I’ve been going through challenge 3 today, I had to re-start it at around 12 minutes as I felt I’d lost it a bit (think the sun in my eyes wasn’t helping!) but I really enjoyed the challenge again. I’m going to go through challenge 3 again before moving on to challenge 4 as I feel I need to, due to me being autistic (as I’ve mentioned before) information takes time to absorb so I think I will benefit from playing the challenges through at least twice. For the majority of the challenge I couldn’t remember the word for “started” and it was really irritating me but I remember it now so at least that is something!
I’m really enjoying doing the lessons. I suppose I wrote this thread for a bit of reassurance that it’s ok to feel a bit baffled by certain words sometimes when learning a new language? and that it is ok to go back and re-visit a session if you feel it is needed? There was a lot of information I felt in challenge 3 but I know my mind will help me to let it sink in and when I re-visit the challenge that should help.
You’re doing great, Hannah .
It’s absolutely ok to feel a bit baffled by certain words sometimes when learning a new language!
And it’s absolutely ok to go back and re-visit a session if you feel it is needed - as long as you don’t overso it and revisit it too often before moving on. This is because the SSiW method has built-in repetition as you go through the levels, so even if you don’t seem to get something straight away, the repetition will be doing it’s work and things will be sinking in even if you don’t think they are - just like you noticed with “started”! (it’s mind magic! ).
Some levels will seem harder than others, and later on there are some that almost everyone finds challenging, so just keep at it at a pace that works for you, trust the method, and don’t worry about the times it seems nothing is going in - we’ve all been there, I promise!
like I said - you’re doing great!
You’re doing fine, Hannah - and it’s important that you find your own emotional balance with the approach - but you might find these videos helpful, too…
Absolutely! They’ll sink in eventually. I have a particular blind spot for “cymryd” (to take). My mind just goes blank when I’m asked for a sentence with “to take” in it!
As far as repeating challenges, I’ll just remind you of what Iestyn has drilled into us South Wallian learners: you’re not aiming for perfection! If you can get 80% of the sentences of a challenge, move on! The bits you miss you’ll pick up on later challenges, as everything gets revisited.
Thank you so much to you all for replying. I am very grateful to be have access to a great forum and wonderful people so thank you :-).
I definitely need to learn the skills for accepting that I got 80% in a challenge (if I do that is lol!) and move on, I’m known to do so much more than I need to which doesn’t always help me out and causes undue stress as like you said in relation to learning Welsh, the sentences are repeated again down the line so I must remember this when I’m having a doubting moment of whether I should move on to the next challenge or not lol.
Again, thank you for your fast, friendly and supportive messages as always guys!
Hannah x
In fact, that’s old advice, and we’ve since revised it a long way downwards - I’ve watched people get 10 or 20% and still see the spaced repetition working…
So now we say ‘as long as you’re saying SOMETHING in the gaps almost all the time, wrong or right, you’re good to go on’…
If you reach SSP (swearing saturation point) where there is nothing apart from the swearing, then I’m afraid that counts as a zero score. But anything up to 50/50 is liveable with…
Oh my goodness, Challenge 3! I got myself stuck there a couple of times because my brain didn’t want to let me move on. When I fiiiiiiiiiinally made it a few days ago (was it attempt #5 or 6… who knows?) I laughed out loud because I think that’s the one where he says something about “swearing at the tutors” at the end, right? Hahahahaha! Ooops. Busted.
That sounds as though you’re getting stuck in the ‘aiming for perfection’ or ‘aiming for 80%’ trap - once you’ve worked through it saying something in the gaps, you’re ready to move on - and if you do 5 or 10 challenges in a row like that, and then revisit the first one, you’ll see what a huge difference the process makes…
Oh, yes… It’s true. I am working on letting go of that. I want to remember everrryyyythingg… but I am trying to accept less than perfection and enjoy the process. After completing Challenge 3, which my brain was resisting lol… 4, 5 and 6 followed quickly after. I am setting Challenge 7 as my goal for today!
I was just starting Challenge 7, and I decided to take the advice and go back to listen to the introduction again. I am so glad I did! Either I listened to an old course intro before or I completely forgot… but that was so important for me to hear! I have been learning languages since 1983 when I was 5, and teaching English as a Foreign Language for 13 years, so the amount of preconceptions I am working through is enormous and I love it!
That said, so many of the things you advise SSi students to do align with my own style and advice to my students (for example, encouraging them to make sentences about their lives as they go through their day and to make as many mistakes as possible and then laugh and learn). I am really enjoying the time I am spending with my “beginner’s mind” in Welsh coupled with the rapid growth I am already seeing in my ability to communicate.
Shoshin (初心) is the Zen Buddhist term for “beginner’s mind” (心 can be translated as “heart” alone in Chinese, but I don’t speak Japanese yet… I wonder if Buddhists view it as a matter for the heart or the mind? I prefer the heart). Anyway, for those who don’t know, beginner’s mind is talking about an attitude of openness, being eager to learn something new, without preconceptions - even after reaching an advanced level, just as a beginner would. The activity is full of possibility, confusion, curiosity and wonder when approached with a beginner’s mind.
I’m not sure, but the SSi game-style approach, which constantly keeps you on your toes in a state of discovery (and sometimes confusion ), might even serve to help lengthen that magic span of time when you still have that fresh viewpoint of beginner’s mind. Have you heard of the concept or considered how it might relate to learning on SSi?
I think beginner’s mind is important in lots of different ways - we see a huge difference in achievement between people who can turn ‘mistakes’ into ‘play’, which I think has a lot of overlap…
Then if you add to that the practical matter that the memories in SSi are meant to be formed over the process of 5 to 10 challenges, rather than in the challenge when you first encounter a new item, and it makes it easier to press on.
It’s going to be fascinating to hear what you think of the process as you get further through it…
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After completing Challenge 3, which my brain was resisting lol… 4, 5 and 6 followed quickly after. I am setting Challenge 7 as my goal for today!
), might even serve to help lengthen that magic span of time when you still have that fresh viewpoint of beginner’s mind. Have you heard of the concept or considered how it might relate to learning on SSi?