Bore da everyone, Ruth dw i
I have just signed up trio dysgu Cymraeg.
I failed O level French long ago and have never thought of myself as any kind of linguist. I’m not Welsh (although I would like to be a little more Welsh!) and I am ten minutes into level 1 challenge 2. And it’s overwhelming! half the time I can’t even remember the long sequence of English words that I need to turn into Cymraeg. Happily my reaction is (mostly) laughter.
My brain actually hurts.
Somebody please reassure me this is normal!
Ruth
7 Likes
Hi @ruth-32, totally normal! Oh heck, yes, those sentences are long! Can anyone remember them all? I don’t know but I can tell you it takes a little time to get used to it and you do get better at remembering them. Do use the pause button if you need to and don’t worry about doing so. I also failed French 
but doing ok with the Welsh. This is a much better method than anything we did in school.
6 Likes
Hi @ruth-32,
From my experience, I can confirm that brain hurting and not being able to remember English sentences happened to me, exactly the same way!
I also agree with @clare-newbould about using pause button if you feel you need it, without feeling bad about it: it was essential for me.
If you persist, things get better!
P.s. I can also join failed French exam at school club! 
And failed attempts to learn German. But I persisted with English, and now with Welsh with a lighter attitude( like you seem to have when you laugh at those tough moments) and it works!!! 
4 Likes
Thanks @clare-newbould and @gisella-albertini… I am greatly relieved. I realise that the method used here is intended to put us under pressure but the pace - combined with the mad length of those sentences - is absolutely blistering. I’ve just made a nice cuppa (dw i’n hoffi te) and am about to pick up the second challenge again. Let’s see if I can reach the end…
4 Likes
Hi Ruth, I’m also a newbie and I have started having dreams that Iestyn is saying long sentences to me and I can’t find the words in Welsh! Glad to hear from more experienced people that this feeling (if not the dream!) is normal…
6 Likes
Haha I haven’t quite started dreaming it yet but I do go around muttering “sut i?” and “beth?” to myself!
3 Likes
Well, I finally finished challenge 2. The half hour lesson took me about 2 hours spread over a couple of days. But it feels good. Dw I’n dysgu dweud rhywbeth yn Cymraeg! Ond ma dal eisiau i fi gwella 
7 Likes
I know what you feel - it seems overwhelming - but now (a veteran?) on Level 1 challenge 12 - I look back on challenge 2 - and I can do it with ease. Really impressed with the genius thinking behind the course - you are constantly stretched, but a few weeks later those steps feel easy (just as I found running as a teenager. You build up the muscles in early training, which hurt at the time, but made much harder running achievable). Keep on going - the challenges continue to challenge - but you start to feel good about what you have achieved.
4 Likes
Thanks David. I’m currently wrestling with Challenge 3 and I do notice that bits of challenges 1 and 2 are now reasonably readily to hand…
2 Likes
Da iawn Ruth. Pob lwc, we’ll need it
1 Like