How/when will I be able to understand spoken Welsh?

PS - I understand it enough to realise the Englsh subtitles (which I don’t use or often a bit off the mark!). I find the welsh subtitles really hard because I don’t have much experience of written welsh

If you don’t like Radio Cymru, maybe try Radio Cymru 2? That’s a mixture of music and some chat, all day. I listen on my way to work in the car. I often find myself trying to translate the song lyrics.

There’s also a really good podcast for learners called Sgwrsio where they explain some of the new vocab.

Over time you will understand more, as you learn more.

2 Likes

I realise this is getting away from the original point, but… Those listening practices are meant to be too fast. I realise that it can feel a bit frustrating and pointless to be told to let the incomprehensible chipmunk gobbledygook wash over you because it will magically do you good, but that is the idea: at double speed, your brain is still trying to pick out odd recognisable words and fragments, and even if you never get so much as a whole sentence, it doesn’t really matter - the largely unconscious effort to make sense of it should help you to make more sense of normal speech at a sane pace.

Of course, speeding it up by 100% without changing the pitch to the same extent does inevitably mean throwing some of the audio signal away, so if you slow it back down again it will still sound distorted.

1 Like

This is what it says about the Listening Practices if you access them through the website - it’s the text with the first of the double-speed ones:

The Listening Practices from the second one on are recorded at double speed. There is a specific learning technique behind this which gives you an advantage when you get into normal speed Welsh conversations.

The idea is not to try and understand them. Just let them waft over you as if you’re listening to some pleasant background music - not concentrating too hard, but not thinking about something else either. That’s all you need to do, and trust your subconscious to do the learning for you. With repeated sessions like that, you’ll find yourself gradually able to pick words and understand chunks as your brain speeds up its processing to match the recording, but you’ll be understanding them in Welsh, with no translating into English.

It’s like when you first drive onto a motorway and it seems fast, but after a while everything just feels like normal speed and it’s really slow when you come off again. You’ll have a similar experience with this. Once you get used to the double speed ones, if you listen to the first one which is normal speed, you’ll find it really slow!

Persevere and you’ll reap the benefits. It’s the fastest shortcut to understanding natural spoken Welsh.

2 Likes

I’ve done SSIW on and off for 10 years and lived in rural area nearPwllheli for 11 years, where I hear Welsh as the first language. I can repeat lesson sentences parrot fashion in all 3 levels, but when I eavesdrop locals having converstaions or listen to radio Cymru, I just can’t understand the thread of the converstation. I’ll hear a word that I know, but by the time i’ve remembered what that word means i’ve switched off from the ongoing conversation. The latest way i’ve been trying to follow dialogue is with football commentary on S4C or BBCRCymru, as commentators tend to use common terms and phrases. But even this springs frustation on me, as I cling to a word trying to remember it’s meaning as the commentry moves onward without me. I’ve long given up on being a fluent Welsh speaker, but just keep at it and enjoy the beautiful language!

2 Likes

Thank you, yes it was a revelation when I first found Radio Cymru 2- it’s got a much more modern outlook when it comes to music choices! :slight_smile:

When listening … Learn like a child - just get used to how things sound and flow - let your subconcious do the hardest yards… dont worry that you dont pick up every word…just keep dousing yourself in hearing the language :smiley:
You can be active in the reading and writing on the grammar side as an adult…but listening I find different. Other people can be unpredictable in what they say (however certain constructs and sentences do become predictable subconsciously eventually)
Immersion is key

2 Likes

Helô @Snufkinsbf. Are you using the Slack Community Chat platform as well as this forum? I find Slack an easier place to interact with folk about the SSiW course content and get answers to miscellaneous grammar questions and, seeing as you are in the same time zone, you have the opportunity there to join in the very friendly and supportive tutor-cordinated sgwrs sessions, and you can also try to find learner-folk to practice with. Deborah (SSiW) will give you access if you send her an email at SSiW. I’m also shocking at comprehending ‘regular Welsh conversation’, but I’ve been enjoying working through beginners epub books - the Amdani series. Like you also, I am not a tv watcher (nor am I really a youtuber, though I agree with everyone else about how enjoyable the Marian short videos are). However, over breakfast (and in lieu of Welsh Radio) I do put on the longer audio conversations that are available under the ‘Advanced Content’ tab from the SSiW website, or from the App - and am chuffed with myself when I finally remember the meaning of a word after repeat listenings. Pob lwc!

1 Like

Ah, I didn’t know about the Advanced Content-thank you, I’ll have a look!