Hi. I have been using SSiW for about a week and am enjoying the experience. I have just got to the point of the listening practice but am not sure how to make best use of it. Do I try to translate it in my head or just listen and let it go in yn Cymraeg?
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Hi Chris, I wondered the same thing. I decided to just listen but also to read the translation - it was the first time I had ever understood more written than spoken Welsh!!!
Then, I discovered that the listening exercise meets up and dovetails in to some exercises in week 3. Very clever by Aran and the team.
In other words, I went with the flow and by the end of week 3, I got a lot from listening exercise 1.
I’d be interested to see people’s answers to this, as I still feel I must be not using the listening exercises correctly.
The listening practices are really designed to be just that - practise at listening, not trying to translate, or even making an effort to understand, as you go through them. This especially applies to the purposely speeded-up ones further in. The idea is to get your ears used to the rhythms and patterns and speed - it’s amazing how much will sink in and how your brain will use the information to build lots of little connections you’re not even aware of, and it definitely works better on a subconscious level - if you try to translate or understand during the listening, you will automatically block off bits, so it’s best to just let the exercises wash over you. Listen only at first, then read the translation before listening again if you want, but do the listening part without written notes so that your visual doesn’t override your aural 
The concern I have is that I don’t understand any more of what I’m hearing than I did three months ago. Is that usual?
It does take time, and everyone is different. Try not to think about understanding the exercises, just carry on hearing them. Eventually at some point, when you’re not paying attention, a word or a sentence that you do understand will leap out at you - that’s a huge step, you certainly won’t understand large chunks to begin with. This also goes for other listening practise such as having S4C or Radio Cymru, or Welsh podcasts on in the background while you do something else - your brain sucks in information whether you tell it too or not, and often it can suck in more when you don’t tell it to work than when you do!
Ok, thanks. I’ll keep trundling along then!
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that is so helpful siaron. I’ve also just got to the listening practice and I was panicking ! I’ve been feeling really confident about the lessons (although I’m definitely not finding them easy ) so I was a bit thrown by the listening. I’ve been pausing in between each sentence trying to translate, but it’s too fast. I’ll just listen now and enjoy hearing the welsh
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Thanks Siaron. Makes sense
Hey there!
I also just got to the first listening practice and am a bit confused: it‘s just the same few sentences repeated a couple of times. Is it supposed to be like that or is it an issue with the app? Just a quick answer would be great. Have a good night you all!
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Yes it’s about two minutes worth of sentences which are repeated so you can listen over without having to keep restarting it.
Too easy?!
Rich
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Noooooo! Hahaha just wanted to make shure I didn‘t miss out on anything, especially if it gets woven into challenges later on.
Thanks for the quick help!
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