I have just completed a years worth of Say Something in Welsh and it has given me exactly what I hoped it would - ie, the confidence to compose and speak using whole sentences. Before I started I had completed 2 1/2 years of classes so was very familiar with Welsh grammar, which definitely helped me to make sense of this course. At a time when we were all shut down, this was an invaluable way to carry on.
I still had one or two issues with grammar - such as the use of ‘nag’ in the middle of a sentence, which I’m still struggling to get right. My main difficulty, however, was technical. Listening to recordings just didn’t always work, and a few times I had to ask my son to help with the technical side, and even he struggled. I think instruction needs to be clearer without having to go to the forum, which , incidentally, I have stayed away from because I just got in a muddle - partly that is me though. Likewise with slack. One other thing I will just mention, I think it would help to have the listening exercise on the ‘to do’ list every week - I hadn’t always been doing it if it wasn’'t there - later on I did cotton on to the fact I need to always be listening.
Recently I have found a Welsh conversation group locally which suits me perfectly, so I am putting what I have learnt here into practice. I also regularly listen to Radio Cymru in the car, and have done for the last few years, and I find my understanding increasing. Overall, a great course that would benefit from a few tweaks technically. A BIG THANK YOU to all concerned. The encouragement from Aran was certainly part of why I kept going. Hwyl, Anne Pope
Helo Anne,
I am exactly at the halfway point to where you are right now - 6 months and just coming to the end of level 1 - but I am totally in agreement about the forum and slack. I cannot find topics easily and it seems a bit cumbersome to follow; but this could just be me as well! Also, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be using the forum for, and slack for… oh well. Maybe I will be able to improve and figure things out as time goes by.
Congrats to you, by the way, on your achievement to the end of Level 2! I agree that Aran’s encouragement and cheerleading is very helpful in sticking with it through the ‘doubting’ times!
Hwyl and cheers to you!
Cyndee A
Thank you Anthony for your reply - we clearly are having the same difficulties on the technical side. Congrats to you too on reaching the end of level 1, and I would just say keep going, it really is worth it - you just may need a few extra friends to practise with as you get further on.
Pob lwc
Anne
Firstly, congratulations on your achievements so far - all of you! You’re making great strides forward in your Welsh and that’s something to be immensely proud of!
With the forum, it’s the first means of communication we set up, so it’s been going for many years - hence the colossal amount of information in it, but also the difficulty finding it some of the time. If you use the ‘magnifying glass’ symbol up at the top right, that gives you a Search box, so you can type in a couple of words related to what you’re looking for, and that will show you if people have posted about it before.
If you sign up to receive the Weekly Newsletter, I try to find interesting recent information and put direct links to those in there, so you can go directly to those posts without needing to hunt around.
If you’re doing the 6 Minutes course, then you receive an invitation to join 6/6 Support Slack. That is specifically for people doing that (or the Deep End Level 3 course) and gives you an additional opportunity to ask questions about the Welsh you’re learning and to take part in group chats through Zoom with a tutor. If you haven’t received your invitation - it may have gone into Spam - let me know through a Private Message (click on my name, then the Message icon) and I’ll send you another one 