I’ve got as far as Challenge 18 in the Level 1 course (De) and I’ve just attended my first Paned a Sgwrs session. Please forgive me for starting a new thread but I’m really really excited! I work for Cardiff University and, at the moment, I think there are around 3 Paned a Sgwrs sessions held in various buildings throughout the university throughout the week. Whilst I’m a reasonable way through Level 1 (and I did GCSE Welsh many years ago), I was really nervous about attending. However, I needn’t have been. There were 4 of us altogether which helped because it gave me chance to have a think about what I wanted to say and took the pressure off a bit. 3 of us were learners of varying levels (I knew the least) and 1 was a fluent Welsh speaker. Everyone was so friendly and the atmosphere was really relaxed. The others made an effort not to talk too fast and to explain ‘yn Saesneg’ if I was looking confused. Overall, I was really pleased (and suprised) with what I was able to say and I’m definitely going back. I also learnt some new and useful words.
I guess what I’m after with this post (apart from celebrating because I’m excited) is to say that, if you get the opportunity to practice speaking Welsh with anyone, go for it. I bet you’ll enjoy it and be surprised at what you’re able to say.
Also, thank you so much to Iestyn and Cat (my South Wales voices), Aran and Catrin. SSiW is awesome!
Well done, great start! I work at Cardiff Uni too, but only Mon-Wed at the Heath, so I very rarely manage to catch any of those groups. Feel free to pop in at the Learning Tech Unit if you’re ever in the area!
2nd floor link corridor, towards C block. We are officially drop-in friendly for any e-learning related queries, so see if you can think of one in Cymraeg! (And I’m Sonia, not netmouse!)
I’m out of the office every afternoon next week though, then off for xmas.
Gwech Kim. 8 paned a sgrs to choose from?. And a fellow ssiwer in the same place? wow… . i think some us need ssiw to teach us “green with envy”!
Good on ya for having the confidece to take the step out.
Thanks @Stevo. 3 Paned a Sgwrs not 8 but it’s still great. Actually, one of the people in the group was a SSiWer too. I’m definitely lucky where I work!
Ha! And after all that success last week, this week it went a bit wrong. I struggled to get my words out, kept mixing up my tenses and generally got very frustrated. I think it’s mostly tiredness as things have got really busy before Christmas. Ah well, onwards and upwards! Thought I should probably share the blips as well as the successes.
We all have those days, but also, the more your knowledge grows, the more you notice your own mistakes, so, counter-intuitive as it sounds, count any mistakes you notice as progress!
It is, usually - it’s very hard indeed to use these materials when you’re tired. Not impossible, but you have to be prepared for many, many more mistakes than usual, and be ready to embrace them and celebrate them. So go easy on yourself - you deserve as much support as you’d give to a child who was working hard at something difficult…