What should I watch?

I started with pobl y cwm. Hwb.and dramas. Also heno and pnawn dda is a great way to start I still watch with english subtitles learning new words daily and reading the english translation helps ti fi a cyw is also fun. But just watchas much as possible have a welsh day no english tv and good luck

I watched Peppa Pinc today and got on ok with it - maybe because Iā€™ve been subjected to every English episode hundreds of times!! :slight_smile: Also found Wil Cwac Cwac on youtube which I remember from childhood and that wasnā€™t too bad either.

Hi Dinas - Not me - I was home in Laugharne doing the Common Walk (still recovering).

Has anyone come across the educational concept called the ā€˜zone of proximal developmentā€™? - Iā€™m not an educationalist myself and may not have fully understood it but it seems relevant to this discussion topic. (itā€™s on Wikipedia of course).
It seems to me that when I listen to a childrenā€™s TV programme or a clear, well structured discussion within a documentary I am within my ZPD and I am learning reasonably effectively. However when I try to listen to more unstructured ā€˜real-lifeā€™ conversation most of it passes me by and I gain little from it. (itā€™s outside my ZPD). As I gain language skills my ZPD will hopefully extend into the more natural, unstructured conversations. Subtitles fit very neatly into this idea too as they bring language that would otherwise be beyond the learner into their ZPD.
I know it sounds a bit poncey but itā€™s worth having a quick read - some people may find it useful.

Interesting. Will have to take a look. I know of a similar sounding theory that talks about getting yourself in the ā€˜flow channelā€™, ie. optimal learning state. To one side is boredom (too easy) and the other is anxiety (too hard). Sounds very much like what you mention, Bill:

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Yeah, I think ZPD is important, and pretty much what weā€™re going to be trying to build a road with for our post-Level 3 listening sessions.

Flow is really important, too - trying to design sessions that hit the flow channel for every user is an, um, interesting (as in ā€˜utterly impossibleā€™) challengeā€¦:slight_smile:

Bill a pawb - how do you find it with phone conversations? They have a different set of recognition values - or whatever we call them - to ā€˜face to faceā€™. Highlighted for me yesterday, struggling to keep a call to the Eisteddfod Office going - failed.

This is always the difficulty with phones, because so much communication is non-verbal. We donā€™t realise how much we rely on body language cues. And with Welsh there is always the temptation to switch to English, unlike with other languages. I have several experiences of France where I just had to struggle on because the person with whom I was speaking simply had no English, but this will pretty much never be the case with certain languages, like Welsh, or to a lesser extent Swedish/Danish. When youā€™re not making your point in a foreign language the next stop is always sign language, but when you know that you and the person youā€™re speaking to are both fluent in English it seems a little odd to start using sign language.

Bontddu: but when you know that you and the person youā€™re speaking to are both fluent in English it seems a little odd to start using sign language.

Ah, memories of bootcamp come flooding backā€¦

I suspect, Bontddu, that this is what people mean when thye say how difficult Welsh is to learn. Welsh is not difficult to learn well enough to communicate and say a lot of what you need to say - Restaurant Welsh as it were - but it is difficult to learn to a point where you can speak comfortably enough to not have the urge to slip into English. Until SSiW, it was also exceptionally difficult to practice enough of what you learnt to be comfortable enough to use it, which is why most learners never get beyond the class-room.

Phones - Hmm. - I have a few sympathetic work colleagues who are prepared to speak Welsh to me on the phone but Iā€™m ashamed to say that when presented with the Welsh option I wimp out and ā€˜Gwasgwchā€™ the other button. tut tut.

As for non-verbal aspects of communication it can be a good exercise to be deprived of it sometimes so that youā€™re forced to focus on the spoken language. Personally when watching S4C I often slip into a lazy habit of picking out a few key words whilst relying on the non-verbals and the visual story line to follow what is going on. For me the solution is radio. - Radio Cymru i-player is good.

I picked up a useful idea from an on-line French tutor who suggested finding pieces of spoken language and listening really carefully to a section whilst trying to hear as much detail as possible. Use pause and repeat to help with this. I tried this for a while on the i-player and did find it helpful but ultimately it felt a bit too much like hard work!

Iestyn : ā€™ Until SSiW, it was also exceptionally difficult to practice enough of what you learnt to be comfortable enough to use it, which is why most learners never get beyond the class-room.ā€™

  • I couldnā€™t agree more. Iā€™ve tried the classroom many times but my Welsh was completely stalled until I discovered SSIW so thank you SSIW.

Iā€™ve been trying to stick to Welsh as much as possible on the phone lately, choosing the Welsh option every time there is on. In general Iā€™ve found the person on the other end to be quite patient and willing to speak clearly, sounding pleased that Iā€™m making an effort. Only a couple of times Iā€™ve struggled and had to keep saying ā€œSori?ā€ or cheating with ā€œMaeā€™r ffĆ“n 'maā€™n ofnadwy. Maeā€™n anodd eich clywed chiā€ but I try to be positive and think that perhaps I sounded like enough of a Welsh speaker that they didnā€™t realise I was a learner!

I chat with my ffrindiath each week on the phone. It is hard because I have to listen very carefully, but I am determined to carry on with the phone as it is excellent listening practice!