I want to be a Welsh speaker because I want to connect more with my Welsh heritage, and help preserve the language in some small way.
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Iāve posted before to share the reasons, but forgot the link - here it isā¦ https://ssi-cyhoeddus.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/recording/3474/6min_10_onesentence.mp3
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I use Duolinguo Spanish alongside saysomethinginspanish.com and Iāve found them to be complementary.
I was also using Babbel and memrise too, but Iāve put them on hold at present because they work differently and Iāll go back to them after completing ssispanish. I like the say something in method because it really does āreprogrammeā your brain and body to learn the basics of the new language because the method integrates mental exercise with the physicality of listening and speaking.
Duolinguo Welsh is good but since it hasnāt been funded very well and Duolinguo donāt want to update it anymore it has a number of glitches and issues.
But Itās still a very good way to practice reading, listening and written stuff whilst expanding your vocabulary.
I learnt Welsh as an adult the traditional way by doing night classes - wlpan 3essons a week followed by twice a week intermediate lessons and then on to the A level and a part time degree course.
But I also used the 3rd level ssiw southern course to help me sound more natural when I was already fluent.
I totally understand why you find the Ssiw course challenging (itās purposely brain melting at times) Iām presently using the Spanish courses.
Iāve found that I have to lock myself away from all distractions and totally focus on the lessons. I usually listen to the listening practice first and then do the lesson. I tried to do lessons in a more passive way at work but that wasnāt very successful (except for going over previous lessons) because although I made progress, I hit a bit of a wall and needed to repeat 15 earlier lessons.
Now @aran 's instructions are vital - relax and enjoy the game!
use the pause button at first but only when you have to. Itās a cumulative process and you have to trust that process.
- I have a bit of adhd and dyspraxia so I use the pause button and the back button quite often when I start to feel stressed by the selfvimposed pressure of trying to get an answer out. The āmental freezeā from such stress can be really debilitating
However Iām usually fairly confident by the second or at most third attempt at a lesson but when Iām relaxed I can sometimes do an entire lesson successfully at the first attempt. Sometimes I might need to use the back button four or five times on a particularly long sentence.
Itās all about āgetting in the zoneā
ātrusting the processā
and most importantly treating it as fun (in the way that hard work can be fun if you approach it with a good attitude) 
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Dw iān moyn dysgu siarad Cymraeg achos dw iān moyn byw yn Sir Penfroā¦
(switching to English because I donāt know the rest in Welsh - yet!)
ā¦ in a few years time, to be nearer the mountains I like to walk through and climb on. Iāve lived in several parts of the world, and Iāve always thought it good manners to at least learn some of the basics of the local language, even if the locals also happen to speak good English. Moving to Wales will be no different, even though it is part of the UK.
Additionally, of all the Celtic languages, Iāve always loved the sound of Welsh most. Itās just lovely on the ear.
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I want to speak Welsh beacuse I lived in Wales and even tho learning Welsh was not love at the first sight I fell in love with it and I want to be able to speak it with confidence.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because i want to be able to speak to colleagues with confidence, in their first language, even though it is my 2nd.
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I want to be closer to my welsh family
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I live next door to a beautiful country that speaks a different language. I love Wales!
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ā¦i want to bring my child up bilingual.
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because I want to fully immerse myself in Welsh culture, which has always captivated me, as well as being able to speak to my partner in his native language.
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Technically off-topic but I highly approve of the Peridot avatar 
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I would like to learn Welsh because Iāve moved to Anglesey and love the Welsh language, I know my local community are keen to preserve it. My hope is that I will be able to speak Welsh with them rather than them having to switch to English because Iām there!
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I want to be a Welsh speaker because itās a beautiful language that means something to me. My grandmotherās family are all from Lampeter and the surrounding villages and they spoke Welsh as a first language. I always enjoyed listening to my mamgu speak cymraeg. My dad didnāt get much exposure to the language as he was raised in England for the most part. He has sadly passed and there is definitely an element of wanting to make him proud.
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I have always had an interest in the country Wales and I love the sound of Welsh. I would like to visit Wales and tryout my new language skills.
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I want to chat with my grand children in both their languages and enjoy a richer time chatting to local people when I am visiting them in North Wales. Not that there is any issue speaking English with everyone today itās just I always like to want to āparticipateā in the local scene wherever I am
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Dw iān moyn gwybod sut i siarad Cymraeg achos dw iān dod o Gymru.
I was born in Wales and am Welsh, so Iāve always felt embarassed that Welsh was always my weakest subject back when I was in school (until they tried to make me learn Frenchā¦ then that became my weakest).
Iāve also felt pretty detatched from Welsh traditions as I learnt about things like Mari Llwyd and Hen Blwyddyn Newydd through the internet rather than growing up with them, and although my school did have its own Eisteddfod the concept was tarnished by the gross miscarriage of justice that was Ty Coch winning that one year when Ty Gwyrdd should have won.
Now Iām living in Pontypridd, and the Iāve been reading more about Welsh history recently (Dw iān meddwl bod hanes yn diddorol iawn). Welsh couldāve been my native language if it wasnāt for the Romans, or the Saxons, or the Normans, or the Tudors, or theā¦ you get the idea. So I guess what Iām trying to say is, dw iān moyn dysgu sut i siarad Gymraeg achos dw iān caru Cymru a dw iān moyn yr iath Cymraeg barhau.
I have two things Iā like to achive by the end of 2024. One is being able to speak Welsh with my native Welsh-speaking colleague at work, without my brain freezing and forgetting all the Welsh I know. The other is going to the National Eisteddfod and tryingto have a conversation in Welsh.
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Excellent goals! And there will be plenty of us at the Eisteddfod this summer to have that conversation with you, if you want to start with a friendly audience that you know (and work your way on to the friendly audience that you donāt know in the rest of the Eisteddfodwyr) 
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I have Welsh heritage and have felt the pull to the history, land, culture, and language over the years. When my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimerās and we learned that speaking a new language can delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimerās, I decided to learn Welsh! I also want the Welsh language to continue. I feel a saddening at the loss of my own history and the loss of the Welsh culture, and I want to choose to do something about it, if only in my own life. I want to visit and be in the places my family is from and I want to be able to speak the local language when I am there. So excited to take this on!
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One of the things that steered me towards learning Welsh must have been reading Aranās book āSome Sex and a Hillā (I take it itās SSiWās Aran and not some other talented Welsh guyā¦), months before I heard via a language podcaster about the company. He also had been denied his roots, like so many others.
I have no links to Wales, apart from an immediate liking for the language, but I have forbidden languages in my life, too. Our mother decreed the grandparentsā Plattdeutsch as extremely common and I wasnāt allowed to learn or speak it (we lived as refugees there, with them). The arrogance! Low German has since been given official UN 'Minority Language" status. The other ālostā language sounds of my life are those of Russian men, the only male voices around me, the sound of the Occupiers in 1945. For me they were a lullaby.
I wish you joy on your journey towards your familyās language!
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Good luck, @shea-hultquist , and thank you for learning!
@SanneT thatās so wonderful to hear, thank you so much, and thank you for learning 
Very sorry to hear about those attitudes to Plattdeutsch, I remember hearing a little bit about it from my parents when we lived near DĆ¼sseldorf. Itās never good when people try to use languages to define status by excluding.
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