So today is a week ago since I plunged back into Welsh. I dropped off a few months ago at lesson 20, course 2.
I tried following Aran’s advice of going back and doing lessons 24 & 25 of course 1 and lessons 18 & 19 of course 2, in one big go! No pausing. Well, it wasn’t smooth sailing. I got through 24 & 25 okish, but found that I was struggling with the past tense and the future tense. So I went back and did an earlier lesson to hammer some past tense in to me, then tried lesson 18 (course 2) and found that I had little energy left and that it was kicking my butt, so I pressed the pause button and ended my misery!
So what I ended up with last week was a bit of trial and error, jumping here and there, my aim being getting back to lesson 20 without using the pause button. I’ve lost track now of all the lessons and parts of lessons I did. But I know I did lesson 10, and also lesson 15 and from there worked my way, lesson by lesson back through to the end of lesson 19.
This is the first time getting back into Welsh after a break that it’s been such a bunmpy road! It was a bit disappointing at first, but the end is not the goal (as I have to keep reminding myself) and I was soon just enjoying the sound of Iestyn and Cat’s voices from my mac and the sound of Welsh from my mouth
It sounds to me as though you’re fine with Course 1, Marie - okay-ish is great, seriously. Revisit 24 and 25 in a month or so and see how they feel then - and then leave them for three months until the next check…
And if you’re back up to 19 (C2) after just a week, you’ve done absolutely phenomenally well, so I can’t imagine why you’re giving yourself a hard time about it! Seriously, a week to get back up to the end of Course 2, which is a huge, huge level of achievement in itself? You’re doing remarkably well…:seren:
It’s a really tricky habit to break. Good luck with that. The best advice I ever heard on the subject, which I may have mentioned on here already, is to be a grandmother to yourself - because grandmothers see every single fault, but love you nonetheless…
Sometimes it’s hard to remember how far we’ve all come. Louis reminded me the other week that we probably all speak Welsh better than a lot of people born and bred in Wales. But not as well as first language speakers, which is more good news really as there’s loads of stuff still to discover. Every day another step
Thanks, if only it was as easy as learning Welsh
I don’t know a lot of Welsh people but it’s true I know more Welsh than most of them, it always surprises me that they aren’t hugely excited by the language!
Marie This is the first time getting back into Welsh after a break that it’s been such a bunmpy road! It was a bit disappointing at first, but the end is not the goal (as I have to keep reminding myself) and I was soon just enjoying the sound of Iestyn and Cat’s voices from my mac and the sound of Welsh from my mouth
It sound like you’ll soon be back to where you were before. The road of a Welsh learner is definitely bumpy and has more twists and turns than any road I’ve driven. Lesson 19/20 of Course 2 is a sticking point for a lot of SSIWers ( Is that one of the “bod” ones?). I seem to remember almost giving up at that point, but keep going because the last 7/8 lessons of Course 2 are the ones that really make you sound like a natural Welsh speaker.
Marie - I don’t know a lot of Welsh people but it’s true I know more Welsh than most of them, it always surprises me that they aren’t hugely excited by the language!
Craig F -
Marie: … it always surprises me that they aren’t hugely excited by the language!
I totally agree. It is incomprehensible to me.
Its a very complex thing, but a large part of it comes down to the way Welsh language is taught in English medium schools. In primary school (well when I was there) it was taught in such a way that you didn’t really notice, but not enough for fluency. In secondary school its taught as a dry academic subject without the historical/cultural context. I’m Welsh born and bred, but my Welsh history is patchy as its not part of the secondary school curriculum (Things may have changed over the past few years).
Yup, lesson 19 with all the bod was definitively a contributing factor to my halt there. Managed to do it just before the weekend though without going under! And was happy to find the next lessons are a bit simpler, not that I’m near remembering all of the changes, but I’m not worried.
