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.
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
Yeah this is another thing I am doing that I failed to mention in my original post. I have been listening to a lot of reggaeton and Spanish language music since like January which has helped and am also reading some stuff, next month I am planning on getting a Spanish language copy of “One Thousand Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez which is one of my favourite novels.
Most of the nouns I’ve learned have come from interacting with Spanish media rather than note copying. I mostly used Duolingo and flashcards to teach me the grammar.