im trying to learn spanish but finding it really tough
i took years of it when i was a kid but fell off the wagon. now im trying to come back and finding it really hard to teach myself while staying engaged. i know too much for the beginner lessons to stay engaged but not enough to step up a level. ive used mostly duolingo (i know i know) but im not finding much success with some of the other tools ive often seen recommended
im sticking with it but finding it much slower going than i anticipated
I’m a serial duolingoer. I spend a month working on a language and then wander away. 6 months later I come back and start a different one. My hardest one so far was Dutch. I did not get very far!
ya im not so bad as taking 6 mo off lol but ive got a similar issue. ill build up my streak, then something comes up and i loose it then loose interest for a while and then have to start all over (to some degree)
i think its why i need slightly more structure or something
Jokes aside, I feel as if I’m in the same boat. I took three years of Spanish in high school, and did great, but have barely used it in the 15 years since. In the past few months, I’ve tried re-learning everything with mild success. I majorly struggle with both vocabulary and listening comprehension.
As for what I do use, I’ve been using a verb app called Ella, and it’s been great at teaching tenses and conjugations. I occasionally use Duolingo, but I have trouble staying engaged with it. I’ve been trying to find something for vocabulary other than just reading/watching stuff, with minimal success.
I used to read /r/Spanish and /r/LearnSpanish a lot, and got some useful information from there.
imma have to check out ella sometime, seems pretty alright. i like the gamey streak thing in duo but i find the complaints of it taking it very slowly to progress to be valid. i do feel its helped but i kinda want to take things more seriously
ive even thought of like, taking a college class just to have some accountability and structure but i live remotely so it would all be online anyways
I have been doing online private lessons through iTalki for Spanish learning and it’s really helped me to go beyond just Duolingo - it’s some conversation once a week plus some short writing exercises and I find that’s just enough to make it lock into my brain as a ‘usable’ skill. I would highly recommend something similar if you’re able.
i think imma check this out fo real. i think it would be a great help to have that dedicated time to actually speak to someone who knows what they are talking about instead of the youtube, spotify and duo void
thanks for the suggestion!
how long have you been doing the tutor? is it expensive?
I started during the pandemic in 2020 and have been doing weekly since then, and it’s taken my language level from “I can vaguely guess what this text says” to “I can understand native Spanish speakers well and mostly make myself understood, although my grammar isn’t perfect” (so probably from about A1-2 to B2). The lessons seem to average out at about $20USD an hour (and I do an hour a week), although there are cheaper teachers on the service in the range of as well (just did a quick search and I’m seeing some in the $10-15USD range as well).
I definitely use it as a supplement to Duolingo and other resources - I haven’t abandoned those completely - but the interactivity seems to make it stick in a way that other formats don’t.
im trying to learn spanish but finding it really tough
i took years of it when i was a kid but fell off the wagon. now im trying to come back and finding it really hard to teach myself while staying engaged. i know too much for the beginner lessons to stay engaged but not enough to step up a level. ive used mostly duolingo (i know i know) but im not finding much success with some of the other tools ive often seen recommended
im sticking with it but finding it much slower going than i anticipated
I’m a serial duolingoer. I spend a month working on a language and then wander away. 6 months later I come back and start a different one. My hardest one so far was Dutch. I did not get very far!
ya im not so bad as taking 6 mo off lol but ive got a similar issue. ill build up my streak, then something comes up and i loose it then loose interest for a while and then have to start all over (to some degree)
i think its why i need slightly more structure or something
i just started https://www.languagetransfer.org/complete-spanish course and im finding it alright. just started tho so i dunno how much its helping
How about listening to music or watching some TV shows?
ya ive started listening to music recently and finding that fun but having a hard time like, connecting the two if that makes sense.
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Jokes aside, I feel as if I’m in the same boat. I took three years of Spanish in high school, and did great, but have barely used it in the 15 years since. In the past few months, I’ve tried re-learning everything with mild success. I majorly struggle with both vocabulary and listening comprehension.
As for what I do use, I’ve been using a verb app called Ella, and it’s been great at teaching tenses and conjugations. I occasionally use Duolingo, but I have trouble staying engaged with it. I’ve been trying to find something for vocabulary other than just reading/watching stuff, with minimal success.
I used to read /r/Spanish and /r/LearnSpanish a lot, and got some useful information from there.
ya we are in a similar boat
imma have to check out ella sometime, seems pretty alright. i like the gamey streak thing in duo but i find the complaints of it taking it very slowly to progress to be valid. i do feel its helped but i kinda want to take things more seriously
ive even thought of like, taking a college class just to have some accountability and structure but i live remotely so it would all be online anyways
I have been doing online private lessons through iTalki for Spanish learning and it’s really helped me to go beyond just Duolingo - it’s some conversation once a week plus some short writing exercises and I find that’s just enough to make it lock into my brain as a ‘usable’ skill. I would highly recommend something similar if you’re able.
i think imma check this out fo real. i think it would be a great help to have that dedicated time to actually speak to someone who knows what they are talking about instead of the youtube, spotify and duo void
thanks for the suggestion!
how long have you been doing the tutor? is it expensive?
I started during the pandemic in 2020 and have been doing weekly since then, and it’s taken my language level from “I can vaguely guess what this text says” to “I can understand native Spanish speakers well and mostly make myself understood, although my grammar isn’t perfect” (so probably from about A1-2 to B2). The lessons seem to average out at about $20USD an hour (and I do an hour a week), although there are cheaper teachers on the service in the range of as well (just did a quick search and I’m seeing some in the $10-15USD range as well).
I definitely use it as a supplement to Duolingo and other resources - I haven’t abandoned those completely - but the interactivity seems to make it stick in a way that other formats don’t.
thats super reasonable
thanks for the heads up. ive got it in my language learning bookmark and will be diving in soon. its pretty much exactly what i asked for
I second the recommendation for iTalki. I have a tutor that lives in Mexico that I talk to twice a week and it’s been a huge help.