Helo pawb!
I just wanted to tell you my experiences. Dwi di bod yn dysgu am tua dau mis nawr a dwi newydd ddechra gwisgo lanyard Cymraeg i’r gwaith. Dwi’n feindio bod dim ond un neu dau bobl siarad i fi yn y iaith a ddwedan nhw ddim ond “Bore da” a “ti’n iawn”, dwi’n feindio fo annodd i gynnydd am hwnna achos dan ni’n gwaith ar y wardiau, a dan ni’n brysur. Any tips?
Diolch am y tro
Anthony
Wow - well, first off, you’re doing remarkably well - llongyfarchiadau!
And your courage in putting yourself into Welsh-speaking situations will stand you in great stead - hugely impressive.
Having said that, the working environment is probably the last step of the ladder - and usually not a very good place to be getting useful practice. If you can find a meetup near you, or a Skype partner you can talk to for an hour a week, you’ll probably move on much more quickly than looking for occasional opportunities in work when everyone’s naturally so busy… 
Thank you Aran, that’s very reassuring! I’ve recommended saysomethingin to so many people at work! A lot of my colleagues’ children start at Welsh schools soon so they’re on a drive to be able to help them.
I do speak to my girlfriend and her mam in Welsh as much as I can. Do you have any tips for building vocabulary?
Vocab growth is tricky. As in hard work tricky, until you get to the stage where you’re using your Welsh lots, at which point you’ll start to get nice, easy organic growth.
I’ve got some ideas about how to help with vocab, but they’re for after Level 3 - at some point next year, I’m hoping…
How far have you got through our material?
I’ve just finished lesson 22 of Level 1. I started Course 1 and switched over after lesson 6.
Great. Your best bet for now is to push on through the lessons (we’ve just started publishing L2 southern, and should have more soon-ish) and try to make sure you have an hour each week where you ban yourself from anything apart from Welsh - that will highlight the vocab gaps you need to plug most urgently, and then you can flashcard them (or Memrise.com them) until you realise you can get through that hour without falling into too many vocab holes…
Da iawn. Are they first language speakers?
I think there are lots of ways, but in general, I’d say it’s a case of getting a lot of exposure, in as many ways as possible. And by a lot, I think I mean much more than you would think (or more than I would have thought before entering into the language learning game).
While you are still doing a beginner level course (whether Course 1 or Level 1), I wouldn’t worry too much about actively learning vocabulary - you will have enough on your plate with the lessons. But no harm in getting at least casual exposure, e.g. S4C, Radio Cymru, and wherever you can find some spoken Welsh.
As you know, SSiW doesn’t really encourage reading or writing Welsh in the early stages. How long this voluntary self-denying ordinance lasts is left entirely to the individual learner. While I was still doing Course 1, I didn’t go out of my way to read any Welsh whatsoever (even the official course notes), and made a rule to myself never to write down anything from the course.
However, words I came across on the radio or on S4C, or in occasional meetups, etc, were fair game, and I put those into a notebook, and looked them up when convenient…
For Welsh at least, I didn’t use any particular word-memorising method (not strictly true, but won’t go into that here).
However, I did eventually start reading, and eventually found some books aimed at learners - the “Nofelau Nawr” series, and “harvested” loads of useful words and phrases from those.
Reading is usually reckoned to be a very good way of growing vocabulary, and I’d agree, but I’d also say, it shouldn’t be the only way. In line with the SSiW philosophy, one should probably be doing at least as much listening as reading, and purists would say as much speaking as listening, although that’s not alway quite so easy.
I’d say try not to make vocabulary-learning/growing a chore, and try to keep it to being a pleasure.
I used to encounter a word I didn’t know, and would have a sinking feeling - “oh no, another word to learn”. I gradually managed to re-frame this, and started thinking - “oh good, another word to add to my store-cupboard!”.
Thank you Mike! They are excellent suggestions! I’ll look up Nofelau Nawr soon. I think I’ll give myself the last few days to finish of Level 1 first and get into level 2 before buying anything.
They are both native speakers. My girlfriend’s mum is from North Wales and far more comfortable in the language than my girlfriend (Emma, I feel strange writing girlfriend repetitively!). Emma did go o a Welsh medium school. We test each other in Welsh. I’d say it’s got to 55:45 Welsh:English now.
I listen to Radio Cymru on the way to and from work everyday. I’m not too concerned that I’m not following a great deal at the moment. It’s as much for the pronunciation and syntax. It’s gratifying when I find I do follow a few topics!
I’m watching Y Gwyll with English subtitles at the moment. I tried just in Welsh but found that, as I wasn’t familiar with the plot, I had no point of reference to build from.
Thank you again for your suggestions! My goal now is to start having a set period a day when I only speak in Welsh and build from there. I’m going to try and make a few meet ups too.
That’s an excellent approach - if you can stick to it, you’ll progress extremely quickly 
Hello, Mike. I think Peppa Pinc taught me most of my early vocabulary! Also, you can find lots of pictures of common foods (eg fruit and veg from seed catalogues), household items (also in catalogues) and other things that you encounter in daily life (things around town, leisure activities, etc) so that the words you learn are for the things you frequently see. And by naming the pictured object directly in Welsh you avoid translating them from English.
You are not going to be able to avoid picking up the Welsh for the things around you anyway and once you have learned them you can start using them so I hope the suggestion might extend your comfort zone a bit.
Raymond
Are you interested in rugby? ‘Jonathan’ is quite fun and you can have subtitles. If you don’t mind soap opera style, there are always Pobl and Rownd a Rownd!!
Oh good idea! I haven’t watched Jonathan since I started learning Welsh!
Sorry Anthony, I intended that last message for you and put the wrong name on it. Senility has got the better of me. I’ve probably puzzled Mike too; he will be wondering why I sent it to him!
Never mind, it’s still good to hear from you via the forum.
Oh all the Cyw gang!! I like Y Dwysoges Fach and Guto Cwningen and Octonots. Now Peppa Pink is just ‘Peppa’!! But I excuse watching those things because my toy poodle likes them!! (She sometimes takes against poor Jaff in Hafod Haul, and I have to stop her barking at him), also senility is something from which I may well suffer, but I was loth to suggest material for Plant Cymru to a big strong man!!!