Hello everyone
im a welshman living in motherwell near glasgow.
Im origanly from the the south but iv lived all over wales including llandudno and angelsey.
Since moving to scotland i have become more aware of my welsh identity, the history of my homeland and of course poetrys very own language which has made learning welsh a priority.
I have always wanted to learn welsh. Especially when in north wales when i was faced many times by the āhow can you be welsh when you donāt speak welshā lol but i lived a very buisy life in software development (im a computer programmer) that i could just about have time to eat.
Anyway, times have changed and i now have time to learn welsh.
However i am finding it very hard learning anything on my own.
Iv been stuck on lesson 1 for over a year. I just cant remember anything.
I donāt have a memory issue because i can write huge programs consisting of thousands of lines of code from memory but iām struggling with this
I know its a long shot but does anyone know of anyone living near glasgow i could maybe practice with?
I intend on moving to aberystwyth in the new year by the way.
Hi Kevin - and a very warm welcome to the forumā¦
What does ābeing stuckā look like for you? Does ācanāt remember anythingā mean that you literally donāt say a single thing when you listen to Lesson 1? Letās see if we can help you get through thisā¦
Hi Kevin and welcome! I hope you will find some speaking partners near Glasgow, but just in case you donāt - there are always people here on this forum who are willing to practice via Skype.
Hay aran.
I can complete the first lesson and remember everything but i cant seem to get what i learn into long term memory.
I think this is because the kind of work i do which is quite intense on the old memory and the fact i got no one to practice with.
By the time i finish the first and move on to lesson 2 i have forgotten most of lesson one.
I hope that makes sense to you.
Thanks for the welcome btw. Iv never had the time to join the forum until now
If you make up your mind to practice via skype Iām ready to practice with you:) Iāve completed course 1 and am doing Level 1 lessons now, and Iām far from fluent, but it might help you to remember the patterns from the lessons better.
I wouldnāt worry too much on trying to get things into your long term memory, that comes on its own with repetition and usage. The main thing is just to progress.If youāre completing the first lesson and remembering everything then youāre doing a lot better than myself.
I would say as long as youāre getting 80% right, move on and it will come to you more naturally than getting frustrated and stuck in a rut. As @stella has mentioned Skype practice is a good way to get repetition. Iām also to happy to help via skype. However Iāve only completed course 1 lessons 1-10 so not as fluent as other people are likely to be.
Thatās our job, not yours - the entire course is built to move items from working to short to long term memoryā¦
But it only works if you move on through the course!
How are you measuring this? Do you mean that you make mistakes when the elements of lesson one get repeated?
If so, donāt worry - making mistakes is a vital and valuable part of the process!
And if your work is memory intensive, thatās a great thing - memory isnāt like petrol, when you run out you run out and you have to buy more - itās like fitness - the more you work it, the better you get.
How many times have you repeated lesson 1 in this last year?
Hi, someone in Glasgow sent in a request like this a good while ago, though I think he was on the west side of the city and he got few if any takers. You could see if you could find his message, search for āGlasgowā. Also, you and me might meet up for a Welsh coffee half way as Iām in East Calder.
Na. This search will not give a desired result. Iāve done it for you but nothing what could be of this particular use was returned (or Iāve missed something, but I believe I did not). Is it possible it was on old forum?
And, welcome to the forum from my end too @kevinanthonybates. I claimed I canāt remember things either and my memory is really in bad shape though but I still managed (with huge help of all here and especially @aran) to come to the stage when I can have at least a bit decent chat yn Gymraeg (although via Skype). Skype is good way of practice however really a bit different from that one when you find yourself in the wild and youāre surprised in the middle of (letās say) daily rutine.
One single tip I have for you though LISTEN TO ARAN WHATEVER HE SUGGESTS YOU TO DO! and youāre at the doorstep of success. I bet youāll report back here in a year that youāre doing just fine if not excelently. And besides ā¦ when youāll find yourself to be stucked in the middle of the course again, here always are people willing to help so youāre more then welcome to come back and ask for it.
Kevin I live in Largs in North Ayrshire, not too far away from you.
Like you I am Welsh (from Swansea originally) and my parents were Welsh speaking. I spoke it quite a lot as a child but have forgotten most of it now. Iāve been in Scotland for over 40 years!
I would love to learn it once again but, like you, am stuck on lesson 1. Iām sure if I stuck at it, it would come back to me.
Itās a bit far to meet up regularly but we could meet in Glasgow now and then.
Tiān iawn, Kevin? I live just south of Glasgow. Iām often in the city and would happily meet up to practice a bit of Welsh. Iām not fluent by any means but have completed course 3 a while back and have lacked live practice just like you.
Hi Kevin, Andrea24 and JohnB
Like you all, I also was brought up in (In my case Llanberis, North Wales) and spoke fluently and wrote in Cymraig for a number of years, but like Andrea24 my family relocated here to a town (Johnstone) on the South side of Glasgow some 40 years ago and speaking Cymriag went out the window as such - i havent completed any course but i do like or Dw iān licio coming back and challanging myself - but iām convinced that the language is still here in my head (and heart) and if this meetup gets of the ground im in, Diolch
Thanks Tatjana, it could well be so long ago that itās on the old forum.
And I think there may be the makings of a meet up that I could get to, so ount me in.
hay folks, thanks for the replys .
stella, i will get myself a webcam and mic this week and we will sort something out.
aran, iv been back to it loads of times. Iāve also tried books and audios like Linguaphone Welsh Course , Colloquial Welsh , Teach yourself Welsh ,Welsh in 3 Months audio.
This is by far the best though.
pollypolly, Andrea24,johnbreckenridge,johnroberts_1 . Thatās 5 of us so far miles better than i expected. I also have someone on facebook who is interested .
Ah - what a shame - I used to live up the road from you in Hamilton and I used to teach in a primary school in High Blantyre! I really struggled to find Welsh people up there at the time, but as soon as I moved home to Wales, I discovered that there are in fact quite a few Welsh people living up in Scotland and I kicked myself for not being a bit more pro-active in finding them at the time!
Ach well.
By the way, I live in the Aberystwyth area now and there are lots of social stuff going on here for people who want to ymarfer their Cymraeg. Iāll be happy to give you a few hints and tips when you move down here!
It sounds to me as though you need to stop repeating lesson 1, go and get yourself through to lesson 10, and then see how lesson 1 feels for you - because the system is designed to strengthen the memories over time, which wonāt happen unless you carry on through itā¦
I am in Argyll and not fit enough to travel unless absolutely necessary, butā¦
stop repeating lesson 1. Go onā¦and onā¦ and onā¦ it will stick!!
I have forgotten more than I rememberā¦ truly, I have books I have read and can no longer understandā¦ but SSiW is by far the best methodā¦ keep at it!!
