I’ve always thought that SSIW had a great approach for learning, but when I discovered it the available material was too easy for the level I was at at the time and since then I’ve lost track of the “new” developments.
I am currently doing a Work Welsh course with DysguCymraeg.cymru and I just found out that we’ve got free access to SSIW courses through them. But I can’t find any information about which SSiW Levels are included (all of them?) and also which one would be suitable for someone like me, who’s a serial Uwch-student?
I think I’m at B2, I can read Welsh books if I have a dictionary to hand. I like reading and it’s easy to fit in to my life, so I am trying to more of that at the moment. Young Adult books are easy, whereas “Y Llyfrgell” was a bit too hard with all those fancy words . I can easily follow programs on S4C although I won’t get everything and BBC Cymru is OK if I pay attention. I can chat to people, but am at that awkward stage where you can have a normal grown-up conversation for quite some time, but are still madly scrambling for words when you get a bit too ambitious in what you want to say and you get yourself into grammatical twists every so often. Vocabulary has always been my weak point and, for some reason, Welsh words are the hardest for me to remember of all the languages I’ve been studying. They’re so different to anything else, yet look so similar to each other.
Would Level 3 be suitable, perhaps?
The SSiW Advanced course looks interesting as well, as anything that builds my vocabulary would be helpful and I’ve been considering signing up to that for some time now, but I also think I need to focus most on my active production skills.
Any help, comments or general musings are very much welcomed!
I think the free access with DysguCymraeg is only for level 1, which would be below your level, and to access level 3 (both ‘old’ and ‘new’ courses) and the Advanced Listening exercises would probably need a subscription.
If you email admin@saysomethingin.com, they will be able to advise on that and hopefully suggest the best way forward.
As for this…
I started learning 28 years ago and Welsh I’ve been speaking it ‘fluently’ as my second language for 18 years, but word-for-word that still often happens to me too, so don’t let it get to you - you’re doing really well
Actually, the free subscription with Dysgu Cymraeg gives access to any of the learning material on the website. It defaults to the AutoMagic Tutor which starts from the beginning, but clicking on the ‘SSi’ at the top of the Tutor gives access to the website where everything is available through the ‘Learn’ menu.
The only things not available to Dysgu Cymraeg subscribers are the SSiW Community Chat Slack group and the online sessions that Kai and I run - everything else can be accessed.
I suspected that the Advance course wouldn’t be included regardless. Still might try it out though…
I’ve noticed that it’s helpful for your speaking abilities to do a lot of stuff that’s slightly too easy, just to get the speed and automation up, if you know what I mean, so that’s why I was considering the higher-level course(s).
I’ve signed up to do the 1-month long intensive course in Aber this summer, so that should give me a shove-a-long, hopefully.
If I were you, I would give Level 3 a try, but perhaps also dip into the Old Course and have a run through the last lesson of Course 2, and use Course 3 to practise ‘short forms’ of verbs if you feel you need that. The Vocab Units will mostly be too easy for you, I would think, but some would still be useful.
Then you could use the Advanced Material to enhance your listening skills helping with Radio Cymru and S4C, and you could try producing the Welsh using the written translations as prompts - not translating literally, but thinking how you could get the meaning across if you wanted to say that in a conversation.
Hmm… I don’t seem to be able to access anything if I click on the SSi logo and if I do click on it I can’t get back to the beginning of the Tutor unless I go back in via DysguCymraeg’s website.
If you go to the DysguCymraeg website there is a page to access SSiW and if you click on that you get to a sign in or sign up page, where I put in my normal SSiW login details and got through to the Tutor. It seems like I’ve got to sign in everytime I go through from the DC page ( the middle box (creu cyfrif) at the bottom here Dysgu Cymraeg SaySomethinginWelsh | Dysgu Cymraeg).
I’ve got my DC account using my work email (different to SSiW) but it seems to work fine anyway.
You shouldn’t have to return to that page each time to sign in. We’ve had the odd hiccup when someone has registered and they already have an existing account. Possibly that’s what’s going wrong here. Can you send an email through to admin@saysomethingin.com just briefly explaining that you already had an account but you’re trying to register through Dysgu Cymraeg, and I’ll be able to pass it through to the Tech Team to sort out.
I’ve seen the email and passed it through, but the person handling it is in the middle of moving house, so you may need to be patient for a couple of days
It’s the intensive course in Aberystwyth that runs in August or July/August each year. They’ve got all levels from beginner to advanced and sometimes one for insecure native speakers too. It’s all day every weekday plus they arrange activities in the evenings too (twice a week this year it seems, but the previous time I did it they had activities every evening). You can also book discounted accommodation if you come from outside the area.
They’ve got a brochure somewhere, but here’re are the basics: Cwrs Mis | Cyrsiau | Dysgu Cymraeg I wouldn’t trust the “no places left” necessarily as you had to sign up and then they would email back and offer a place before you could pay. If you’re interested, just send them an email - there is also a waiting list I think.
I did the equivalent of year 3 back in 2007 and we basically covered 1.3x a year worth of ordinary courses in a month. They had a different teacher each week, so that you got exposed to different accents. I also really liked all the evening activities, but this year I won’t be able to join in on those as I’ll need to get home to the dogs.
I’m just about to start Uwch 1 dysgu cymraeg and find that level 3 challenges on SSiW have helped push me forward as a step up from Canolradd.
SSiW 3 is undoubtedly worth the monthly subscription to improve both vocab and speed of thought in Welsh.
As regards widening vocab then reading, listening and slowly building on my “word bank” will I know take time and effort.
I know that I am unlikely to attain the same width of vocab that I use in English and that true fluency is probably beyond me, but it’s about conversing effectively and other welsh speakers are very understanding when I scrabble for the right word. In fact some of my welsh speaking contacts tell me that my grammar is often more correct that theirs
You obviously have decent Welsh and no doubt your vocab will build but SSiW level 3 is likely to help.
I’ve been doing Uwch for almost far too long now, but for quite a few years I didn’t really do much else than go to class and do the homework. I’ve certainly improved, but now I’m trying to accelerate it a bit so that I get over that last hump.
. I can easily follow programs on S4C although I won’t get everything and BBC Cymru is OK if I pay attention. I can chat to people, but am at that awkward stage where you can have a normal grown-up conversation for quite some time, but are still madly scrambling for words when you get a bit too ambitious in what you want to say and you get yourself into grammatical twists every so often. Vocabulary has always been my weak point and, for some reason, Welsh words are the hardest for me to remember of all the languages I’ve been studying. They’re so different to anything else, yet look so similar to each other.