I am doing this 6 month course but about a year ago I just froze with it. I reached the end of level 1 and started level 2. I got to the end of the first challenge and just fell apart. I couldn’t cope with the phrases and I felt so tongue tied. Even the phrases that cropped up from the previous challenge caused me problems.
Fast forward a year and thanks to lockdown I’ve managed to start an evening welsh course via zoom. Next week we are doing a unit that focuses on ‘eich … chi’ which has thrown up dreaded memories of challenge 2 lesson 1. So today I thought, this is ridiculous, I need to get past this. So on the way home from work today I gave lesson 1 another go.
I was surprised to find that I managed a bit better, and I want have another run through it tomorrow. But I need help with something that is a hangover from level 1 that I have just never got my head around.
‘She said that …’
‘He told me …’
Etc.
No matter what I do I can’t find any logic to the structure (I’m autistic, I need logic). Can anyone help me get my head round this? I don’t want to give up
What is it about the “said/told me” that trips you up?
Don’t feel bad about being scared off by the start of level 2. I nearly quit at that point, because it’s such a huge jump up from level 1. I cried because it was so overwhelming. It does get easier though. After the first couple of challenges, it becomes a bit more manageable.
@ElenTylwythTeg: I’ve been learning Welsh with Say Something at my own pace for the past few years. I don’t live in Wales, so I can only have real conversations with people via Slack, Zoom and the like, which doesn’t make it easier. Every now and then I just take a break from it all for a few weeks, when I feel that it’s enough for now. Each time that I go back to it, I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned. I usually repeat a bit of what I’ve already learned and just go on from there.
It may or may not be an approach for you - we all learn in our own way - but taking a break and feeling good about it certainly helps me. I would never let it bother me - there’s not too much point in trying to learn Welsh unless you enjoy it, and there’s every reason to learn it if you do! Good luck to you.
Hi @ElenTylwythTeg
Are we on the short forms of verbs here? I found this horribly difficult for a long time, but it gradually came. I did South - hope that is not going to be confusing.
To say and to tell both use the verb “dweud”.
If you are saying or telling something to someone then we use “dweud wrth”
The short form of a verb in the past has different endings.
I said Dwedais i
You (singular) said Dwedaist ti
He said Dwedodd e
She said Dwedodd hi
We said Dwedon ni
You (plural/polite) said Dwedoch chi
They said Dwedon nhw
She said that …
Dwedodd hi fod …
He told me …
Dwedodd e wrtha i …
Is that the sort of thing you meant? (And I hope I got it right!)
Sue