Oh dear I’m about two weeks behind. I should be starting Week 7 but I’m still battling with Week 5.
I got sick and got behind with my Challenges. I have spent the past week revising them 1 - 9. I’ve now reached Challenge 9 (week 5) but I’m not 80% perfect and need to repeat it and Challenge 8 a few more times. Also I haven’t done the extra tasks like putting things on Soundcloud.
What to do ? Pause the course and spend another week catching up. Or just battle on - always being at least two weeks behind. Is there a way of making the course slower? ie: one challenge a week ? Thanks Claire x
There are a few things you could do - you could email admin@saysomethingin.com and ask for a pause. At least this would settle your mind that tasks are not building up uncontrollably, and would give you a chance to catch up with the extra tasks if you can. What I have to say though, is that the “80% correct” advice doesn’t have to be strictly adhered to - repetition only helps up to a certain point and over-repetition (trying to reach that ‘magic’ 80%) actually doesn’t help. As long as you are saying most of the sentence in the gap, even if it’s not perfect, is fine to move on - it’s not a concept most of us are comfortable with because we’ve been taught to learn differently in the past, but making mistakes and moving on anyway really does work!
Are you doing the 6-minute-a-day course or the 6-month course? The latter is more intense, so it may be possible to ask to swap to the former. If you’re already doing the 6-min one then I’m sure there will soon be other forumites along with their coping methods and tips (I haven’t done the course myself, so I’ll leave those tips to others who have).
If the pace of either of these courses is still too much, there is the option of working through the levels on your own at your own pace but you will lose quite a few benefits that are only offered through the structured courses.
Whatever happens, never be afraid to post here on the forum for help, support, encouragement, shoulders to cry on… (and people to party with when it all comes together!)
Siaron - thank you so much for your very welcome words of wisdom. I’m doing the 6th month challenge which as you rightly say is pretty intense! seems to be my permanent expression.
I’ll contact admin and see what they suggest.
Diolch yn fawn iawn.
Oh it’s definitely fun! I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve learnt so far… I just wish my memory was better ! TBH I think switching to the 6 minuter course is bit more realistic. Anyway I’ll chat to Admin… Hwyl C
Can anyone offer some advice please? I was on the 6 month challenge and eventually reached the end of Level 1 in November. I then had laryngitis for a month; then xmas and thought I would restart in Jan.
Now beginning of March and I’m struggling to restart. Don’t know whether to keep going over lesson 25 or go back a few lessons. I don’t really want to drop to 6 min as I found I enjoyed the more I learnt. Has anyone had a big break and how did you get back on board? Thanks.
Hello Mary, I can’t really suggest what is best for you, but you asked if anyone had a big break. I did the 6 month course, starting the first week that the course started, which I think was around two years ago. I more-or-less got to the end, but a big music project took over in the last few weeks, and I didn’t suceed too well in the conversation tasks. Some health issues took over so my attempts to learn Welsh stopped for perhaps 18 months. As life is settling now, I decided to restart last month, and have been going through the level 1 challenges starting at the beginning. They have (so far) been really easy compared to the first time - no pause button needed here, and I’ll being doing 9 tonight hopefully. So I guess my message is - whatever you’ve learned, and think you’ve forgotten, is locked inside somewhere, and will come back to you when you restart. Good luck!
Hello. Thanks for your kind reply. Your story has really helped. I thought I was failing if I went backwards but I can see now there is absolutely nothing wrong in doing so. It spurred me on to try again; decided to go back five lessons and see if I could remember anything. I’ve just completed lesson 21 and was surprised how much came back. I struggled a bit with the middle part of the very long sentences, but have to admit that I always did find those challenging! Thanks again and good luck.
Sorry - I recognise that 80% bit, from some of the intros, which we really need to re-record - you do NOT need to hit 80% before moving on, it’s old advice, I’m afraid - in most cases, you’ll be fine to move on with only a single go at a challenge - if you do that for a while, you’ll find it much easier to catch up, and if you still feel you need to revisit some of the older stuff after you’ve finished, they’ll still be there…
Don’t know whether to keep going over lesson 25 or go back a few lessons.
Starting over is not bad in and of itself - but Iain’s experience of finding the initial challenges ‘really easy compared to the first time’ is a sign that the revisiting isn’t actually necessary…
Since you’re on the 6 month course, I’d recommend doing Level 1 Challenge 25 just once a month, while you crack on with Level 2…
seems to be my permanent expression.
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