended that you aim for 85% now. Try 1,2,3,4,5 then go back to 1 and be amazed by how well you’ve done. Carry on from 6. But if you feel you really don’t get the hang of a lesson, then by all means repeat it. Getting the hang of it does not mean 100% though.
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I am here in Canada. I teacher of the very young (3 to 5 year olds) and I am always trying to incorporate their home languages when I can at daycare. I thought perhaps I could learn about one of the languages that my family has lost. My Great Grandmother came to Montreal with her parents from Wales when she was 4. Wales is the country I would like to explore beyond this vast country of Canada that I call home. I have been surprised how many of the words I can recognize when I hear them even if I can remember how to say all of them and my pronunciation is giggle worthy. I am making mistakes and plugging on. I tell the kids all the time we need to gets things wrong a lot of times before we can get them right. So when you said to make lots of mistakes that is what pushed me to try SSi for learning Welsh.
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Two or three times now, Aran has said “I can’t remember”, and I’ve come up with “dwi wedi anghofio”. Close enough, right? 
Starting Challenge 4… oh man, there’s so much new stuff and we’re only four minutes into the lesson. And in just ten minutes, I’ve made so many mistakes. I also believe consonant mutations are against me. No, scratch that. I know the mutations are out to get me.
Every time Aran introduces a word I know already, I’m so happy. “Meddwl”, at least, I’m familiar with.
I kept getting “rhaid i mi” mixed up with “gen i”, and forgetting “gen i” altogether. Made the lesson loads of fun.
At any rate, I’ll be repeating this lesson later, perhaps a couple more times. I don’t know how often most people repeat them, but it seems I often end up doing each challenge thrice before moving on.
Okay, I stopped doing the lessons again. In a cruel twist, I came here to see if I could actually commit to learning a language. And since the above paragraphs were written, I’ve gone weeks without touching the lessons. Yeah, I started this reply when I began Challenge 4, then didn’t publish it. Repeated the challenge (I think was the fourth time), and I’m about to move on to the fifth one. Aran keeps saying that getting past it is an important milestone. Everyone keeps saying that. I’m kind of afraid this means Challenge 5 will be harder somehow, and that’s why passing it is such an accomplishment.
“It’s very common in speech, so don’t tell them they’re technically wrong.”
“Yn siwr” sounds like “unsure”. Brilliant.
Does anyone else find themselves saying the Welsh with a similar tone and timing as the recording? I think I’ve grown too familiar with the enunciation and the pauses between words.
Wait, what was the word for “interesting”? (makes lame attempt) “Achos dwi ddim yn gwybod beth di ddeud.” I felt like I was mishearing it no matter what, so I cheated and typed it into Google Translate. Which turned out to be good, because I was hearing “F” instead of “DD” for some unfathomable reason. I also kept hearing “Dwi fym yn siwr” before it finally occurred to me that “Dwi ddim yn siwr” made a lot more sense.
Okay, Catrin and Aran are saying two different things. You’re going to introduce a new word in a moment, aren’t you. Do you guys just do this to mess with our minds, see how closely we’re paying attention? (waits a minute or two) Seriously, I heard “iawn” instead of “rŵan”. I’m waiting for it now.
You used “talking” instead of “speaking” just to see if it throws people off, didn’t you?
Okay, how does “Because learning Welsh is interesting” become “Achos mae dysgu Cymraeg yn ddiddorol”? I don’t know why “mae” is there.
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As you know, “mae” means “is/are” and usually comes at the start of the phrase.
Try not to let your brain trick you into thinking that yn = is. It doesn’t, it’s just a linking word.
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Well, yeah! People would get the idea, right? 
I’d like to let you know that apart from the Northern-course specific ones, you’ve just reminded me all the things that used to happen to me when I started! 
Mutations making words seem totally different every time, saying “unsure” in the Welsh sentence (by the way another funny one you’ll find is “sunny at”, be ready!), hearing f for dd and viceversa.
I would also also add another classic for me that was some “n”'s floating all over the place without being able to understand why!
However I basically never repeated the challenges, but for some mysterious reason, all those things started just falling into place and make sense! 
So I’m sure you’ll be fine. 
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So when you’re saying “Achos mae dysgu Cymraeg”, you’re literally saying “Because is learning Welsh”?
I’ve noticed “yn” sometimes appears to link words together, in places where the English language wouldn’t have a word there. And in some words it’s there, in some it’s not, just to make things more tricky. (“Dwi isio” versus “Dwi’n trio”, for example)
Yeah, sometimes I hear “F” when it’s actually the “DD” sound. I hate it when I don’t hear a word correctly, even after hearing it said multiple times. What is wrong with you, ear? What is wrong with you, brain?
I generally repeat the lessons a few times before moving on. I tried going to the next lesson too soon once, and felt like I was in way over my head. I’ve decided to wait until I’m somewhat confident in my grasp of the lesson before I go on, and not go too fast. Otherwise, I’ll just be frustrated and confused beyond belief.
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Well spotted.
Yes, the sentence word order of Welsh is different to English (but, to be fair, so is French). That’s all part of the fun of it
Also correct about Dwi isio. The official reason is because isio is actually a noun being used as a verb (a bit like “want” or “need” English). However, to be honest, I tend to just go by the sound of the sentence, rather than thinking about what type of word it is.
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Bore da! Karen dw i. I’ve been learning Welsh through an app for a few months and although I’m getting better at wiritng and reading Welsh, I’m dreadful at speaking it. I’m an Australian and not planning to travel to Wales (or anywhere else on my bucket list - another story), so why am I learning Welsh? My ancestry is Welsh traced back to Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen) in the 1600s. I feel a connection and I’d like to say its in the blood but it’s more likely just my imagination. Or may be it’s hiraeth?
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Hi everyone. I’m new here. I’m doing the Welsh course on Duolingo, but I wanted somewhere to hear proper pronunciation, not just the weird robot voice they have. I’ve wanted to learn Welsh since I was very young. My great grandfather was Welsh, and spoke the language fluently. He emigrated and refused to teach my gran how to speak Welsh whenever she asked. So here I am!
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Hi My name is Anwen and I have just finished Day 5.Feeling very proud of myself:…I live on my own so have been repeating my sentences to my cats who obviously think I am more crazy than usual…Ha Ha:crazy_face: Looking forward to further lessons…am so pleased with the course.
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Hi Alice Taylor…don’t be discouraged…I’m 75 yrs and am enjoying every minute…I forget things too, usually managing to miss one or more words, but it is great fun and I look forward to my lessons. I lived in Swansea for 10 years…Llansamlet but am up in Cumbria now. Pob lwc…you can do it…xx
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