I wrestled my way through my first SSIW lesson almost a year ago now and had no idea that a year later I would be on lesson 10 of cwrs 3. Amazing! I am celebrating my own learning process, the fun I have and also the SSIW method which really works for me thank you!
Inspired as I am, I am already thinking about life after Cwrs 3 and the new course, and I would love to throw an idea out to Aran, Iestyn and all of us eager learners who are hungry for more, to check out if it might work.
Here it is
Would it work if we, the learners, come up with specific vocab units in English that we would love to have to add to our range of Welsh vocabulary in specific situations or cultures. Financially I was wondering if the person who suggests the vocab unit might pay an initial development fee e.g. 100 pound. After that the unit is placed on the site and can be bought by anyone for say 20 pound a unit.
These āadvancedā vocab units remain on the site for the rest of eternity at 20 quid per shot. The amounts of money I suggest are only that, suggestions, and I am open to all sorts of other possibilities.
I am passionate myself about nonviolence and nonviolent communication and would love to have vvocab units in Welsh for universal human needs, a broader range of feelings and some specific turns of phrase that I can choose for in English in Dutch and canāt yet get my head around in Welsh.
I train people in corporate contexts and would really enjoy having a business vocab unit as well. Are there any suggestions for other vocab units from learners on the forum? E.g. Music, education, health care etc?
Aran and Iestyn, would you be willing to share your intial response to my suggestion by posting a reply here? I am so curious
I think thatās a really interesting idea, Elkie - and it would fit well with the algorithm weāre building, once weāve got it running smoothly.
My only uncertainty is that I suspect what we want to do with building a narrative to take you to the first 4000 most popular words via accelerated listening practices will be more efficient - but until we get that built, this might well be the next best option.
Maybe we could bring the prices down a bit from there, though - or make the commission refundable if enough other people buy it? Iāll have to chat about that with Iestyn, and see if we can get a clearer idea of the time involvement for the recording - but this is certainly a genuinely excellent idea, and diolch yn fawr iawn i ti for sharing it
Just out of curiosity, what sort of level do you feel youāre at having got halfway through course three? How far do you think you could hold your own in a normal conversation?
Iāll be more prepared to answer this after my visit to friends in Wales in March on the phone I manage if Arwyn speaks slowly. We quickly revert back to english as soon as we talk on a deeper level however, partly because our relationship started in English years ago so it is our first shared language although it is his second language. My experience in france and holland has been ājust jump inā and am firmly planning to that in March even though i may need to build some lambing vicab
The absolute best way to boost your conversational skills in Welsh is to attend a Bootcamp. You need to have completed a minimum number of lessons before you book, but Bootcamps are transformational experiences. I did my first in April 2014 (I was 3/4 through course 3 at the time - should have done one much sooner!) Following that, I no longer speak English at all during SSiW meetups (twice monthly for me), ffrinDiaith meetings, trips to the Eisteddfod and so on. It really does make a huge difference to your confidence and ability to express yourself. (and be understood).
The best way to improve Welsh conversational skills is to talk to Welsh speakers! This builds your vocabulary and opens you up to other ānon-SSIWā language patterns. I found that SSiW was very good (ie the best course!) for getting me to the level where people would not habitually switch back to English with me after a few sentences. This happened - well, in course one with me, but I must stress that I had been learning Welsh through other sources as well.
SSiW was able to do this to me- and I have seen it do it with other people- without the need of Bootcamp, which everyone I know who has been on it says is a useful and Very Good thing.
So I would say the important thing is whether people will switch back to English with you after only a couple of sentences rather than whether you can āhold your ownā in a conversation, which is difficult to define. So yes, you should be able to start talking to people in that way at such a level (thus entering the most important phase, and it is of course why we are all doing SSiW!)
Very awkward to find the time to attend bootcamps when youāve got a young family. Used to attend the odd Sadwrn Siarad when I used to go to classes in Merthyr.
Boot camps are not an integral part of the course- they are something extra for people who have the time, money and inclination. (As I say, everyone I know who has been on one says it is very good. I havenāt been though.)
I have seen the lessons, on their own, get people to a point where Welsh-speakers will not switch back to English after a sentence or two.
Thank you so much everyone for responding to ā life after Cwrs 3ā. I really value your contributions and certainly hope to attend a bootcamp this year.
Stu and Aran, thanks for the initial responses to my suggestion.
I would love to hear from the other people, and anyone else on the forum, how my specific idea of ācommissionedā vocab units lands with them and if anyone has any more suggestions or elaborations on the idea.
Very awkward to do anything at all when youāve got a young family! You deserve several medals for learning at all. You might find that the best bet to keep you moving forward, along with working through the lessons themselves, would be to commit to an hour a week with a conversation partner - ideally a friend who is a first language Welsh speaker, but another learner would also help you make huge progress.
Hi, Iām not quite halfway through Course 3 yet - about to start lesson 7. It would depend on the conversation and the context. I am ok with some of my more understanding Welsh neighbours - understanding them is more of a problem than speaking back to them. Itās not so much what they say as how they say it - their speech comes across as being totally different than when I listen to Aran or Catrin.
As for the context, Iād be fairly hopeless other than in a supermarket unless I could point to exactly what I wanted. Even then, discussing sizes or prices would stump me. In fact, if there were to be extra vocab units: food; clothing; numbers; weights and measures; and, time-related words and expressions would be a real bonus.
However, as a pensioner, Iāll probably have to learn the basics from a book before experimenting in shops. Ā£100 or anything like it would be out of the question.
Gerald Murphy
thank you!
