Here is the first of Dysgu Cymraeg Gwent’s popular FREE online Saturday courses. It will take place on the 18th January, and the closing date for registrations is THIS FRIDAY - 10th Jan.
There are registration links in the PDF which should be clickable:
Not really an easy way, as it depends a lot on whether you’re just using SSiW or supplementing that with other things, e.g. Duolingo or reading books, and listening to Radio Cymru which extend your Welsh.
SSiW learners often find that they’re a lot more confident speaking Welsh than those who have just used traditional classroom methods, but their vocabulary may be more limited. A very basic rule of thumb would be to go for Sylfaen if you’re anywhere beyond Challenge 14 in Level 1, and give Canolradd a try if you’re halfway through Level 2, but it really depends a lot on how much practice you get with your Welsh now.
There has been discussion on this point before, so if you have a look at Latest FREE weekend course information from a couple of years ago, the conversation there might help you.
I’ve been learning Welsh, on and off, since 1998, and it’s been a while since I’ve done SSiW regularly if I’m honest, so I can’t really use that as a measure. I use Welsh one way or another every day, though I only get to speak it monthly. Maybe I’ll take a punt on Canolradd and see how it goes.
I know there’s heaps of Dysgu Cymraeg videos on YouTube - so many I feel a bit overwhelmed. Can anyone suggest just one or two that give an idea of the level of ability needed for each course? Something that demonstrates a good sized sample of the vocabulary and grammar structures, maybe with model conversations?
Bore da, I checked with the course organiser and she is happy for you to book onto Canolradd and if you would like to change during the day, that’s absolutely fine. We hope you can make it, these are great additional courses. Pob lwc. Diolch Lowri
Bore da, Verity Maybe these resources from the National Centre for Learning Welsh will help? You’ll need to create an account to access them. Diolch, Lowri Learn Welsh resources | Learn Welsh
From my experience, I would say: don’t worry too much about choosing the level!
I did several courses with Coleg Gwent by now and the atmosphere is always very relaxed. The tutors, the staff and the fwllow learners very friendly and even when there’s topics that are new to you, there will be chances to ask questions and work things out.
The first course I did after SSiW and Duolingo (in 2021) was a one day, level Canolradd and I didn’t have any problems with it.
Accidentally that was with Ceredigion provider, but the others and my current class were with Coleg Gwent, and that’s also where I sat my exams two years ago.
I’m sure you’ll do fine, and as @Deborah-SSi and @lowri-10 have said, you can always change course on the go if you think you need to.
Thanks for posting about the online Saturday classes @Deborah-SSi, I really enjoyed it! If it helps anyone in the future with choosing a class, this is my experience, sorry it’s a bit long!
I have been using SSiW for approx 7 months, on Automagic for 3 months then swopped to the Old Course to consolidate my learning. I’m at “I have a son in his thirties who is a teacher” on Automagic and on the “Old Course” I’m on level 2 Challenge 31 which is roughly the same thing.
I attended the Sylfaen 1&2 as not knowing where to pitch it, the other 8 attendees had all been learning Welsh with the provider for perhaps 2yrs or so. The tutor did say when I told him how long I had been learning that I could move classes at the 1st break if it was too much but I stuck with it and even if I had a few moments of quiet panic (thank goodness for being able to mute and turn the video off lol), I was able to contribute as much as anyone else.
The course is very traditional grammar led which did put me at a slight disadvantage, but there were some chances to practice our spoken Welsh by reading some short scripts. I probably knew about 60% of the vocabulary (some attendees said they knew about 80%) but could guess the general context. Pronouncing parts with unknown words was challenging and probably painful for our tutor to listen to lol.
My first time ever speaking Welsh to anyone else and I did manage to insert a few SSiW phrases. I had some lovely feed back on my near perfect pronunciation, admittedly only of things I have covered on SSiW not the new words! Definitely recommend to anyone thinking of taking part and hope this helps.
Llongyfarchiadau! That really is jumping in the deep end, and it sounds like you really benefitted from the experience. Thanks for sharing your experience. That will definitely help others!
