https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIFwmkxch3U
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This is actually the best feedback you can get and I know you’re searching for it in another topic. 
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Hello,
That’s me! I was surprised to see this on here after coming onto the forum to see what was being talked about. It was great to get the encouraging comments in response to the video. I got the idea to record it after seeing Karen X. Cheng record her progress learning to dance.
By way of introduction, I live in Bristol, UK and have been interested in learning Welsh for as long as I can remember. When I was young my grandparents would tell me the bits of Welsh that they could remember and I would jot them down. The bits they would tell me were a bit random though. For some reason among the things they could remember were bread, bread & cheese, bed and breakfast; food and shelter must have been very much on their mind.
As I got older and found myself regularly working in Wales I would often hear people chatting in Welsh in the various offices that I would go to, and therefore saw it very much as a living language. During that time I was on the road a lot and would often listen to BBC Radio Cymru even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying: I just enjoyed the sound of the language and much of the music.
Finding the SSiW course was a revelation. As soon as I started, I fell in love with it and could see how sticking to this course was a realistic way of gaining the ability in the language that I wanted. I look forward to continuing in the course and following in the footsteps of those who have gone before me.
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What a great story! Welcome to the forum - and congratulations on hitting it with such a bang!! Great video!
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Welcome to the forum, Lawrence! Great video and it will surely be very encouraging for the new learners who are just starting and are wondering how much they can achieve with SSIW:)
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[size=40]YAY!!![/size]
You cheared me up @LawrenceWoodman! I’ve searched for you on the forum the day the video was published here but didn’t find you but as that I knew you’d come!
I love your story and I love your video! As a matter in fact, I’ve subscribed to your channel and eagerly am waiting for more of those “progress reports” to come!
[size=40]Croeso ar y fforwm![/size]
I’m glad you came. 
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Croeso Lawrence, your Welsh sounds fantastic and can only get even better! Dal ati!
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Croeso, @LawrenceWoodman! Da iawn ti! Looking forward to seeing your progress.
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Shwmae Lawrence
It’s nice to see another Bristol learner on the forum, and it looks like you’re progressing well!
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Really lovely to see you here, Lawrence - it was an unexpected delight to find your YouTube video, and I’m looking forward hugely to seeing how the journey works out for you - I think it might well turn into a genuinely inspirational set of videos…
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Thanks @tatjana I’m glad you liked it and I’m always pleased when I cheer someone up.
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Thanks @Flynn. I’m surprised there’s not more Bristol learners on here considering how close we are to Wales and how many Welsh people live and work in Bristol. At one time I knew half a dozen Welsh speakers living here, but unfortunately I’ve either lost contact with them, or they’ve moved away. As I gain confidence in my Welsh that’s something I’m planning to rectify in the Spring.
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Thanks to you all for the warm welcome to the forum.
I hope that by recording my progress it will give people confidence in SSiW. I honestly believe that one of the biggest barriers to people learning anything is a lack of confidence in their own ability and a lack of confidence in their chosen method of learning. If they can gain confidence and keep their interest then I think that most people can learn far more than many would say.
I see how children learn to speak a language. They never wonder if they can do it, they just say the words and sometimes they get their message across, sometimes it takes a bit more effort. This is irrespective of whether they have pronounced all the words correctly and whether their grammar is correct. They just say the words and see what response they get.
My youngest is at that lovely stage where as well as talking to the family, he is also practising all the time as he talks to his teddies and chats to himself as he wanders around. The main thing I see though, is that he is never self conscious. So I think if my two year old is confident and clever enough to learn a language, then surely at 38 I should be cleverer and more confident than him, shouldn’t I? 
I think that is the key to why I feel SSiW is so effective. I can quite happily try to form the sentences in Welsh without worrying about what anyone else thinks. I then get to hear a correct version of it, a bit like a parent correcting a child when they didn’t get it quite right - or if I did then warm words of encouragement.
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I was actually kind of surprised that Bristol didn’t have a meetup group already. I have found a group that I am able to chat with occasionally, my university’s Welsh society. Not all members are Welsh speakers however, and some weeks less Welsh is spoken than others.
I’m always looking for more opportunities to speak Welsh however, and have spoken mostly through Skype, which has been really good, though it would be good to have the chance to regularly speak Welsh in person as well
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Being my pedantic self, Lawrence, bach, no, cleverness doesn’t increase with age, although wisdom may. Confidence may well be reduced as one gains more experience of failure!! However, you are perfectly right that the SSiW method, which is as near as dammit to a child’s way of learning, gives you the best chance of becoming a confident speaker!! One thing that helps a lot is contact with this forum where everyone tells us all to keep at it, carry on and all will come right!!!
I think you’re absolutely right about this - and I’m sure that your recordings will be inspirational for a lot of other learners - diolch yn fawr iawn i ti! 
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Well if you want to chat either via Skype or face-to-face in the new year I’d be interested. I want to learn a bit more first though so that I actually have enough to say in conversation.
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I would definitely be interested, just let me know when you’re interested 
I live quite centrally, by Brandon Hill, and would be interested in face to face, though Skype would also be good if that isn’t possible
edit: Also seeing your video has inspired me to start a welsh diary, though just audio. I think recording myself will be a good way of getting myself to speak more Welsh, especially when I don’t get the opportunity to speak with others
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