Why did you decide to try SSiW?

Welsh General / Questions
#121

I started visiting North Wales regularly in 2010 with my new partner and we are normally there for two weekends each month now. Having made friends up there I realised I was missing out on a lot of the conversation around me and they were having to translate for me frequently. I tried books and it wasn’t sinking in, plus I had no idea of pronunciation. Friends tried helping me, but as we meet in a pub that isn’t ideal.

I came across SSIW on a random search then met up with a local Welsh speaker a few times through the friends/teachers of SSIW who got me started and eventually gave the lessons a good bash. I’ve completed all the main lessons albeit irregularly and have started on the extra vocab ones.

I’ve got to confess that I don’t do just listening. I found right from the start that I wanted to be able to write in Welsh as well to keep in touch with my friends so used the vocab sheets with each lesson and I listen and write every sentance which isn’t the recommended practice. Sorry! That said I can write everything with the correct spellings and mutations up to level 26 without thinking about it and I find I don’t need to go over the lesson more than once because I’ve already taken it in because I’m repeating the sentance several times anyway as I write.

I practice talking to the cats (I take them up to Wales regularly so I figure they need to learn it too :slight_smile: ), I try talking to the kids occasionally much to their bemusement, I talk to my partner sometimes and he just shrugs even though he’s had Welsh lessons in the past and has been going up to North Wales for 20 years. I find myself thinking sentances out while I drive and muttering to myself. So I’ve obviously taken it in so far.

I send texts in Welsh to friends because I have plenty of time to work it out correctly before pressing send. If I don’t know the vocab I send it in English rather than looking it up. I’m even getting brave these days and starting to use a bit of Welsh when I’m out socially although I’m keeping quiet how much I understand at the moment :wink:

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#122

The joys of word-of-mouth - diolch yn fawr for the feedback, Wyn, and for spreading the word yourself! :slight_smile:

That’s very valuable input - thanks a lot, Lady K! Ugh to the commuting to London bit, though…:wink: Sounds as though you’re definitely going to get there with the Welsh in the end!

Ah, yes, that tweet brought a lot of people on board - thank you for the feedback, and great to hear you’ve got a good run going at the moment!

Maybe the only thing better than ordinary word-of-mouth is family blackmail…:wink: Thank you so much for the feedback - and great to hear you’ve carried on with the course! :slight_smile:

Ah, that tweet again! :slight_smile: :slight_smile: Sounds as though you’re doing brilliantly, Jodie - thank you so much for the feedback, and good luck with your exam results!

That is a fantastically helpful list of reasons - diolch o waelod calon! :star: :star2: In fact, I think you’ve pretty much written a landing page for us right there… :slight_smile:

Another word-of-mouth success - thank you so much for letting us know, and thank you for helping to spread the word yourself! :star2:

That’s a really interesting thought, Elkie, thank you! :slight_smile: And the idea for buying 1-on-1 support is a great one, too - really, really appreciate your feedback :star: :star2:

Thanks a lot for your feedback, boyo! It’s clear that the free element is hugely important :slight_smile:

It’s really interesting that you went from ‘No thanks’ to ‘Give it another go’ - was that just night-school-fuelled desperation, or was there anything particular that had stuck in your mind about SSiW? :slight_smile:

It’s great to hear that you’re doing so well, Steve - thank you so much for your feedback - and good luck with Course 2! :slight_smile:

Oh, I think someone just won this week’s ‘best reason for learning Welsh’ competition! :star2:

It’s not entirely impossible - but we’re trying to work out where we’re going to be living by then - so it’s all a bit up in the air! But if you’re in the north, it would be lovely to introduce the kids to a Welsh-speaking witch (if you’re willing to jump back into character!)… :slight_smile:

+1 for word-of-mouth - diolch yn fawr iawn! A border Collie sounds like an ideal learning partner, to be honest (little known fact: they’re all natural Welsh speakers…:wink: ).

Ooh, that tag-line was my idea! I’m really rather delighted to have someone name-check it as the tipping point for them…:wink: Thank you so much for your feedback, and keep at it, you will get there! :star2:

Thank you so much for such a detailed response, Charlotte - I really hugely appreciate it, and it is extremely useful for us :star: :star2: It’s great to hear that you’re doing so well (and that some of the external links out there are helping!)… and thank you so much for spreading the word yourself! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Ah, fair play to your son - thank him from us! And thanks to you for the feedback - diolch yn fawr iawn! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Oh, no way?! I remember that email - they were lovely and supportive - delighted it brought in some long-term serious learners! :star:

That’s an interesting pattern - thank you very much, Gillian! It sounds as though you’re making some very good progress, so keep on keeping on… :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#123

Snap! Maybe we should start a thread for the elderly!! I haven’t seen you on the Forum before! Croeso!! Everyone is wonderfully helpful and patient, especially @tatjana and @aran

To @LlywelynApMynydd you said
but didn’t get on with the intro
What didn’t you get on with? I don’t remember it putting me off!

#124

Repeating some of the others.
I decided I wanted to speak welsh better (learnt in primary and secondary, but never really spoke it properly with family/friends out of school).
Started using lingua phone for Spanish in the car and looked online for something similar for welsh, that allowed me to learn in a similar flexible way around work and family.
Found SSIW. Liked it was listen, repeat and get into speaking the language.
Having the meet groups network is the other - as you need like minded people to have the confidence to practice and make mistakes with.
Hope that helps.
Gerwyn

PS why learn welsh though? For me welsh is being learnt for purely emotional reasons , as there is no practical reason to need it. For me its a passion and proud welsh man thing and I want my toddlers to speak it too.

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#125

I was drawn to SSiW for several reasons. My mother was born in London and my father was born in south Wales. Being of Welsh decent I have an interest in learning my native language, so this is my motivation. Free downloads that I can listen to at my pace was the key for me. For me, listening and speaking with no reading writing works best. I’ve been at for years and I haven’t made much progress but this is only because I’m me. I live in America and my situation is not conducive to learning at a fast rate. I do wish the early lessons would throw in subjects on cars motorcycles phones. I think it would be cool to have gender specific versions. One for men, women etc.

1 Like
#126

That’s a very interesting comment, Gerwyn, thank you very much! Good luck with your toddlers - early exposure is such a brilliant head-start :slight_smile:

Thanks a lot, Glenn, that’s really useful input :slight_smile: We are thinking about doing subject-specific starter sessions - but they tend not to be a good approach for a general audience, so we really need the general stuff in there first :slight_smile:

#127

A little thought has just popped into my head … If this does happen, would you be amenable to someone not a first-time bootcamper staying in their own accommodation nearby (e.g. with family) and then coming along to join in the activities (like some people stay in the flats next door to the canolfan at Tresaith)? Could be a fun thing to do…

#128

I’m sure we would be… :slight_smile:

#129

Hi
Yes I had moved to Wales so wanted to learn welsh and got a teach yourself book which taught me the language…(.too much you got multiple choices of even saying I am) but was my pronunciation way way off so this course was a real Godsend

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#130

Thanks for your feedback, Angie, really appreciate it… :slight_smile:

#131

I was told about it when following Cwrs Pellach. I needed more involvement with the spoken word, particularly listening. I liked it instantly because of the light-hearted and sometimes humorous approach. SSiW gives the student the opportunity to repeat phrases/lessons ad infinitum.I’m sure it’s given me confidence and, although I’m still struggling with listening skills, I’ve had a couple of interviews in Welsh, regarding working as a volunteer, in Welsh. I’m hoping that, that kind of exposure (daunting as it is) will further my progress. This approach may be useful to others who, like me, are retired and have the time.

4 Likes
#132

Croeso, Helo! Another retiree!!

#133

This is all very confusing. What is one supposed to do now?

#134

Another win for word-of-mouth - thanks a lot for letting us know, Harvey!

If you can tell me what exactly is confusing, and what you think you might be meant to do, I’ll see if I can help… :slight_smile:

#135

I’m guessing it’s a “What is one supposed to do now that one is retired?” question ;).

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#136

Basically I have always wanted to speak but have never had the opportunity until four and a half years ago when asking a friend (Welsh teacher and first language Welsh speaker) if at the age of 70 it would be possible for me to do just this. Her reply was, knowing how bad I am at languages, “Don’t try ordinary classes as you can’t cope with them and the learning will be too slow for you at your age” Believe it or not we are still very good friends!! Anyway she then suggested I learn with SSiW and the rest is history, as I can now understand most of S4C, cope well with general chatting and read simple articles and books ie those by Bethan Gwanas and Lois Arnold with no trouble at all.
I have e-mailed Aran before of some of the problems I had at the time I started so will not repeat them again.
Heartfelt thanks as usual to Aran and the team.
Carolyn.

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#137

Oh wow!! We definitely need a thread for other older folk to stir me and any like me into putting in more effort! There is an 80 year old on another thread and now you, much the same age as me, but with much better Welsh!!!

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#138

Thank you so much for your hugely kind words, Carolyn - really means the world to us - and thank you for your feedback on this, too… :slight_smile: :star: :star2:

#139

Well, you can’t be that bad at languages then ;). That said, there’s a reason why every kid in Britain learns a language in school and yet most of them leave school unable to speak it, and it has nothing to do with the British just being bad at languages.

2 Likes
#140

I had a grand total of 5% in French O levels - yes five percent - I am that bad!!!