I came back to ssiw after a reminder/invite email and started using automagic. But there’s all this other material and I have no idea how or if they integrate! There’s this forum and Slack. There are the ssiw courses with the different stages and vocabulary lists. Then there are video meetings which were for three months except they are continuing and now I think I’ve signed up for 6 minutes a day and I don’t know if that’s as well as or instead of automagic. I’m enjoying using automagic but I don’t know whether that’s the route everybody else is using or where my progress sits in relation to all the other routes. I find it all a bit discouraging reallly.
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I’ll try and break it down for you.
Automagic is the new app. It includes visuals (the courses up to now have been audio only). It uses the same content as the courses, but doesn’t cover the whole course yet. You can find some more info about it here AutoMagic Welsh is here! (or by putting ‘automagic’ in the search box)
This forum is more part of the community rather than part of the course, although there are tasks in the course which ask you to post on here. It’s generally for help and encouragement.
Slack is an online platform which enables video chats as well as group discussions. SSiW has 2 groups on Slack - the 6/6 one is for people doing the 6 minute course where you can join video groups for extra help with the course material and practices, and the other is a general welsh Speaking Practice group which anyone (SSiW or not) can access for video meet-ups or chats.
Your subscription covers both the standard course and Automagic as well as membership of the Slack 6/6 group. Use of the Slack WSP group is free (but you’ll need an invite), as is the forum.
The reason there seem to be so many options is to try and cover all the various needs of people learning: the audio course content itself (the ‘old’ course and the newer challenges), visual content for those who can’t manage with the audio-only approach (automagic), somewhere for support (forum), and somewhere to reach other learners face-to-face online (slack), and there is no rigid scheme of how to use them together - basically, they all compliment each other and just offer different opportunities to learn and practise Welsh, so you can use whatever combination works best for you, because what works for you may not be what works for someone else.
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I really like automagic but does it mean that I’m missing out on the challenges? I’ve seen references to people having to complete challenges and I haven’t seen that pop up on automagic.
If I start the 6/6 course, I assume that that will run parallel to automagic?
The material used in the course/challenges is the same as in automagic - except that automagic is so new it doesn’t yet extend as far as as the course/challenges do i.e. there are more lessons in the course than are currently in automagic.
There are tasks that come up in the course which - as far as I’m aware - are not included in automagic. These are the coloured speech-bubble badges that you’ll see next to some forum members avatars. You can still do these tasks independently of the course if you want to - or indeed not at all if don’t want want to - they are just there for extra practise.
The one big difference between the course and automagic is that with automagic you can determine the amount of repetition to receive. Although repetition is built into the course, with automagic you can increase it further. So you may find that the course and automagic are not truly parallel depending what speed you set automagic to, but they are certainly complimentary.
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Diolch!
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Siaron has explained it all well, and I’m glad to see that you’re successfully taking part in Slack support now. We hope to see you in an online group session before too long!
I hope that between Siaron here and my explanations in Slack you’re no longer confused 
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@tony-15 Don’t worry - its not just you! In my experience a lot of people find getting to grips with all this as much of a challenge as doing the course! 
To help fellow learners, I made this some time ago. Its a bit out of date now as it was written before Automagic, but still has some value hopefully. I’m sure SSIW could do more to make all this easier and provide a simple explanation of what’s what so that we don’t have to struggle to work it all out. I think its likely that people lose heart because it all seems too complicated, and also miss out on things that are available to them because they don’t know what’s available. 
The course itself is brilliant and will get you speaking Welsh in no time at all, but it would be great if SSIW could take this forward and do a bit more to help pull the resources together! 
SSIW Tech on a Page.pdf (186.7 KB)
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That was a 3-month trial of 15-minute 1:1 sessions at the beginning of the NEWYDD online sessions with Nia. The trial was successful, so those sessions are continuing. There is an explanation, a timetable, and a link to a Calendar app to book a session in Slack in the #1-start-here channel.
Note that while the Slack support and online sessions were originally only for people registered in a Structured course, i.e. the 6 Minutes a Day or Deep End courses, they are now open to anyone paying a subscription.
If you aren’t sure whether you have access, send an email to admin@saysomethingin.com and we’ll check for you. If you don’t have access and you’re entitled to it, we’ll send you an invitation.
If you’re not currently receiving the weekly SSiW Newsletter, you might like to opt in for that here. It keeps you up-to-date with some of what’s happening 
Great to see this clarificationin the SSIW weekly email!!
Recent changes to SSiW services
"With the development of the exciting new AutoMagic option for learning, plus the different offerings of Challenges, Slack support, the Forum, online Zoom sessions etc, this seems like a good time to clarify what’s what.
Let’s start with AutoMagic Beta which is currently a ‘web app’. This means it runs in a normal browser, but it looks like an app that you might have on your smartphone. It takes you through the SSiW material with more or fewer repetitions of practice sentences according to what you choose. It doesn’t have ‘lessons’ as such, but is a continual stream of learning building on what has been presented before. It is NOT currently integrated into any of the other SSiW learning support, but users of AutoMagic who are individual paying subscribers have access to other opportunities described below. If you want to have a look at AutoMagic and you are either paying a subscription or you have a sponsored membership through the National Centre (Dysgu Cymraeg), go to https://www.saysomethingin.com/en/automagic
If you’re registered in the 6 Minutes a Day (Levels 1 and 2) structured course, you can access the ‘Challenges’, or audio lessons, directly from a link in the email you receive on a Monday. The same applies to anyone registered in the Deep End course, which takes you through Level 3.
But anyone with a SSiW membership, whether a paying subscriber or someone sponsored through the National Centre, can also access the Challenges, the AutoMagic Beta, and the Advanced Material by clicking on ‘Learn’ at the top of the website. This means that those of you registered in a structured course but wanting to progress faster than the set schedule can click on ‘Learn’ and move ahead in the Challenges at your own pace.
The Forum is an open space to share information, ask questions, and generally read and post items to do with Welsh language and culture. Anyone with an interest in Welsh or Wales can join and participate. You don’t need to be a member of SSiW. It can be read without logging in, but for someone to post, they need to log in first. Look for ‘log in’ up at the top.
SSiW 6/6 Support Slack is an online ‘workspace’ where people can chat, ask questions, post information and join in online group sessions with a tutor. It’s similar to the Forum, but it’s not open to everyone. Until now it has been just for people registered in a structured course and they will have automatically received an email invitation to join it. Now, it is available for all who are paying an individual subscription, no matter how you’re learning with us. It is NOT available to those who have sponsored free access through the National Centre. If you’re paying a subscription, you haven’t received an invitation to Slack and you would like one, just email admin@saysomethingin.com or reply to this email requesting that we check your access to the Slack support.
When you receive a Slack invitation email, just click on the link to join, then when you’re into Slack for the first time, read through the information in the top Channel - #1-start-here. That helps you understand how it all works. You will also find there the timetable of the online group sessions which are aimed at different levels and explained below:
There are 3 Q&A sessions per week where people can ask questions in English about the Welsh they’re learning, followed by some practice of the Welsh sentences from the very early part of the course.
There are 4 NEWYDD sessions per week consisting of two 15-minute 1:1 sessions which have to be booked ahead of time, and a half hour open group session for people very new to speaking Welsh. Some of the useful patterns needed when you’re first getting into conversations are explained and practised.
The rest of the sessions are for general practice of spoken Welsh and are suitable for most people, with the Tuesday sessions reserved for the more advanced and confident.
NOTE: SSiW 6/6 Support Slack will soon be having a facelift and changing its name to reflect the fact that it’s now open to ALL paying subscribers, not just those following the 6 Minutes or Deep End courses.
Welsh Speaking Practice is another Slack Workspace, but this one is open to anyone with an interest in speaking Welsh. It is mainly run by the participants themselves organising chat sessions with different themes such as gardening, photography and the Noson Lawen, but there is also a mid-week Chat Group on a Wednesday run by Nia. You can find the Zoom link for that session and others on the forum at Welsh Speaking Practice (WSP) – Event Listings or in the #coming-events-in-wsp channel in SSiW 6/6 Support Slack.
I hope that clarifies it a little for you, but if you have any more questions, you could post them on the forum in I am so confused where there are further explanations, and we’ll try to answer them for you."
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I am on challenge 22 of level 1 but also enjoying automagic. I’m about 7 hours into automagic where should I be for it to tally with my challenge 22?