I appreciate Simon’s contribution of Welsh words to this thread, and I’m soaking them (and others) up like a sponge now. But on learning styles, I’d have put myself down as a visual learner pre-SSiW, and it was a real culture shock not to be reading stuff and writing notes at first. But it does work, because then you really really really have to listen, and I think it’s paid dividends.
I didn’t really go out of my way to learn new words when I was doing the original course one, over and above those actually in the course, or even for a lot of course 2. I think in some way I wasn’t ready for that. But now I feel I am, and have “given myself permission” to read words and write them down, because the good habits learned in the early SSiW days won’t be lost … I’ll still really really listen, and hopefully won’t be backwards about speaking either.
I think this is probably why Aran & Co., are deliberately a little vague about when to start reading and writing Welsh, because it’s probably different for each individual, and when you are ready, you will know.
Speaking welsh is a great thing. Yn arbenning o werthfawr!
I mean it is just so liberating in a way…I love hearing my kids try their welsh together with me… Even though we are in the US! They are so proud of everything that so many of you have done/ are doing to fight to keep this beautiful culture/ language alive.
They love it too!
Read when your ready, write if you want. Listen and speak first and foremost. SSiw has it right.
My biggest challenge in learning Welsh…really learning and understanding it…is, hands down, living in the US.
I have regular weekly chats (thanks A!), I do lessons while running and when walking to/from work, I talk to myself, and I catch programs like Beti a’i Phobol and Pobol y Cwm whenever I can…I’ve even recorded the audio of Pobol y Cwm so that I can listen whenever.
However, I’m not around people who speak Welsh on a daily…or semi-weekly…basis, so I lack the opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone on a regular basis…something that would go a long way towards upping my comfort level, with making mistakes and with the language in general. I become more confortable with something I’m learning when I do it as often as possible; not being near those who speak Welsh means not havong the opportunity to have those interactions as often as possible.
My goal is to get to Bootcamp ASAP…hopefully next year…but doing so requires planning, time, and funds. The first I can do…the second two are difficult to finagle…time more so than funds. I really think living with nothing but Welsh for two weeks will help, so I’m willing to make the effort.
Bootcamp is only the one week, but it really does work wonders. I think it was around the third day I started actually thinking in Welsh, which helped both my listening and my speaking.
Backtracking to the earlier discussion about visual learners, and reading/writing, it was only after I accidently read some Welsh that I could make much sense of Lesson 1. I could immediately match up some of the syllables I’d heard on the course, and that was the point at which what I’d heard “clicked” for me, and I could understand/remember/repeat it.
But, I have issues with auditory processing in all languages, to the extent that I avoid phone calls where possible. Perhaps this makes me the outlier. I fell really useless and daft trying to do it with no written context. So I have to admit that I’m going to use the course notes alongside the lessons in the future, for the first time at least, until I get the habit of decoding Welsh. Sorry!
(I naturally picked up reading very soon after I started talking.)
Bootcamp is only the one week, but it really does work wonders.
Yes, but, I just did July bootcamp and many were going on to the eisteddfod. If I ever do bootcamp again I will turn it into two weeks by adding on the eisteddfod.
Sadly, there are only a finite number of official bootcamps available per year (until we can clone the Fab Four anyway). But this reminds me of a discussion on the old forum about the possibility of SSiWers organising their own unofficial Bootcamp-like get-togethers - perhaps only long weekends, but under strict “dim ond Cymraeg” conditions.
Ideally these would actually be in Wales, which is more doable for people in the UK, and maybe not too bad for people in mainland Europe also. But perhaps people in the US and other continents could just organise residential weekends among themselves, using only Welsh? (With a bit of luck having invited expert Welsh speakers along to help out, maybe).
Kind a a brainstorming idea, but maybe it will spark off other ideas.
The self-organised ‘bootcamps’ do work quite well, especially with people that have already experienced a boocamp and want to get together and stick to Welsh only. We’ve had a couple of houses running alongside the National Eisteddfod in the past with SSiWers staying together, cooking together and practising Welsh. It’s certainly worth thinking about.
