I made it my NYR this year to learn a second language and while I picked Russian at first I switched to Spanish for a few different reasons. I’ve been using Duolingo for about 6 months now but have gotten to the point (I’m around A2 if not very early B1 fluency) where I just don’t find it very helpful on its own anymore and the new stuff I learn just doesn’t stick to my mind as good anymore.
I’d like to start incorporating other resources into my learning (which was the plan from the start) but have no idea where to start. I’ve incorporated note writing as well as flashcards into my learning as of a couple months ago, as well as trying to hold basic Spanish conversations with other people, but this is only really effective for perfecting what I’ve already studied.
To anyone who learned Spanish or really any language, do you know of any other resources for learning the language?
Gracias.
I’d 2nd comrades suggestions below to try out dreamingspanish.
Also highly recommend reading this article written by them, about the comprehensible input method. I’ve tried a lot of other techniques over the years (apps, dictionary / side by side reading, flashcards), but CI is the only thing that works for me, and everything else wasted hundreds of hours of time.
I use the above site for spanish, and a few youtube channels for Mandarin, and am progressing faster than I ever was before with apps.
Honestly, avoid Duolingo, even for Spanish.
A lot of people say this but I found it useful as a beginner tool personally, I have ADHD and Duolingo was simply what I found to be the best entry tool for this reason due to its game element. The app basically being freemium at this point is a big problem I have with it but I don’t think I would have been able to get into the habit of practicing without it. That said it has fulfilled its purpose for me and I don’t use it that much anymore.
Alright.
You know what? Do what’s best for you. I’ll make another post with some pointers and suggestions, but don’t listen to others when it doesn’t suit you because honestly? You know you best when it comes to language-learning.
I’ve heard good things about dreaming spanish
Ooooo
Whoa, this looks like a good one. Will definitely be checking this out. Thank you.
This is what I use for spanish, and its wonderful. I really wish it existed for other languages.
80 hrs in. It’s a fantastic resource, OP.
Okay, so, use Quizlet for flash cards and adding words. There’s a good app version too.
Also, use Memrise and HelloTalk (HelloTalk lets you chat with other Spanish-speakers; they learn English while you learn Spanish, is the idea, and you can do this with any language).
Quora is… surprisingly good with you want more specific questions answered about the language, like about slang, but if you don’t trust Quora (a lot of people don’t and not entirely for bad reasons) then maybe use Stack as it has been expanding on other question-types for a while now. Otherwise, there are apps for asking questions from native speakers on their countries, how the language works, etc.
I would avoid Anki, even though many recommend it; it’s not as good as Quizlet.
Whoa what?? Avoid Anki? I’ve never heard a single person say that Quizlet is superior in the wild. What makes you conclude this?
Tbh, Anki is good and all, but Quizlet does the same shit in addition to other functions and has a thriving community.
I prefer it.
Sure, but Quizlet keeps putting good features behind a paywall. Learn and Test modes used to be free.
Anki is harder to learn at first, but much more powerful. Anki cards can be heavily customized to match and exceed Quizlet’s features (e.g. adding stroke order to Chinese cards, image occlusion for reviewing diagrams, custom code to do whatever). Anki’s spaced repetition algorithm is also better, especially with its new FSRS algorithm.
You can find a massive collection of shared decks on ankiweb.net, with tons of cards precoded with images, audio, and more.
Wait, really?
Ah, I already paid for Quizlet, but I’ll keep that in mind…
I didn’t know they had shared decks, tbh. Frankly, I had trouble using Anki.
Yeah, Anki is super powerful, but that power is locked behind the learning curve. There are great YouTube channels to learn it such as The Anking. The new FSRS algorithm is based on sophisticated maths and is industry-leading in maximizing retention while minimizing the amount of reviewing you need to do per-day (see here for more info).
Well, I did make a one-time payment for $20 for Anki…
…It is still a one-time payment, right? God, I hope so… I might take your advice, tbh.
Oh, you paid for the iOS app? That’s a one-time payment to help the devs pay for Apple’s Developer Fees (because for some fucking reason, developing for Apple costs each dev 99USD per year + requires a Mac).
No other platform is that entitled, so no other OS apps require you to pay. This issue is a big reason why open-source apps are less popular on iOS.
Apple has the gall to make developers pay for the privilege of making apps, then makes them pay a massive cut of any in-app purchases. By adding this fee, Apple incentivizes devs to add in-app purchases so they don’t lose money, ultimately making Apple even more money.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Yes this is exactly what I am looking for, thank you. We used Quizlet in high school and I still use it occasionally and have an account there. As for Quora… yeah, I’ve used Quora Spanish in the past and the content is questionable to say the least. The rest I have not used before and will look into them.
Get a workbook and pencil and do it a little bit every day.
Dreaming Spanish is amazing
I have a bunch of podcasts downloaded but I can’t remember which ones were the good ones. I think Cuentame was the best for beginner iirc
Watching, reading, and listening to stuff in your target language. You can start with stuff made for learners if you really need to, but the sooner you start consuming material made for native speakers, the better. And always be reading and watching things that are challenging. I read news articles and novels, watched YouTube and TV, and listened to podcasts and music, and took lots of notes and flashcards. All from when I was a beginner. You can use subtitles for video and just look up words that you recognize but don’t know.
I improved so much more quickly, even when I felt completely lost, than I ever have rote studying. And everyone I have ever met that’s actually good at English as a second language only got there by actually consuming native media. Plus it’s way more fun.
consuming material like some kid’s dog
So, I don’t know about Spanish specifically (I’ve been focused on Mandarin myself), but I do have an idea you can try, that I’ve been experimenting with. There’s an app called Tutor Lily and one called Univerbal, and both make use of a combination of AI text generation / languages models (for one side of a conversation) and some kind of “corrections” to point out mistakes in grammar or that kind of thing. Both have a form of trial or free use before you have to pay for anything (though with Univerbal, you might have to sign up for the full trial and then cancel in your store subscriptions if you don’t want to get charged after it ends).
I haven’t tried these for long yet, but I’m liking Tutor Lily more so far for just basic chatting and writing a message in the language every now and then during a day. And the main benefit I find is in getting me to use the language more flexibly vs. the set examples that course-based apps tend to have. In this way, one thing I do sometimes is I’ll go find a grammar rule I learned in the past, then try to make use of it in the chatting app, within the context of the conversation. I reach for Google Translate a fair bit during this, as my understanding of Mandarin is still limited, but I know enough that it’s not too painful.
The one main caveat here is, LLMs (large language models) can “hallucinate”, as in confidently BS on things. Presumably, these apps are designed to try to confine the output to some degree and are (hopefully?) specially trained on grammatical corrections and the like to make them more accurate. But I still take it and its corrections with a grain of salt when conversing with it. So it’s not something I’d recommend for someone new to a language who is very dependent on correct info, but at the level you’re at, it might be a helpful supplementary thing.
Edit: Just noticed you said you have ADHD. I recommend trying this approach all the more in that case. I’m pretty confident I have ADHD too and the interactivity of this approach helps me stay engaged with it.
This is an idea I’ve played around with although I haven’t used this particular app. I used ChatGPT as well as a bot called HyperGlot on Character.AI but I will have to check this one out too since it seems specifically focused on language learning. Thanks for the suggestion.
Np, hope it helps (and feel free to let me know how it goes, I’m curious to know if it works for anyone else). And yeah, I remember trying CharacterAI briefly in the past for language learning myself; main difference I find with this type of setup, is 1) The corrections are “on the side”, not organically part of the conversation itself, so you have the main conversation which the AI is focused on and then you have suggestions/corrections you get if you say something its evaluation thinks has incorrectness for that language. 2) Both apps have forms of conversation where they can be more unguided in terms of what you talk about and have “roleplay” type of scenarios that are a little more structured for practicing specific kinds of things. For example, I was just doing a little talking with a “roleplay” on Tutor Lily called “explaining symptoms to a doctor.”
So if I compare it to trying to learn through just any LLM, point 1 seems to be the most significant difference. Since technically you could already get an LLM to roleplay most things, albeit with more effort than with these apps’ scenarios. But getting corrections on the side while talking to an LLM seems to be a more specific engineering/design thing that goes beyond LLMs alone. I might try to ask the creators and see if I can get an answer, but I’m unclear still on whether these apps are powering the corrections purely through an LLM itself or some other kind of AI evaluation with it.
Yeah, this sounds a lot better. Am excited to give it a go. Funnily enough I have also recently started practicing medical terms/speaking to a doctor in Spanish lol.
Whoa was not expecting this many responses lol. Will try to respond as much as I can but thank you to everyone who has offered suggestions.
Check your community. My area often has language meet ups where you can meet other learners and native speakers. It is a great way to make connections with other learners and practice the language.
Check coffee shops, colleges, and religious listings.
You may also be able to help migrants learn your language while you learn theirs. I know many community groups help organize volunteers to assist migrants and refugees assimilate to their new home.
Some people find transcribing songs in the target language by hand can accelerate their learning significantly.
Some good advice in here already. I’ll just add some thoughts about choosing media.
I had the most luck with translations of my favourite books. But only certain books. Books that use a lot of description are much more difficult. I really struggled with Gabriel Garcia Marquez because he paints such a detailed picture. E.g. you won’t just see someone in a room with a glass, you’ll see the furniture and jars, vials, dishes, etc. That’s a lot of extra, relatively rare vocabulary. It slowed me down too much to enjoy. (I have heard that ‘Nobody Writes to the Colonel’ and some other of his shorter works are more suitable for beginners but I haven’t yet read them and I want to really enjoy them all on my first read through, I’m waiting a bit before I get stuck in.)
Books that are a little more action-packed have been easier for me. Now I also enjoy books in my favourite genres (historical fiction, fantasy) by my favourite authors even if I haven’t read that specific book by them before. It’s still easier than reading new authors.
My main point is not to be embarrassed about putting something down and trying again later. Pick things you can enjoy most right now.
For Spanish, you can also change the language of many video games, Netflix shows, Disney plus shows, etc. Audible have a decent range, too.
To get a consistent accent, I started by only listening to one accent. Now I don’t mind what I listen to. It limits your choices to start with but you often have both available on Netflix, Disney, and Audible.
Thanks for the response! I mentioned in another comment that I am looking into buying Spanish language versions of Marquez books but this is generally something I am saving for B2/near C1 fluency level. I originally was going to turn subtitles off for the Mexican scenes in Breaking Bad but all learning Spanish has done is make me realise just how bad Giancarlo Esposito is at speaking it lol. I’ve read some children level stories in Spanish and have generally found this easy to follow along with so I am going to be moving on from this and look for more challenging material.
Memrise is good for learning vocabulary and the Easy Languages channels on YouTube are also pretty good.
