JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE getting through Challenge 13. It’s taken me months to get through this challenge but I am finally there. Anybody else find the ‘to tell me’ section post 18 minute mark a struggle or was it just me?
I have had a run through a few times at Challenge 14 and a peek at 15 as it’s recommended to move on rather than labour over one challenge. I solved my Challenge 13 predicaments by writing down all the questions in English, cutting them up into cards and flipping them over and translating them. Over time and quickly, I realised I didn’t need to rely on the cards as much. Eventually mastered it. I know I am slow but it’s all up there with the grey matter now just awaiting filing.
Really looking forward to moving on at last. But not been idle during these months either.
I can now sing Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau perfectly and can read and understand Y Lindysyn Llwglyd Iawn (by Eric Carle) and also Y Tri Mochyn Bach (Heather Amery) two good books for beginners.
Am loving the course and a step closer to the end of Course 1 (and over the halfway mark). It’s taken exactly a year to get this far … and I’ve not yet spoken to anybody in Welsh! No internet usually as I am living on Borneo.
I strongly, strongly recommend that you run from 14 through to 25 without repetition - even if you can’t quite let go of the need to be close to 100% on production, you can think of it as something that you WILL repeat, but on a larger scale - so running from 14 to 25 each time, instead of recycling the same lesson…
You know what? I am going to go from 14 to 25 just to satisfy my curiosity. Each challenge I complete, I am excited about what will come next. Having been on 13 for an age I am going all out without repetition as suggested. You’re right. I will be going over the material again and again for time to come so I’ll just get on with it.
So, here goes…
Your advice is always spot so I’ll trust in the system.
Target = to get through Challenge 25 by end June 2017 and then off to Bootcamp.
OK extra challenge accepted (Olympic viewing may get in the way a bit though). Nevertheless, we are go for launch.
One other question. Is it possible to change my username. I’ve just noticed that Y draig goch may not be grammatically accurate having realised that there should be a softening of the dragon as well as the colour red. Y ddraig goch I believe is the correct way to write/pronounce it.
I’m sure you are right, but why the ‘y’? What’s wrong with draigcoch? (Would that be correct @aran draig itself doesn’t cause mutations does it?) Draigcoch is clearly male. Oh, I suppose y ddraig goch is equally so and yr hen ddraig too, so what is a female dragon like me??
p.s. Llongyfarchiadau on that horrible unlucky 13!!!
“Draig” is female, so “Draig goch” rather than “coch”, and female single nouns (ie, rather than the following adjective) after “y” undergo soft mutation, so
“Y ddraig goch.”
I think this links with something I’m going to send to the Eisteddfod thread -always learning! I am so aware of the image of a fierce brave dragon defending our land and so influenced by the upbringing I had in which women were compliant little cooks, bottle washers and Mams, that I know about the laws of Hywel Dda and the stand of Buddug, Y Frenhines Iceni intellectually without realising the implications.
I am not the only fierce female dragon!!
In fact, draigiau were presumed female!! Dw’i 'n hapus iawn!
Yes - let me know what you’d like, and then be ready to use that (with the same password) the next time you try to log in (unless you use your email address, in which case no change)…
Hello! I STRONGLY recommend trying this approach! I am a beginner on Southern level 1 and was really struggling with it. I really wanted to try to go through without a pause and was getting a bit downhearted about some of the things I just couldn’t get. @aran suggested that I just run through a few without pausing or repeating, and then going back to an earlier lesson to see if it made more sense. So I did, and it did!
I did 1-5 (no pausing/repeating) then 1-5 again, and I could do a good proportion of it before Cat the second time around. I’m now motoring through challenges 6-10, and although I am finding it harder than the second go of 1-5, it is easier than the first go of 1-5, if that makes sense?! I can almost feel my brain adapting to this new way of learning!
The main thing is I am so much more relaxed about it, and this will ensure that I am having fun, finding it interesting and I am much, much more likely to persevere (that said I truly admire your fighting spirit in keeping going when you were finding it so tough!)
Anyway, there is nothing to lose by trying it this way and everything to gain - and like you said, you can always repeat the block of lessons to cement them into your head!
Good luck!
Hi Aran,
Having been stuck on Challenge 13 for an age, I took your advice and went from lesson 13 to 25 in a week! Obviously I am going to have to go through the material again and again before I am happy and comfortable with the challenges but it was really interesting to see what is to come. I also enjoyed receiving end of challenge praises from Iestyn. That man never fails to lift your spirit and boost your confidence.
Very briefly here is a summary of listening to the second half of Southern Course 1.
I listened only once to each challenge.
For challenges 14-20 I used the pause button frequently to allow the vocabulary and structures to have more of a chance to sink in as well as make some brief notes along the way. Sensory overload at this point.
I let challenges 21-25 run through without using the pause button or make any notes. There is a lot of material which went over my head and I’ll have to work on for a period before I am even close to being comfortable and competent with (especially 25 which seems a nightmare).
I have a few questions about my understanding or should I say lack of understanding but I’ll bother you with just two for now.
The Welsh for Yes and No is very confusing and there seems to be no guidance for when to use do/ado/oes and the negatives. Is there an idiot’s guide to using yes and no in Welsh?
The Course notes sometimes give a different translation for structures such as Challenge 19 ‘I watched’ – given as ‘wnes i wylio’ but spoken as ‘gwyli es I’. Is there a difference for this?
I feel that having moved on through the course instead of getting stuck with one challenge and flogging it like a dead horse until reaching an 80% success rate was sound advice on your part.
I’ll try to figure out what works for me now to get me through Challenge 25 unless you have any more sound advice. I’m all ears.
Diolch yn fawr iawn
There isn’t a Welsh for yes and no. Ie can be yes, but usually it is 'I am, I did, you are, you were, he said…'etc.etc. Or just a nod and an affirmative sound!! Similarly in the negative! Think how you would answer in English if you were playing that game of never saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and that’s what you’d say yn Gymraeg!
p.s. I’m no expert, others will, I’m sure be more helpful, especially @aran
Both mean the same, " I watched". You can use both forms interchangeable and I think , in Course 2, Iestyn uses only the " wnes i wylio" form. But you might come across people using the short form " gwylies i " and you will understand them.
As Brigette said, it’s two forms of the past meaning the same things- a bit like “I watched” and “I did watch”. Generally speaking, in the South the “short form” of verbs , eg the “gwylies i” of the lesson are used much more than the form using “nes i…”, so it’s good to know about them!
Well done! That takes real guts, and I’m delighted you’ve gone for it. It sounds as though you’ll want to run through it again - which is fine - but can I suggest you revisit 21-25 first, and then 14-20? It’ll be interesting if you find that some of the earlier stuff feels easier than you expected…
Yes/No - don’t worry about it. At a pinch, you can always just say Ia/Na - and as you keep getting more exposure to particular patterns, you’ll find you develop an urge to use some of them, and they’ll slowly figure themselves out for you…
Wnes i wylio/gwylies i - yup, what Brigitte and Owain said…
Ooookaay… just done challenges 13 and 14 and…well… my mind is now blown hahaha!! There’s so much stuff in there!!
Maybe the 2nd time around that block of 5 some of it will stick
? 
? ofnadwy?
my mind is now blown hahaha!! There’s so much stuff in there!!