In Course 1, Southern, Lesson 13 onwards, how should I be using the listening sections? Ought they be treated like the weekly listening exercises and done without the pause button, or should I be pausing and translating them?
I think that I know everything that’s been covered up to my present position (played lesson 16 for the first time this morning) and always get 80% or more of the sentences out before Cat before moving on, but I’m not able to cope with the listening sections.
Heia Dave,
No, you should not be pausing and consciously translating any of the listening exercises. They are designed to “wash over you”, exposing you to the rhythms of the language, and speed up the ability of your brain to process Welsh. Your understanding will grow the more you listen, as your ear tunes in better and your processing speed improves. In many ways, the listening exercises are the hardest part of the course, and they are vital, so do not get discouraged but keep on working on them every day. You will be amazed at the results, but they will not come overnight.
Hwyl,
Stu
Thanks. It’s tricky, though. If I don’t make a conscious effort to listen then they tend to sweep right by me, but if I do make a conscious effort to listen then I try to translate them.
Maybe I’ll start snipping out all the listening sections so far and run them all together in one “only listening” mp3 and put it on at work.
I hope this will also speed up my English->Welsh too, though. I (think I) know everything so far, I just can’t always get to it very quickly.
Hi Dave,
You’re talking about the listening exercises in the middle of the actual lessons, yup? That’s something we’ve written out of the new course - but don’t worry at all if you find yourself ‘translating’ them - that doesn’t matter in the least.
Instead of removing them to make new mp3s, though, just hang on until you’ve got to the end of Course 1 and can listen to the full course listening exercises…
Or better still, if you have access to the Daily Practices, why not use the Listening practices from these instead of creating your own? They’re totally random, 5 minutes long each and they change every week. And yes, they will also contain words you haven’t learned yet (unless you’re using practices from Lessons 1-6 only!) but they will prove invaluable for your understanding of what you do know, and may even help you to recognise the meanings of the new words as you come across them through the rest of the course. Just remember that the idea is to let the words ‘wash over you’ as it were. Eventually, your brain will process this quicker and help you understand quicker too.