I saw a few similar posts, but i feel like it’s been a long journey and i wanted a thread all to myself
I’ve just gone through Level 3 and reviewed it once using a method Aran mentioned of going five challenges at a time and reviewing after that which helped me get over my anxiety of not getting everything right away and being worried that i’m missing out. I’m currently going through Glossika’s Welsh course (which is free, btw) as well which is helping me see words in new contexts and pick up new phrases and vocabulary. I still don’t feel like i can speak Welsh “fluently” and reading/chatting online is hard because i lack vocabulary, most of the basic grammar seems to more or less be there, but the words are not.
Listening to the radio is difficult and i don’t have much time outside of work (that’s why SSiW was great, audio courses like Glossika and SSiW are great for the commute and walk to/from work) and i’m not sure what i can do to continue improving my Welsh and fill in the slot of my day (away from a computer/desk) that i had previously dedicated to SSiW. I’ll be moving back to Spain next year (to the Basque Country) so most of my at home study time is spent refreshing my Basque.
I live in the US and would love to meet up with people locally to practice and learn together, but i don’t know that there are many folks available. I’ve recently done something similar for Cantonese and it’s given me a lot more motivation to study and practice everyday. I also saw Aran mention earlier this month that there will be a new podcast + transcription coming out, something like that would be perfect for me (assuming it wasn’t completely over my head!) and i’ve heard good things about Y Gwyll and some other Welsh shows, but i’m unsure where to find them here in the US.
I’d love to hear suggestions, especially related to audio things i can do to fill in my walk home or things i can do to build my vocabulary (though it seems literary Welsh uses a lot of forms i don’t know…).
Hi Ricardo.
Regarding the way to watch UK (Welsh) TV, here’s my best uninformed guess. Some one from the US will hopefully update this.
I’d say your best chance is https://acorn.tv but I think that there will be a charge.
Otherwise: (only if available in the US)
Possibly the BBC website; live or i-player (their catch-up service) - BBC Wales or BBC 1 or 2 (UK)
S4C
Other internet provider
U-tube.
@ricardohernandez First of all, congratulations on finishing Level 3! Da iawn!
I’m in the US, and I watch S4C via their website here. This should take you to the internationally available programs. Scroll down past the newsletter and the featured program to find the whole list. They have recently updated the website, and I’m sometimes getting 404 errors (page not found), but I think it’s just initial growing pains for the “new look”. The program Dal Ati is meant for learners, but there are many different types of shows. Only a subset of what is available in Wales is available internationally.
One way to fill that slot in your day for listening practice could be to use the BBC Cymru podcasts. You can find them here. You can download them to your phone/mp3 player so that you can listen at your convenience. Pigion-Highlights for Learners and Beti a’i Phobol are my favorites.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions/problems with the links I posted.
HUGE congratulations on getting this far - whatever you feel about your fluency, there is no question about your ability to survive in Welsh if you ever needed to…
I think the advanced content will be right up your street - it’s very much designed with our advanced learners in mind - otherwise, I think you might find it interesting to try and arrange some longer conversation spells, in comparatively brief bursts - so, for example, getting on the Welsh Speaking Practice group (www.saysomethingin.com/wsp) and trying to arrange as many different 1 hour conversations with different people in a single day - this is something we’re doing some testing around, but my hunch is that it can be a powerful way to kick on from upper intermediate/advanced…
I checked the site and couldn’t find any Welsh programs on there, i wouldn’t mind paying for a service with access to them (or better yet being able to buy the DVDs), i’ve heard a lot of shows are on Netflix, but those are all in English.
Is this new? I’m sure i’ve looked at this in the past and it was geo-blocked, this seems like a great thing to try to fit into my evenings, though i’m a little unsure how useful most of the shows will be as i understand probably 10% of what i hear, though Dal Ati, while not the most interesting/captivating, does seem like a nice entry point! So thanks so much for this suggestion!
Are there any simpler programs? I listened to Welsh radio programs regularly in my first attempt to learn Welsh several years back but i’m not sure how much good it did as i understood very little and couldn’t follow any conversation.
This sounds terrifying! If i had the time i wouldn’t mind trying something like this out, but it’s already late in the evening when i get home from my commute to/from work and i still have other responsibilities to take care of (not to mention that it’s 4 or 5 a.m. in Wales at that time ). Right now i’d just love to figure a way out to improve my comprehension, i think having conversations would help with that but i’m not sure how to fit that in, especially when i have to force someone else to suffer through my slow halting speech as i flip through the dictionary looking for the next word ;). I have no doubts that at least now (and presumably in the future as well so long as i can maintain what i’ve learned thus far) i would be able to get by in Welsh with a lot of *Fedru di dweud o eto bach yn arafach?*s, but i don’t want to just be able to get by, i want to really live and enjoy the language and have others enjoy speaking to me in Welsh rather than have it be a chore on both sides!
Halting conversations is fine - live converstions will always accelerate things for you more than any amount of passive preparation - so I’d say it’s worth logging in when you get home and seeing if there’s anyone live at around the same time… although it may take a while before we have critical mass in there to make sure that you can get regular calls…
Alright, i’ll take the plunge and see if i can ever find anyone online when i get home (and also help you all get to that critical mass of having people online at all hours ready to chat).
There are no programs in Welsh on Acorn or Netflix. I was totally disappointed when I watched Hinterland/Y Gwyll on Netflix that there wasn’t a single word of Welsh. I must say, though, that I just started watching Hidden - the English version of Craith - on Acorn TV last night, and they have surprising kept many scenes in Welsh, with English subtitles. Hooray!
There are some DVDs available for purchase…I have the set of Y Gwyll in Welsh. They can be hard to hunt down - Google is your friend here.
The international S4C website has been available at least since the summer of 2015, when I first found it after starting with SSiW that spring. The website address has changed recently.
I’d recommend just letting them wash over you. Don’t worry about not being able to understand. You will be surprised at how your comprehension will improve over time.
Lots of adult learners start by watching children’s programs! No shame there
On WSP, you’d be surprised at how many people we have who live in time zones that are not overly compatible with UK time - and I’ve arranged a handful of sessions that are convenient for people on the other side of the world.
There is also a group on there for people “on the other side of the world” who arrange chats when its a sensible time in their part of the world. Give it a look!
Wow, thank you for the link to the S4C international site - I too thought that anything BBC (apart from the world service) wasn’t available outside the UK!
I would really like to be able to watch the news in Welsh, as a sort of daily way of getting to grips with events in Wales - in Welsh - but now I am asking too much!
A good substitute however is cymru fyw from the BBC (just a google away) - turn ‘VOCAB’ on in the top-right corner and you’re away! I love it!
(Apologies for typos etc as I can hardly see what I’m writing due to a smashed computer screen!)
I’ve looked for DVDs but so far haven’t had any luck finding anything, the first season of Y Gwyll on Amazon appears to be sold out and for the others i want to be sure that they have the Welsh audio before buying (i noticed a few comments talking about the “Welsh parts” which leads me to believe that it probably isn’t the version i’m looking for).
For the rest, thanks for all the suggestions, i’ll try to fit some time in every day
Thank you so much for this! I think your idea of watching the first season in English is probably a good idea and will probably make the rest of the story easier to follow as i know the main characters. I’ll be ordering these now
I am out and about and using my phone at the moment so won’t be able to look until later but there is/was a ‘dutch’ version available from Amazon - highlighted on another thread on this forum ( you might be able to find it with a forum search) .
It is a box set with all three series - with Dutch subtitles! ( you never know they may come in handy one day!) The first series is in Welsh (the other two, a little strangely, are the English version).
I bought the set and can confirm the first series is in Welsh - allegedly the last versions available for sale in Welsh (although I don’t know this for a fact).
So that is one way to get it - you might pick up a bit of Dutch along the way - what’s not to like!?
