I have recently finish level one and am hesitant about starting level 2 because there are some things I feel insecure about. It is when talking about your or my family members; who did or said what to who. Should I address this before I move on, or keep momentum going and just come revisit the relevant challenges till I feel secure?
Thanks for any advice on this.
This is really about how you feel about the methodology, Mari - certainly, everyone who has pressed on has ended up having confident conversations - but if you feel thatâs not going to work with you unless you drill down on this particular stuff you want, then maybe you should have a look around for alternative approaches⌠
[Oh, hang on - do you mean that the stuff youâre uncertain about is stuff that youâve covered in Level 1? In that case, different answer: donât worry about it, press on, and revisit challenges 24 and 25 once every couple of months ]
Yes to what you wrote in brackets Aran. Iâll push on and not worry. I donât want to look for alternative approaches because after a bit of a struggle with earlier challenges I do feel that I am starting to make progress not just in terms of the language I have acquired, but also in feeling more comfortable with the method. I was concerned that stuff I have not mastered would hold me back in the next level.
Great - sounds as though youâre doing everything right, so Iâm entirely confident in suggesting that you should push on - everything gets revisited in Level 2 anyway, plus you can revisit the last couple of L1 challenges every now and thenâŚ
I can identify with this as I too have âfinishedâ Level 1, and Old Course 1, but I still keep stumbling over the future tense. Part of my problem there is that with not being able to see the words written down, in my mind I canât separate the parts of the phrases into component parts, which means I donât know how to put them together again - if that makes sense. It all sounds like a byddaf-fyddydu-fyffonu jumble of God knows what. Iâm doing a dysgucymraeg course and we havenât touched future tense yet. I donât know if I should feel I can do everything correctly before I dare take on Level 2, though in other respects Iâm feeling very comfortable with Level 1 now, and would like to move on. Advice, Aran?
Sorry to butt in, but I thought Iâd share my story for you. I am on challenge 4 of Level 2, having gone through the Level 1 challenges quite quickly but not at all thoroughly. There are still things I have to look up and still times where I donât have an answer. But I have been learning loads of new things in Level 2, and am finding that I am building on, and augmenting what I learned in Level 1. I wouldnât worry too much about being 100% satisfied how everything works in Level 1: I get the âooooh thatâs how it worksâ moments all the time in level 2 and really think it builds on what you learn in Level 1. Iâd say crack on and just refer back when you need to
thatâs helpful thank you Martin. I think that generally I have been âthoroughâ through level 1, having done each challenge at least 3 times through before moving on to the next, so perhaps now I can put my worries about nafyddwn byydafwn fyddydyn or whatever the hell it is Iâm supposed to say aside, and just crack on with level 2!
Two weeks ago I was at the same stage as you seem to be. I was so sure that there were things I needed to sort out in Level 1 before moving on. On reaching Challenge 25 I had even returned to Challenge 18 and worked my way quickly through to 25 again in the space of about 3 days. I found out that I knew far more than I had thought.
Anyway, I wondered, as you are doing now, if I would be up to Level 2. I have now reached Challenge 6 within a short time. Everything now falls into place much more easily. Your brain is âworking behind the scenesâ, I have found, and everything just snaps into place suddenly.
I have learnt, through this forum, not to analyze things too carefully, or to bother about mistakes. That is the best advice.
I think the problem is that we are too fixed on former methods of language learning. We have come to expect to learn something perfectly and then move on. But this method teaches you a language more in the way a child learns its native language. You repeat, or you try to repeat, what you hear. You make mistakes. Eventually you learn from mistakes. Eventually your brain, often in the background, sees patterns and connections. I have watched my three children grow up into adulthood fluent in two languages (Dutch and English) without them being taught grammar, or rulesâŚwithout them analyzing sentence construction. I think we all need to become like babiesâŚand SSIW is the closest we will come to learning as they do. This is certainly my experience in learning Cymraeg.
Donât hesitateâŚmove onto Level 2. Take the plunge. Youâll love it! All the very best!
Move on! Urgently!
Thank you Brian thatâs really helpful!
Thanks Aran!