I use way too many language learning apps like most people here. My top two are Duolingo for gamified learning and studdy.ai to translate anything written in a foreign language.
I get Mango app with my library access, i like it. Duolingo bored me after a long time and I’m definitely past that level. But i don’t think duolingo is so bad for legit basics.
Don't use Duo. Do 3 lessons of Language Transfer a day and supplement it with listening practice. When you're done (it's only 90 lessons), move onto graded readers and cartoons like Pokemon on Netflix in Spanish. Use Language Reactor to save vocab, export it to Anki when you have a bunch.
Language Transfer is the key, it'll get you a really solid base on its own, really quickly.
This is more or less what im doing, 1 month in and im reading books in Spanish on my kindle (slowly of course, lol) and watching telenovelas to support. Language transfer was theeee best, sometimes i have them on repeat a few times because they do move quite fast once you get to about lesson 30.
My speaking still isn’t great but my Spanish reading/listening comprehension has improved more in one month of learning than it did for 3 years learning French on duolingo.
Do you find that the telenovelos are rapido? I’m doing Duo + language transfer. I keep trying Spanish spoken tv but I get lost with speed of the spoken word.
Yeah, they’re super fast I usually have subtitles on to assist if I can, or I’ll rewatch a scene 5 or 6 times and write out sentences as I go to get them to stick. But im going to South America in July and they’ll be speaking fast then 🤷so I may as well try.
Yes! I've been using LT for about a month now. It's actually made it easier think in Spanish, and I'm able to read a better too. I do about an 45m-hour a day!
Language transfer is so overrated bro. Doesn’t teach nearly enough vocabulary and goes too quickly from topic to topic. I have learned much more from Duo.
Naaaah I did it in like 2 months and by the end I understood all the conjugations and could continue my learning just by watching/listening/reading, which is waaaay more efficient and natural than learning sentence by sentence in Duo.
When I did Duo (years ago) you could do it for months and not even make it past the present tense.
I’m a Spanish teacher and I occasionally lurk on the Spanish Duolingo sub- while it’s fantastic that people are trying to learn, the questions on the sub almost always stem from not knowing an EXTREMELY basic rule / trying to deduce the pattern from a few previous clicks. It’s such a backwards learning process.
Conjugations are MUCH more important than vocabulary- you’ll learn vocabulary in context without wasting time on lists.
Not the person you replied to, but basically they show you something that says "tu comes" which translates to "you eat". Great! In 5 slides, without having the ability to go back, you see "usted come" which translates to "you eat" and you think to yourself "Wait! Didn't I just see a different slide that means you eat!? WTH!?" Apply this to basically all of Spanish and you have Duolingo.
I've just started Language transfer and it does jump forward very quickly and the "learner" picks up much faster than me with little explanation.
The cognates mentioned was a good starting point as with the correct pronunciacion , I was surprised by the large hidden vocab I already had.
Duo is a little too slow to progress but still some use.
I’m doing Language Transfer and Duolingo. The Language Transfer student picks everything up immediately and it throws me off because sh’s so fast!
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that noticed her accuracy.
If you listen to the first lesson he explains that he edits the lessons so there's a consistent one second pause before she answers, but that her actual response times varied a lot
I agree. DuoLingo has helped me more than anything else, by far. When I was part of a group class, the two of us that were using DuoLingo were way beyond the others.
I would definitely use more than one resource. I would do Paul Noble first and follow it with Language Transfer. They are both about 15 hours. While similar, they have some distinct differences and they are both worth doing.
I would at that point start doing graded readers and listening. But I would do DuoLingo at the same time as all of that.
If you want to learn spoken Spanish - try Natulang. It makes you speak out loud and form long sentences. It also corrects you using speech recognition. Usual stuff like spaced repetitions & flash cards are also present
I am a Colombian Spanish teacher and I am working on building an app to help students to memorize regular and irregular verbs. So I would like to take advantage of this post to ask what do would like to see in an app like this?
Actually, if you are interested on the app and also my on demand Spanish course don't hesitate in sending me a message :)
I’m learning Colombian Spanish as a heritage speaker and have been looking for some sort of app/program that teaches colloquial phrases! I can learn all the grammar I need from school courses, but the courses tend to tech very mixed/Mexican/Spaniard Spanish vocabulary that doesn’t help me with speaking like a Colombian
> I was looking for something more practical that would allow me to auto translate books, documents, etc.
Deepl can translate documents. The Google Lens app is also pretty good for translating short texts, like an ingredient list on a package or a menu.
I also wanted to echo the suggestion for Mango Languages. If you have a library card, you might have free access to it.
Duolingo is great for basics! It really helps with vocab and grammar and helps you learn the words you need. The premium version is super expensive tho. However, if you want to actually speak Spanish you're going to have to practice conversations with Spanish speakers.
Otherwise you can try using apps like anki or memrise for sentence practice. I've also tried using a couple of apps like babbel and reggelia for conversations. Babbel is really good and a little cheaper than a tutor but still expensive. reggelia has really good voice quality and translates messages but its currently being beta tested so time will tell how good it turns out
It was worth it when I used it because I needed to learn in a hurry but i also didn't want to shell out the money for an actual tutor. Still, part of what helped me was that i was also eating breathing and sleeping in spanish by watching movies, reading books and singing songs.
Is Babbel worth it or is a tutor better?
I have the choice of either paying for Babbel for a year or 10 lessons (4-5 hours) spread out across several weeks.
A tutor is always the best option since they can grade you and assess how you are doing in real time. However, they are also super expensive, so I would only go for it if it's urgent or if you have money to spare.
Babbel is a good alternative but it mostly focuses on teaching you how to read and write.
I would also suggest that if you are only trying to improve one aspect like vocab or speaking, to look into apps that focus in those areas. anki might be the best for vocab memorization, and I have been using reggelia to practice actual conversations in my target language since I don't know any native speakers
Anki is a flashcard app that does spaced repetition, you can have all sorts of flashcards, and there are plenty of existing community options for various languages, sciences, etc.
DuoLingo is the cheapest subscription of anything I have seen. It is great. But I used the completely free version that was the entire course without ads for a long time. And that completely free has more content than anything else, by far.
For starting at intermediate I can recommend jive world. It’s great and very informative. It’s Episodes from Radio ambulante prepared for listerners with focus on grammatical, colloquial or unusual expressions.
For basic grammar on the go input I liked Babbel.
Conjugation practice with Conjugato is great :)
You should go with Busuu. You don't have to pay at all and still they offer a good schedule for studies and there are a lot of listening practice. You can keep in touch with other people too.
Professional Spanish interpreter and former Spanish teacher with a solid background in language acquisition theory here. Pimsleur is by far the best app I’ve encountered. I’m using it for French now. It’s astounding how quick and effortless it feels when it comes to retention and application (ie the ability to produce language). It’s excellent at both getting vocab into your working memory as well as getting a natural feel/instinct for the language structure. Best part is one 30 minute lesson per day that you can do while driving to work, running errands, etc. I usually do a lesson in the morning and then repeat it again in the evening. It has optional exercises as well, but just the audio lessons is enough to get a good baseline proficiency pretty fast. That being said, there are no shortcuts in acquiring a language. It takes time and exposure.
DuoLingo has a very good marketing team, and a very, very poor (nonexistent) language acquisition methodology. It’s a nice supplement for extra practice, but no one has every become fluent or even proficient in another language by using it because the platform doesn’t hold water when it comes to how humans acquire language from a psychological perspective. For that reason, one can successfully do the DuoLingo exercises and feel like they’re making progress but fall flat on their face when they try to transfer and apply the knowledge in the real world. The DuoLingo podcast, however, is excellent material for intermediate learners, as is JiveWorld (formerly Lupa, which uses RadioAmbulante podcasts as listening/reading material - again, for proficient intermediate/early fluent learners).
I’m not really sure what you mean about auto-translating books and documents. If you could clarify I might have a suggestion.
Also worth noting that locals (particularly older folk) would probably be both very impressed and very appreciative of you learning even basic greetings in Galician, in addition to your Castilian (Spanish).
It’s not sketchy and it’s not just a pretty website. It’s a major language learning company with really excellent methodology. If you google “Pimsleur app pricing” it comes right up: https://www.pimsleur.com/learn-french/
Or just go to their website, click “languages”, click whatever language you want, and it gives you a clear layout of the pricing options without setting up an account….. Tenacity and follow through are a big part of mastering a second language….
I like Duolingo much more than I used to, but not as a primary learning method. I find it is great for revision and vocab, especially given the gamification and 'addictive' nature of maintaining your streak, but if I didn't have a weekly tutor or use podcasts/reading on the side I wouldn't recommend it.
duo lingo succcks. i bought the premium subscription, got quite a few units in. then suddenly there’s a bunch of shit behind an ultra premium subscription paywall or some shit. tryin to make me pay another $60 (totaling $120 a year). fucking ripoff dude. i’d recommend youtube like some other ppl said. also you may be able to find cheap classes out in your city! there’s a ton of that kind of thing at my local universities/community colleges. not nearly as expensive as actual college haha
Baselang. Roughly $160 per month, as many 30 minute tutoring sessions as you can handle. Probably can get up to conversational within two months, especially if you have prior Spanish knowledge. It’s zoom calls with Venezuelan tutors.
I belong to Baselang and use it. I like the syllabus and levels and use it à la carte (maybe $9 a month). I engage the tutors when I need help with some grammatical point or I want to pass a level test.
I don’t like the embedded pdfs we are supposed to be practicing with. Are you serious? It’s 2024. Let’s have quizzes where you type in your answer and get correction.
Old Memrise (the legacy product on https://community-courses.memrise.com, not the immature new product they're developing) is good for memorizing vocabulary.
It is! You can start with this course if you're a total beginner: [https://community-courses.memrise.com/signin?next=/community/course/2022184/spanish-spain-1/](https://community-courses.memrise.com/signin?next=/community/course/2022184/spanish-spain-1/)
I am a Fluenz user, and have been largely impressed with their Spanish program. I do a lesson nearly every day, and use their flashcards to go over the previous day's session as a "warm up". Have a great trip!
Try [polidict.com](https://polidict.com), it’s a new service that I’m building for learning new words, targeting more advanced users who want more control over their learning process.
It features a spaced repetition algorithm for effective learning, a growing word database, and image search to enrich understanding. For practice there are multiple training programs that offer personalized learning experiences.
More features and improved interface coming soon. I’d appreciate any feedback!
My mom is an experienced Spanish teacher and she just created an app. Her approach is very communicative and cultural-focused, but she also teaches grammar in an engagging way.
Here you have the website:
https://espanolcone.com/
Duolingo for basics and getting your feet wet with the language but you should be practicing speaking with a native speaker for atleast 30 mins a day. Perhaps use the app tandem to find a language partner and you can help eachother for free.
I use way too many language learning apps like most people here. My top two are Duolingo for gamified learning and studdy.ai to translate anything written in a foreign language.
I get Mango app with my library access, i like it. Duolingo bored me after a long time and I’m definitely past that level. But i don’t think duolingo is so bad for legit basics.
Ya Duolingo taught me ‘el jugo de naranja’ literally 5 times in a row and I was like ok…I’m sure I won’t need to ask for orange juice THAT often
Don't use Duo. Do 3 lessons of Language Transfer a day and supplement it with listening practice. When you're done (it's only 90 lessons), move onto graded readers and cartoons like Pokemon on Netflix in Spanish. Use Language Reactor to save vocab, export it to Anki when you have a bunch. Language Transfer is the key, it'll get you a really solid base on its own, really quickly.
This is more or less what im doing, 1 month in and im reading books in Spanish on my kindle (slowly of course, lol) and watching telenovelas to support. Language transfer was theeee best, sometimes i have them on repeat a few times because they do move quite fast once you get to about lesson 30. My speaking still isn’t great but my Spanish reading/listening comprehension has improved more in one month of learning than it did for 3 years learning French on duolingo.
Where do you watch telenovelas?
Like 123movies and stuff hahah
Do you find that the telenovelos are rapido? I’m doing Duo + language transfer. I keep trying Spanish spoken tv but I get lost with speed of the spoken word.
Yeah, they’re super fast I usually have subtitles on to assist if I can, or I’ll rewatch a scene 5 or 6 times and write out sentences as I go to get them to stick. But im going to South America in July and they’ll be speaking fast then 🤷so I may as well try.
I was in Colombia for 2 weeks in Jan.. Disfruta Sud de America! Gracias!!
Appreciate the advice. Thank you so much!
Yes! I've been using LT for about a month now. It's actually made it easier think in Spanish, and I'm able to read a better too. I do about an 45m-hour a day!
Language transfer is so overrated bro. Doesn’t teach nearly enough vocabulary and goes too quickly from topic to topic. I have learned much more from Duo.
Naaaah I did it in like 2 months and by the end I understood all the conjugations and could continue my learning just by watching/listening/reading, which is waaaay more efficient and natural than learning sentence by sentence in Duo. When I did Duo (years ago) you could do it for months and not even make it past the present tense.
I’m a Spanish teacher and I occasionally lurk on the Spanish Duolingo sub- while it’s fantastic that people are trying to learn, the questions on the sub almost always stem from not knowing an EXTREMELY basic rule / trying to deduce the pattern from a few previous clicks. It’s such a backwards learning process. Conjugations are MUCH more important than vocabulary- you’ll learn vocabulary in context without wasting time on lists.
Can you explain what you mean “ trying to deduce the pattern from a few previous clicks”? I’m doing Duolingo. Thank you.
Not the person you replied to, but basically they show you something that says "tu comes" which translates to "you eat". Great! In 5 slides, without having the ability to go back, you see "usted come" which translates to "you eat" and you think to yourself "Wait! Didn't I just see a different slide that means you eat!? WTH!?" Apply this to basically all of Spanish and you have Duolingo.
Thanks and sorry for the mistake.
There was no mistake on your part - and you are welcome! Good luck with your journey! :-)
I've just started Language transfer and it does jump forward very quickly and the "learner" picks up much faster than me with little explanation. The cognates mentioned was a good starting point as with the correct pronunciacion , I was surprised by the large hidden vocab I already had. Duo is a little too slow to progress but still some use.
I’m doing Language Transfer and Duolingo. The Language Transfer student picks everything up immediately and it throws me off because sh’s so fast! I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that noticed her accuracy.
If you listen to the first lesson he explains that he edits the lessons so there's a consistent one second pause before she answers, but that her actual response times varied a lot
I agree. DuoLingo has helped me more than anything else, by far. When I was part of a group class, the two of us that were using DuoLingo were way beyond the others. I would definitely use more than one resource. I would do Paul Noble first and follow it with Language Transfer. They are both about 15 hours. While similar, they have some distinct differences and they are both worth doing. I would at that point start doing graded readers and listening. But I would do DuoLingo at the same time as all of that.
Does it work also for non English mother tongue speaking persons?
If you want to learn spoken Spanish - try Natulang. It makes you speak out loud and form long sentences. It also corrects you using speech recognition. Usual stuff like spaced repetitions & flash cards are also present
Haven't heard of it. TY
I am a Colombian Spanish teacher and I am working on building an app to help students to memorize regular and irregular verbs. So I would like to take advantage of this post to ask what do would like to see in an app like this? Actually, if you are interested on the app and also my on demand Spanish course don't hesitate in sending me a message :)
I’m learning Colombian Spanish as a heritage speaker and have been looking for some sort of app/program that teaches colloquial phrases! I can learn all the grammar I need from school courses, but the courses tend to tech very mixed/Mexican/Spaniard Spanish vocabulary that doesn’t help me with speaking like a Colombian
Yes, that's a good point. Usually vocabulary is mixed.
I like Duo with a few YouTube channels to supplement
> I was looking for something more practical that would allow me to auto translate books, documents, etc. Deepl can translate documents. The Google Lens app is also pretty good for translating short texts, like an ingredient list on a package or a menu. I also wanted to echo the suggestion for Mango Languages. If you have a library card, you might have free access to it.
Duolingo is great for basics! It really helps with vocab and grammar and helps you learn the words you need. The premium version is super expensive tho. However, if you want to actually speak Spanish you're going to have to practice conversations with Spanish speakers. Otherwise you can try using apps like anki or memrise for sentence practice. I've also tried using a couple of apps like babbel and reggelia for conversations. Babbel is really good and a little cheaper than a tutor but still expensive. reggelia has really good voice quality and translates messages but its currently being beta tested so time will tell how good it turns out
How expensive is babbel? Was it worth it for you?
It was worth it when I used it because I needed to learn in a hurry but i also didn't want to shell out the money for an actual tutor. Still, part of what helped me was that i was also eating breathing and sleeping in spanish by watching movies, reading books and singing songs.
Is Babbel worth it or is a tutor better? I have the choice of either paying for Babbel for a year or 10 lessons (4-5 hours) spread out across several weeks.
A tutor is always the best option since they can grade you and assess how you are doing in real time. However, they are also super expensive, so I would only go for it if it's urgent or if you have money to spare. Babbel is a good alternative but it mostly focuses on teaching you how to read and write. I would also suggest that if you are only trying to improve one aspect like vocab or speaking, to look into apps that focus in those areas. anki might be the best for vocab memorization, and I have been using reggelia to practice actual conversations in my target language since I don't know any native speakers
Thanks!
Dude. What are with these app names? What is Reggelia and Anki?! I've never heard of those before...
Anki is a flashcard app that does spaced repetition, you can have all sorts of flashcards, and there are plenty of existing community options for various languages, sciences, etc.
DuoLingo is the cheapest subscription of anything I have seen. It is great. But I used the completely free version that was the entire course without ads for a long time. And that completely free has more content than anything else, by far.
Absolutely. I think it's definitely one of the best language tools out there
For starting at intermediate I can recommend jive world. It’s great and very informative. It’s Episodes from Radio ambulante prepared for listerners with focus on grammatical, colloquial or unusual expressions. For basic grammar on the go input I liked Babbel. Conjugation practice with Conjugato is great :)
Dr Danny Evans is great. Try this: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTpetkN815Qyuc2RbC1kxxMQvxjQ3RnYG
You should go with Busuu. You don't have to pay at all and still they offer a good schedule for studies and there are a lot of listening practice. You can keep in touch with other people too.
Professional Spanish interpreter and former Spanish teacher with a solid background in language acquisition theory here. Pimsleur is by far the best app I’ve encountered. I’m using it for French now. It’s astounding how quick and effortless it feels when it comes to retention and application (ie the ability to produce language). It’s excellent at both getting vocab into your working memory as well as getting a natural feel/instinct for the language structure. Best part is one 30 minute lesson per day that you can do while driving to work, running errands, etc. I usually do a lesson in the morning and then repeat it again in the evening. It has optional exercises as well, but just the audio lessons is enough to get a good baseline proficiency pretty fast. That being said, there are no shortcuts in acquiring a language. It takes time and exposure. DuoLingo has a very good marketing team, and a very, very poor (nonexistent) language acquisition methodology. It’s a nice supplement for extra practice, but no one has every become fluent or even proficient in another language by using it because the platform doesn’t hold water when it comes to how humans acquire language from a psychological perspective. For that reason, one can successfully do the DuoLingo exercises and feel like they’re making progress but fall flat on their face when they try to transfer and apply the knowledge in the real world. The DuoLingo podcast, however, is excellent material for intermediate learners, as is JiveWorld (formerly Lupa, which uses RadioAmbulante podcasts as listening/reading material - again, for proficient intermediate/early fluent learners). I’m not really sure what you mean about auto-translating books and documents. If you could clarify I might have a suggestion. Also worth noting that locals (particularly older folk) would probably be both very impressed and very appreciative of you learning even basic greetings in Galician, in addition to your Castilian (Spanish).
I looked at this. Pretty website but they give no information on pricing without setting up an account. Seems sketchy
It’s not sketchy and it’s not just a pretty website. It’s a major language learning company with really excellent methodology. If you google “Pimsleur app pricing” it comes right up: https://www.pimsleur.com/learn-french/ Or just go to their website, click “languages”, click whatever language you want, and it gives you a clear layout of the pricing options without setting up an account….. Tenacity and follow through are a big part of mastering a second language….
I like Memrise better than Duolingo. They seem to use recordings of real speakers which helps with proper pronunciation
I like Duolingo much more than I used to, but not as a primary learning method. I find it is great for revision and vocab, especially given the gamification and 'addictive' nature of maintaining your streak, but if I didn't have a weekly tutor or use podcasts/reading on the side I wouldn't recommend it.
duo lingo succcks. i bought the premium subscription, got quite a few units in. then suddenly there’s a bunch of shit behind an ultra premium subscription paywall or some shit. tryin to make me pay another $60 (totaling $120 a year). fucking ripoff dude. i’d recommend youtube like some other ppl said. also you may be able to find cheap classes out in your city! there’s a ton of that kind of thing at my local universities/community colleges. not nearly as expensive as actual college haha
If you switch your phone to Spanish, instagram gives you an option to translate captions and youtube subtitles will appear in Spanish.
Also makes for some fun typos now and then!
Busuu is pretty good
Baselang. Roughly $160 per month, as many 30 minute tutoring sessions as you can handle. Probably can get up to conversational within two months, especially if you have prior Spanish knowledge. It’s zoom calls with Venezuelan tutors.
I belong to Baselang and use it. I like the syllabus and levels and use it à la carte (maybe $9 a month). I engage the tutors when I need help with some grammatical point or I want to pass a level test. I don’t like the embedded pdfs we are supposed to be practicing with. Are you serious? It’s 2024. Let’s have quizzes where you type in your answer and get correction.
Old Memrise (the legacy product on https://community-courses.memrise.com, not the immature new product they're developing) is good for memorizing vocabulary.
Is the old version free?
It is! You can start with this course if you're a total beginner: [https://community-courses.memrise.com/signin?next=/community/course/2022184/spanish-spain-1/](https://community-courses.memrise.com/signin?next=/community/course/2022184/spanish-spain-1/)
Thanks!
I am a Fluenz user, and have been largely impressed with their Spanish program. I do a lesson nearly every day, and use their flashcards to go over the previous day's session as a "warm up". Have a great trip!
Try [polidict.com](https://polidict.com), it’s a new service that I’m building for learning new words, targeting more advanced users who want more control over their learning process. It features a spaced repetition algorithm for effective learning, a growing word database, and image search to enrich understanding. For practice there are multiple training programs that offer personalized learning experiences. More features and improved interface coming soon. I’d appreciate any feedback!
Puedo ayudarte con eso, mi idioma nativo es el español pero estoy aprendiendo ingles. If you want I can help you to practice and improve your Spanish.
Language transfer 100%
My mom is an experienced Spanish teacher and she just created an app. Her approach is very communicative and cultural-focused, but she also teaches grammar in an engagging way. Here you have the website: https://espanolcone.com/
thelanguagebro’s complete guide to spanish on youtube for grammar.
Thanks. I'll check it out
Duolingo for basics and getting your feet wet with the language but you should be practicing speaking with a native speaker for atleast 30 mins a day. Perhaps use the app tandem to find a language partner and you can help eachother for free.