No, don’t stop posting Tatjana!
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Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Bydda i’n trio.
I went back to Challenge 12 in Level 1 and stucked with Challenge 13.
Move on to 14 Tatjana, no point in getting stuck!
Pob lwc,
Stu
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It seams like with math to me. If you don’t get it you just can’t go further as it’ll do no good. That’s why I’m lausy with math all the way. 
That really isn’t the way this method works. I remember distinctly the oain of old lessons 6a and b from Course 1, they seemed so hard! But Aran advised moving on, so I did. A week or so later, I really wondered why I had made such a fuss about those lessons, as they seemed straightforward having moved on. Getting stuck and just getting frustrated will get you nowhere, honestly. Trust the method and fire up Challenge 14!
Hwyl,
Stu
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I did a week ago and I’ve got nowhere. I’m not sure what part I do wrong, but at the moment Lesson 6a and b seams like balsam against Challenge 14.
But obviously it’s just me. Obviously I’m just too old to get rid off this perfectionist of mine so I suffer, I know.
I agree with Stu, for the same reasons. I, too, beat my head against Course 1, 6a & b, for probably longer than I should have. I ended deciding to just move on and try 7. I think part of my block on the 6’s towards the end was purely mental. I’d unknowingly convinced myself they were impossible and/or I was incapable of learning the material. Well, once I moved on to 7, I did that lesson in one go and flew on through to 12 in the space of a week. Now if I get stuck on a lesson, I’m allowed to repeat it once more just before I go to bed, then the next morning is a new day and I have to move on to a new lesson. Yes, the first few minutes or so are typically full of the painful “doh!” moments as I struggle to come up with the material from the prior lesson, but then it’s all back to business as usual. I’m a firm believer that anyone can learn just about anything if they come at it the right way and believe they can do it!
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This is weird. Moving on to next lesson it resulted in just oposite thing to me. At the beginning of next lesson it all seams quite comfortable and light and I always say “Well, that’s easy enough” but the further I go the less I’m capable of producing no matter how I convince myself it is as easy and “learnable” as at the beginning. That’s why I’m even more frustrated. All of a sudden nothing gets in anymore.
However the truth is I rearly use pause button as I believe everything should be easy enough to say it in a go. I used pause button maybe in one of two lessons and it seamed to me as that I don’t go anywhere and the whole lesson seamed 1 day long (instead of half an hour).
That does sound annoying. Maybe take a semi-break to relieve some frustration? And by semi-break I mean stop doing lessons for a bit and stop trying to learn, but still do lots of listening. Turn on Radio Cymru. Play whatever Cymraeg tv you can get ahold of in the background while you’re just puttering around the house. I’ve found the latter to be especially helpful. Sometimes it feels as though I’m just being reminded of something I already know because I’ve already heard it a dozen times on tv.
As for your earlier comment about being a perfectionist, I very much understand that. Doing these lessons has been excellent practise for me for working on not being such a perfectionist. I mess up and absolutely nothing happens! It’s amazing. And I’m doing these lessons in the safety of my home where the only one to judge me for my mistakes is my cat, who will judge me anyway. 
So relax, breathe, and cut yourself some slack.
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Umm, well, strangly enough I’m not worryig about who will judge me when hearing me talking in Welsh (although despite my husband and my son no one can), but this is clearly evident I’m just not satisfied with what I produce. I never was afraid of talking in any language I learnt (and I’ve learnt 4 languages (English is not my native language though)) so this is not the frustration. The more I’m frustrated is if I’ll understand what other people say as no one even thinks of those who are not native speakers and very often talk even faster then normally at such occassions. (unstopable - haha) That’s why I totally failed on Chris Needs’ “Garden” on Radio Wales on the phone once when he said “I heard you are speaking some Welsh”. Despite writing the whole evening to them in Welsh when comming to the chance of speaking the first thing comming through my head was What if he’d takl to fast and I wouldn’t understand him and will look like total noob to public, so I just replied “Oh, I would rather not talk about that. I’m just trying to learn some Welsh.” Total fail I’d say, missed chance.
As for listening - the only way I can listen something in Welsh is online but I don’t have my computer at such place it would be heard everywhere in the house and I’d have to sit put there and listen what (normally) I can’t afford to do all the time. I could use phone though for listening some podcast and this is the thing I might do.
I could talk on Skype or messengers but as this experience I passed already I know it’s time consuming for me as I’m easily messenger lover and can’t stop then. (Well, that’s life). I once was consumed by messengers and Skype (that’s why i write English quite well and can easily understand it) so I know how it works for me. That’s why I also don’t search for a swap so I wouldn’t eat someone’s time.
Well, now you knwo all my story. LOL. 
That is a superb approach 
OK, people of Wales. (hehe) I had first (some kind of) Welsh conversation yesterday. I won’t moan. It was fun BUT, for the difference of you all I just found out how little Welsh (despite of completed Course 1 and Level 1 to lesson 13) I actually speak. A disaster. I could say I had more practice in English (what is also good since English isn’t my first language and I speak it maybe once a year) then in Welsh. so … Well i fi ymarfer, ymarfer, ymarfer …
But I’m satisfied. I’ve started, what’s most important.
This.
Stu
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Had 2nd live conversation through Skype today BUT now I siriously wonder: "Did I really went through the whole Course 1 all 10 Vocabs and Level 1 to Challenge 13? My Welsh was second to none and I feel like I should do all again from the scratch.
Obviously I’ve overestimated myself as both of those conversations were more like practices in English then Welsh because I all of a sudden got a feeling there are too many words I actually can’t say becuse I didn’t learn them yet or I did and obviously totally forgot they exist at all.
I won’t ask if it’s wise to go on with Level 1 as I already know the answer - MOVE ON NO MATTER WHAT! But I really feel like I only started to learn.
Word which comes to me in conversation now and then, one sentence I actually am not capable to complete in Welsh but just have to switch to English as I can’t find the word or expression to finish the sentence properly so that one would at least a bit understand what I wanted to say, mixing words and not being able to say properly even yes or no when answering questions … THIS REALLY IS NOTHING TO BE SATISFIED WITH.
I may be a perfectionist but this is something what even those who are not would be sad about. I’m on the edge of just deciding what to do next, whether I’ll go back to the very beginning or move on. Interesting enough I don’t feel frustrated though I’m just VERY UNHAPPY bout what I managed to show in those two conversations though. And I have shown notnihg at all.
With such knowledge I’m showing in conversations at the moment I’m just not eligable to say Dwi’n siarad Cymraeg. Because I actually don’t. Perhaps Dwi’n trio siarad Cymraeg. would be something like it but nothing more then that. - just TRIO
And, to make things clear, there’s nothing wrong with the course. It’s just me.
Hi.
I’m in a similar position to you, in that I did Course 1a couple of years ago including the vocabulary units. I then started Course 2, but gave up half way through. I had various reasons, but I just didn’t feel I was making enough progress, and I found myself repeating lessons many times.
Now I’ve started again with Level 1, and I’m feeling much happier. I don’t know exactly why, but it just seems that the things I’m learning seen easier to digest somehow. I don’t know why this should be. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I think you might like to continue with Level 1, and see how it goes. C
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Did you go through Challenge 13 already? How it seamed to you? I’m just stucked in it. I first obayed @aran’s advise and went further to Challenge 14 but what I found out was that I understand and am able to grasp even less. Being stubborn enough I ignored that and moved forward to Challenge 15 but the thing was even worse. There were new structures and words but I just couldn’t grasp them as I didn’t have the ground fundation from lesson 13 (probably it’s not important to have at all but I just felt I have to know those things from Challenge 13 first befure moving on.) . To be honest I’ve paused doing Challenges for a week but as I found out many times in the past, making gap inbetween the lessons does no good to me and if I’d stop learning now for as long periode as you did I probably would never return as I’d forget completely everything.
Whatever, I expected I’d produce some more in conversations and am really HIGHLY disappointed upon myself. For a year of learning (or even more) it’s not what one learning with SSiW sould produce as far as concerns me.
Conversations with real live people are always going to be harder than doing SSiW lessons, because they can head in directions where you run out of vocabulary quickly. Whereas context will often help you understand waht the other person means, when it comes to replying, you have to change your mindset, be more childlike in how you respond. This is one of the big lessons of Bootcamp really - if you don’t know how to say something, resort to pointing, miming and/or using simpler words instead (remember, no inserting an English word at Bootcamp!). So, want to talk about a lemon but don’t know the Welsh? Say “yellow thing” (peth melyn) whilst miming eating something and it being really sour. Climb mountains as a pastime? How about “go up the big things outside” (pointing at hills outside or in a picture book) - mynd i fyny y pethau mawr tu allan, Sure, its no a flowing eloquent conversation, but its in Welsh and you are communicating. I honestly think that you are expecting far too much of yourself after a year, especially when you do not engage in conversations regularly (you’re only on your second ever!).
Regarding being stuck on Challenge 13, perhaps you could explain what you are stuck on exactly - which parts of the lesson, which words or structures? Once again, if I am honest, it is your mindset hiolding you back I think. You have to relax about this kind of thing. Every learner hits barriers or feels that they have stopped progressing at multiple points thoughout their journey. It comes with the job of being a learner. It is how you respond to these obstacles that is important, not the obstacles themselves. Its easy to give up when we hit them - “Oh, I am never going to learn this!” - and that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Determination and positively are key; I know this, I have personally been through lots of ups and downs over the past 2 1/2 years, but I can honestly say that for the last 9-10 months, having relaxed and decided to enjoy the trip rather than beating myself up, its got very, very much easier.
I went to the Eisteddfod for the first time in 2012. We spoke nothing but Welsh in the car on the trip there and back, but at the event itself, I largely froze, my Welsh seemed to dry up, I lost confidence and came away very disappointed with myself. But I was being an idiot really, wasn’t I? Amongst friends, a lot of Welsh got spoken with no need to English (except for he odd word inserted into a sentence - even first language speakers do that, you know). At the 'Steddfod, I was like a rabbit caught in headlights, but how surprising was that really? A bustling, busy event held entirely in Welsh was always going to be intimidating to a first time learner-visitor! I was disappointed, but for no real reason at all, except I expected too much of myself. Let go of that that expectation.
Hwyl,
Stu
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Hello Tatjana,
we spoke last night via Skype, and, as I told you (but you didn’t believe me) you did much better than how you describe it. You speak English very well, you use words and grammatical constructions that I know, but wouldn’t use while talking, because they don’t come easily to my mind. And then you expect, that you can say the same sentence in Welsh after learning only one year ?!. (And , mea culpa, I knew that you learn with Iestyn, but I used sometimes northern words and structures. I will try to care about this next weekend, and I’m really looking forward to our next Skype-session, (Anyway, I can practise English and try to come to your level.
Please, don’t beat yourself too hard.
Pob hwyl
Brigitte
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Um, I ca’t quite decide should I be sad or happy I’ll probably NEVER have that fortune (or unfortune ) to go to the bootcamp at all.
To be honest: look at yourself! 2 and a half years of learning and you’re like native Welsh speaker to me. It’s ONLY a year or so of difference in learning inbetween you and me (if I don’t count that conventional learning try I did before I came here) and I couldn’t recognize almost any word you’ve written above.
I admit I’ve said I’d give up many times but I know I couldn’t do that whatever even if I’d be required to go (what might even happen as I moan all the time and one would easily be sick and tired of me at some point). However It’s hard to set mind to different course so that you could be less demanding toward self especially when you know that you’ve done other languages even in 3 months (like I did German) to the level where you could confidently speak language without any real obstacles. I’ve tried to relax and be (somewhat) careless about mistakes, about being stuck in lesson, but going further when I realized that I actually go nowhere because I just can’t remember things presented in that earlier lesson waved my relaxed mood away.
Obviously Welsh is something VERY UNIQUE and way harder then any other Eurppean language at least as far as concerns me.