Well, here I am, a brand spanking newbie on Challenge 02. Challenge 01 didn’t seem that difficult. First time through, I didn’t click the pause button until about 22 minutes in. I reviewed once more with no pause button needed. Done. Challenge 02 is a different kettle of fish. Five minutes in I started getting “button happy”. I don’t think it’s because I’m not getting it. I do think it is because I can’t seem to repeat it back quickly enough. Obviously, I need to take a few more whacks (no pun intended) at this particular challenge. Is this normal?
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There’s nothing wrong with using the pause button. I use it all the time. It’s a fairly short pause between the English phrase and the Welsh translation so you’d have to be pretty good to get it so quickly. Also level one is reasonably basic so it’s bound to be a bit of a jump up.
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To add to the great advice above. I found that repeating till perfect didn’t help me at all - move on, even if you feel you missed loads and the next few sessions will recap on it. 
Most things become easier two or three sessions after they are first introduced for me…some take even longer but they do seem to eventually click 
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sorry to hear you are feeling like that - it will improve - it really really will. Take a day or 2 away from it, and then try again. I am sure most, if not all, have got to that point on some of the challenges ( I have, on several ! ) but try not to repeat/repeat/repeat. You get the chance to go back to some of the earlier levels at challenge 5 if I remember right, and I found just pushing on through, even if you didn’t get all of it said in time, still meant you were listening and learning, just not having full speed at replying. And they do speak fast ! (Sorry Iestyn, you are fabulous, but it’s true !) as it gets your ears/brain/mouth used to working at a decent pace. You will find that using your Welsh in the wild will bring you in to contact with people who speak a lot slower, and you will then have plenty of time to keep up.
If it is any consolation, I am struggling with challenge 12 right now, and when I saw my fabulous, first language welsh speaking elderly neighbour, this evening, who lets me practice on him and barely winces at my mistakes, I got flustered and asked him ““How long has the old woman been speaking Welsh ?”” He did look a tad confused.
I love the dog in your avatar - seriously cute 
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Croeso i’r ffwrm, Anne-Rodgers! (Welcome to the forum!)
What you’re experiencing is completely normal. We’ve all been there. Some of us, like me, continue to return. It’s part of the learning process, because some things are harder than others to learn.
Like others have written. you don’t need to be perfect before moving on. You will get a lot of opportunity to repeat. Pausing is fine…at least for me. I like to say the sentence before Catrin (Northern Welsh) does. I hit pause when necessary and if I repeat, I go back a few minutes to reinforce a more difficult set of sentences/phrases.
You did the best thing by reaching out to the forum for opinions. This place truly wants everyone to speak Cymraeg and will go out of their way to help!
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No, you don’t… 
As long as you’re saying something in the gaps all the time (use the pause button if you need to), you’ll be fine to carry on - at the very least, carry on to 5 without any repetition, and then go back and see how different 2 feels for you by then…
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I feel better about it all now. Diolch. I am saying something in the gap, but I’m not able to finish the phrases, especially the longer ones, before Catrin comes back. From what you and others have said here, this seems normal. But, I am getting the words, and the order in which they should be spoken, albeit slowly. So, no whacking needed. Well, this is, after all, only game 2… I keep reminding myself. 
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Raf, the dog’s name is Chase. He’s my rescue old man Bischon Frise and constant companion. And yes, he is cute, although very mischievous.
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He is very handsome, and they make fabulous companions.
This is my Dipstick. He is ambushing his whippet friend, in their game of tag. He is 12, and loosing a bit of speed now, so he takes all the advantages he can get !
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That’s not a problem - absolutely normal! - if you finish the phrase before Catrin finishes, that counts as a win - if not, then you might want to give yourself a couple of seconds on the pause button - but definitely sounds as though you’re winning so far… 
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I do think that the little extra space made a huge difference. But it’s a very little pause. I went through Challenge 3 and had a huge amount of fun, and I got through it with very few mistakes which was a confidence builder. I don’t know if this goes against the guidelines, but I played a game. I kept thinking that I could probably write it as well as say it, so I went through again, and this time I wrote it out as well as saying it. And it just happened! I was able to do it with only a few mistakes. It was like another part of my brain fired up. What a difference from last week. Quite frankly, I’m amazed!
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That’s a brilliant idea Anne-Rodgers! 
I do know that when learning something new, as the number of modalities increase that you experience the new material in, the easier it is to retrieve. Hearing and speaking Welsh is two modalities. You added a third, writing! If @aran and @Iestyn can find a way for us to eat and drink Cymraeg then we’ll be fluent in a matter of weeks. 
I really happy this week was easier than last for you and thank you for sharing your solution.
That sounds as though you’ve found exactly the right balance for you…
I’m not surprised that writing it out felt easier - the inevitable extra time there is one factor - and no real harm if you want to do that as an extra activity (if you’ve got the time) - but being under time pressure to produce is a huge part of getting you to the point where you can cope with conversations…
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Oh, don’t misunderstand. I have to be able to say it under a time constraint. The writing is an extracurricular activity and I did it only after I could repeat it back quickly with only a few mistakes . I could have/ would have pressed the completed button and moved on to the next challenge. It’s an afterthought so to speak.
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My only slight lingering concern is that you might progress faster if you spent that time hammering away at the next challenge - but having said that, weaving some activities you feel good about into the progress is also very valuable, so as long as it doesn’t make you feel that it’s taking forever, it sounds as though you’ve got a good set-up for yourself there…
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Hey talking about tired and frustrated, that sounds like the script of one of the last Challenges. I mention this because those later Challenges used to make me dizzy. So I just went over the L3 Ch25s for N & S after six months or so and they just seemed like normal conversation now, even the long sentences. Hopefully this will encourage you newbies 
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normal in my experience- I find I repeat several times (don’t worry Aaron/Iestyn etc I am not after perfection!) Even when I fly through a session I still repeat it the next day just to familiarise my ear to it all. Good luck and keep going, you’ll be fine.
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Hi Anne-Rodgers! Normal in my experience too. I’m also a new learner but have now reached the dizzy heights of challenge 7 - having hit the pause button repeatedly throughout all the challenges so far, i’m surprised I’ve got a pause button left. If I go back and listen to challenge 2 now I still need the occasional ‘breather’ but I do find the speed a lot more manageable. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
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Thank you, Rachel. Since my original posting, things have gotten immensely better. Challenge 5 seemed very easy. When I went back to Challenge 01, I was amazed that I was able to rattle off the responses with lightening speed. It was very encouraging, and I’ve noticed that I’m now champing at the bit to get to it every morning.
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