Red Letter Day

Well - a big day for me today. I finished the last lesson of Level 3 of SSi Welsh, Northern!

First of all, I want to say a massive thank you to Aran and all the SSi team for enabling me to FINALLY do what I have been saying I would do all my adult life and begin to learn to speak Welsh. And to enjoy it SO much!

In the very first introductory piece, you describe SSi as a game - and Level 3 really felt like that. I loved the way that you played mind games with us - letting us figure out for ourselves the equivalance of ā€œmatterā€ and ā€œcountā€, for example, or ā€œreachā€ and ā€œarrive.ā€ And strewing our path with all-too-similar words (draw, draws, dros, drwsā€¦)

Iā€™ve pushed myself pretty hard and fast - probably too fast. I know I still have a LOT to do, especially in terms of listening and understanding. But I have been horrible conscious that, with my mother now aged 91, this really is my last chance to speak to her in her native tongue. And Iā€™ve been lucky enough to be able to spend about an hour a day, so Iā€™ve just kept ploughing on.

In case itā€™s of interest to anyone else, the pattern of practice that has worked best for me is to go through each lesson twice, with a sleep in between. And to do them just before taking my dog for a walk, so I can spend the walk trying out sentences on him. (Though what he thinks when I ask him if he can hold the door while I go and fetch the keys, I canā€™t imagine!)

The only thing Iā€™m a bit disappointed about is that the 6-month course came along just too late for me. I had already done a couple of lessons on Level 2 when the email came. I have listened in on a few of the group chats and envied the participants the chance to talk Welsh to one another. So I hope the promosed ā€˜Deep Diveā€™ for learners further along the path will come soon! But I know it must be a massive amount of work for the SSi team, and I mustnā€™t be too greedy. Meanwhile, I will stave off withdrawal symptoms by dabbling in the old course material.

Anyway: diolch yn fawr iawn eto. Dwyā€™n hapus iawn efo faint dw i wedi dysgu mewn amser byr!

Catriona

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Well done I have also completed all 3 levels. But I decided to sign up to the 6MWS as a way to revise in a structured way. The chance to speak to so many people has been great.

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You donā€™t have to be on the 6 month course to join some group chats - there are group chats (hangouts) and 1-to-1 chats open to everyone in the Slack group. Come and join us! :smiley:

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Huge, HUGE congratulations - what a superb achievement!

And yes, as Siaron said, come along to the Welsh Speaking Practice group on Slackā€¦ :slight_smile:

@catriona Da iawn ti! You should be really proud of yourself - thatā€™s a lot of work! What a lovely thing to be able to speak Welsh with your mother!

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Oh, thatā€™s very exciting. Thank you for telling me. I will see if I can work out how to connect!

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