Merry Christmas All! I’m an American new to Welsh, and at this point I’m trying to get my core resources together. I’m using this app as well as Duolingo. Does anyone have a text recommendation or even something better? I want to make sure I do this right, rather than start going crazy on Amazon! Looking forward to any feedback! Thank you!
Hiya
Well SSiW is aimed at getting you speaking confidently without having to get too hung up on the grammar. 
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However if you want to use supplementary materials, the Dysgu Cymraeg materials are available free online, both course books https://learnwelsh.cymru/learning/curriculum-and-course-books/) listening materials (https://learnwelsh.cymru/learning/digital-resources/foundation/). They cover material in a different order to SSiW and Duolingo although they do reference the relevant duolingo sections.
Many of us grammar geeks also enjoy digging into the detail with the wonderful Gareth King’s Beginner’s Welsh and Intermediate Welsh, and I’m hoping to open a copy of Working Welsh tomorrow.
However I might suggest getting a few challenges under your belt and then starting with the supplementary materials, just while you get into the rhythm of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a geek who’s doing Duolingo, SSiW and the above materials so I’m all for learning every way you can. I also find the different courses complement each other by focusing on different skills and vocabulary, and practising in different ways.
But SSiW asks you to go with the flow and just speak even if it’s wrong, and that’s really hard for a lot of us who are used to worrying about grammar and making mistakes. So while you’re setting into the rhythm of the game I might hold off on diving into the grammatical deep end.
Give it a go and see how it goes. If you can study lots of other materials at the same time and it helps you say the sentences quicker / more confidently then awesome!
But if you find you’re constantly pausing to remember this grammatical point you just learned somewhere else, or you’re confused because the other course said it differently (and believe me they all say it differently…), then either try to turn that bit of your brain off, or maybe pause until you’re a bit more settled in the SSiW approach. It’s very different to traditional methods, but it does get you talking. 
I hope that makes sense. Let us know what works for you!
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Yea, having French as my “first” second language forced me to become a grammar geek 
. I’ll trust the process for now and refer back to the above references if and when I’m ready! Thank you for taking the time to answer during the holiday!
Not at all, like so many it’s a quiet one this year so I’m seizing the opportunity to do what I love (languages!) instead of running round like a loon. (And lest you think I’m incredibly sad posting on Xmas day, the only other person in the house is enjoying a Christmas lie-in, while my body is firmly attached to its usual clock!).
I’m quite a visual learner so I definitely enjoy using other resources as well. I reckon Duolingo and SSiW will do you nicely to start, and once you’ve built-up a base with them, adding supplementary materials will give you a real multiplier effect.
But I think if I’d tried to do lots of different courses to start my head would have exploded! Especially as you’re confronted with dialectal variation from the start. It’s bad enough learning pronouns and verb forms without different books teaching different forms!
My other suggestion would be, once you’ve got that toe hold (and it only needs to be a toe hold), throw yourself into everything this community offers. The group chats on slack are amazing (and there’s a channel just for yanks, which will help with time zones). Then this forum has loads of ideas for books, music, podcasts, and TV. SSiW will open up the world of Welsh to you so quickly that you can learn by just listening to and using the language. Which after all is ultimately the point!
Happy learning and and I look forward to seeing you in a chat sometime .
Nadolig Llawen!
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