#Spanish language online

[rigelmejo]

Something that always annoys me is the idea only 1 language learning method works. Which is not true. While it may be possible that, for a particular individual, only a few out of many study methods may work well enough for That Individual to make progress and stay motivated... that doesn't mean all the other study methods won't work for anyone else out there, or that those few methods will work for every other given person.

Obviously if you've been studying a while, then you already figured out what kinds of things work for you and don't. If you're a beginner, just wading into studying?

I would suggest you simply look for study methods that: 1. Teach you new things regularly, 2. Review and practice things you've learned, 3. Include studying things you need for your particular goals (for example if your goal is to read X book then the study materials at some point should involve reading practice and some words the book contains, if your goal is to talk about Y then the study materials should include some information about pronunciation and words you'll need to be able to say).

As you can imagine, a TON of study materials will meet these requirements. And you can study a given skill in a LOT of ways.

(Reading is my focus lol so just for reading, a beginner might: do vocabulary study with lists or conversations with native speakers or watching shows and looking words up or listening to dialogues with a transcript like in a textbook or graded readers or a picture book with word labels in the target language or a video game with labelled objects in target language, all of those things as long as your vocabulary is improving or reading practice is happening would help you make progress). So to improve reading skill as a beginner: you could study with a textbook, a podcast with transcript, a classroom or tutor with words written down in target language (like TPRS), a video game, a TV show and a translate app on your phone, a friend you talk with (who either writes words down or you look up words you hear with a translate app), a friend you text with, srs flashcards like anki (provided there's text) etc. As long as there's new words, and/or you're practicing reading, the study method may work. If it works will come down to if you can stay motivated doing it regularly, and make sure you regularly learn some new things and review/practice things you've already studied.

So consider those things when you see people selling a study method as a product (especially when it's costing you money). Consider if it teaches you NEW things, and are those new things related to your goals, and how MUCH new stuff will it teach you before you finish it? Consider if it provides review or practice, or if you can use it's materials to review on your own making up your own method, or if you'll need to do separate review/practice.

So examples:

LingQ. Can it teach you many new words? Yes, thousands, since you can import any texts you want when you get done with their provided material (I have no idea how much their beginner material covers though in terms of words... I would hope 1000-3000 words but that can be researched). Is your goal reading? It's suited to reading, so you will practice and review often with it. Cost? I think it was $12 a month when I last had it, and the price may have increased. Is it worth it? Depends on a learner's needs. I found it was wasting my money, so I chose to use free tools like Pleco and Readibu apps - since those apps are suited for Chinese learners and have better translations, Pleco has better paid graded reader material if I was going to spend money, and both Pleco and Readibu let me import texts so I can learn thousands of new words just like LingQ but free. Now that I'm not a beginner, I often use Microsoft Edge to read chinese... since I can still click-translate words easily (all my web browsers have that tool free), and Edge's TTS voice is helpful for pronunciation and sounds quite good. I read webnovels online so Edge works well. But it's translations aren't as good as Pleco or Readibu, so if I still needed translations more I would use them. So... is LingQ a good study method? Its certainly a study method marketed to buy. Well... the method is suited to improving reading skill, at least. It costs money, which is a negative, but it does offer a lot. However: everything it does regarding reading can be done free with other apps or sites or web browsers on their own. So if paying money motivates you to read... sure. LingQ does have a few word tracking features a learner may find worth the money, keeping in mind the actual read-to-learn method can be done free without lingq. (Also... while LingQ is a valid option for improving reading, if the learners goal is speaking then it would be important to think of what study activities the learner will do OUTSIDE of LingQ to improve speaking... because I've seen how LingQ is marketed as "how to learn a language" but it's only focused on some skills. It has vocabulary and grammar in some sense, since you'll read a lot and encounter new words and structures. But it doesnt have speaking or writing practice at least last time I was on it. Those activities would need to be worked on, on your own).

You can do that kind of cost/benefit contemplating with any study method material you see being sold. Amother example: there's a beginner Mandarin course called Mandarin Blueprint. It teaches like 800 words. Thats all. It may be worthwhile for a beginner... who still needs to learn 800 common words. But if you already know a few hundred words, the benefit of the course is less, you'll need to find a new material to teach you more new stuff soon. And the price was like a few hundred for the course... which for me personally was too much to spend, when I had already learned 800 hanzi from a book that cost me 12 dollars and 2000 words from a free user made memrise deck. The course claimed to get a person speaking, competent, but anyone not a beginner would say speaking basically with 800 words is nowhere near the level of working in Chinese or just doing a lot of daily life stuff, or reading/listening to media. (Although for the motivated beginner if you're learning 800 words on your own like I was, its definitely close to the point of jumping to learn more words and start reading kids and teenager books, and watching easier shows if you're willing to look new words up). So to me... Mandarin Blueprint felt like overselling some basic beginner materials. (Again when I know several other things that teach beginner stuff either more in depth so HSK test prep classes, and college courses, or that teach beginner stuff to the same depth as Mandarin Blueprint but free).

Some study materials aren't going to act like they teach everything. I've seen chinese courses just for learning to speak tones better and general pronunciation - probably worthwhile if your goal is to improve speaking and a teacher could help improve the issues your having. But a learner needs to be aware for that course that they'll need to study vocabulary on their own, its JUST a pronunciation improvement course.

[quiveringdeer]

Anyone in USA have recs for online language courses? Mainly Spanish and Japanese.

Been looking into online university courses which are super expensive in some cases but I'd really like an instructor, lessons and folks to converse with so I don't instantly forget things.

Any suggestions?

[valzer-col-diavolo]

i need to learn every language. let me learn every language. why can’t i learn every language. LET ME ABSORB THE LANGUAGES

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I wish people felt less comfortable making jokes about strangers as if they were friends

[adhd-languages]

Just learned about “-zuelo”. Can’t believe Spanish had an “-ito (derogatory)” this whole time and I didn’t even know about it.

I can finally call someone a pathetic little man in Spanish.

[svtskneecaps]

my biological peer reviewer (sibling) called this theory “fun” and said i should send it, so here goes

my personal theory is the feds ((”federation”)) created the eggs because they decided the best way to enforce “you can never leave” was to give the people something they couldn’t lose, like in the post by tumblr user alexaloraetheris (no relation to the smp) where their friend who might be a deity had said,

"When you die you descend to the underworld with nothing to lose. To keep you, they give you something to lose. When you want to return, they will demand it back. That's why nobody ever leaves. The only way out is to never enter."

i’m thinkin that on egg D-Day, at the end of the countdown, the feds weren’t gonna give the eggs back. they were just gonna hide them forever, or do something else, anything else, just keep them away from their surrogate parents, because then the people would just be STUCK, because people could theoretically take their eggs and leave, but if the eggs are missing, gone without a trace, then the residents CAN’T LEAVE, because presumably the eggs are STILL THERE, SOMEWHERE, IN NEED OF HELP AND RESCUE, if only the residents could find them ON THE ISLAND. if they leave the island while the eggs are missing, they are abandoning these things that have become their children.

but then in came the brazilians. and shit went south. because see, the spenglish (spanish / english) streamers were INVITED, but the brazilians CRASHED; the feds didn’t INVITE THEM, they weren’t EXPECTING THEM, but they can’t let these guys leave either, so they PANIC, and they scramble to give the brazilians the same thing--something to lose. the new egg had a brazilian jersey, homie was TAILOR MADE for them to pack bond with. the feds didn’t have time to send out multiple eggs, it was all or nothing, so they picked something they could reasonably assume all five of them would find endearing because they don’t know shit about these guys--they had a week to observe the OG batch, but all they know about these newbies is the brazilian flag on their boat--and so they sent the little egg out to become THEIR THING, the thing they couldn’t afford to lose.

it leaves open why the eggs are cracked too, bc idk what’s going on there lol, either 1: the eggs cracked because they’re hatching and the feds picked that date bc they wanted to yoink the eggs before they got Too Powerful, or 2: the feds were the ones to crack the eggs as an excuse for why they vanished--returning the eggs untouched would open too many questions the feds don’t want them asking; this way, instead of being concerned specifically with “why were the eggs missing”, the residents presume they know the answer--the cracks.

but yea i’m just gonna add as an aside that personally i think cucurucho / osito bimbo / the white fucker is way more active again because the feds are still scrambling to keep up with the brazilians (which, again, the feds weren’t expecting), and the binary fuckwad came in to put the fear of god into the newbies--maybe so they didn’t get too focused on the morse code transmissions; iirc max was theorizing that both osito and binary were part of the federation ? and if so it does make sense that the binary entity went to fuck with cellbit immediately after cellbit was introduced to the conspiracies of the island, yknow, a warning shot. i think they want them to be focused on the eggs.

BUT THAT’S JUST A THEOr

[huevo-rojo]

una frase por día | martes, el quince de mayo

hoy fue un buen día pero también fue un día muy ocupado. me desperté una hora entera antes de mi alarma (una victoria triste).

tuve una cita de terapia y compré un bagel y una bebida de un café como un regalo para mí va, jajajaj. ¡la cita fue buena, aunque! estaba muy ocupade a principios de mes entonces esta cita fue muchas de ponerse al día.

también, limpié el espacio debajo de mi cama preparar para cuando mudarse. encontré una hormiga y lo tiré por la ventana (vivo en la planta baja entonces es bien, lmao).

cosas hice practicar/aprender español:

escribí este post

hice tres lecciones de duolingo (racha de 24 días)

escuche un episodio de "coffee break spanish"

leí las infografías y anuncios en español a la oficina de seguridad social

(hice los lecciones y el episodio mientras estaba en la oficina porque la espera fue demasiada larga ;-;)

inglés bajo:

a phrase a day | tuesday, may 15th

today was a good day but also a busy day. i woke up a whole hour before my alarm (a sad win).

i had a therapy appointment and i bought a bagel and a drink from a cafe as a treat for me going, lmao. the appointment was good, though! i was super busy early in the month so this appointment was a lot of catching up.

also, i cleaned the space below my bed to prepare for when i have to move. i found an ant and i threw him out the window (i live on the ground floor so it's okay, lmao).

things i did to practice/learn spanish:

wrote this post

did three duolingo lessons (24 day streak)

listened to an episode of "coffee break spanish"

read the spanish infographics and ads at the social security office

(i did the lessons and episode while i was in the office since the wait was so long ;-;)

[brethilach]

blessed with an unyielding obsession with linguistics but cursed with monolingualism into adulthood because my family and schools never bothered to teach me anything other than English so learning a second language is So Difficult

if anyone has advice for how to make learning a second language easier please let me know. thank you <3

[arcanewebs]

does. anyone else experience the language learning pipeline of like

yeah why not seems kinda fun -> (optional step) the writing system is crazy bro -> damn theres no WAY im gonna remember any of this shit -> genuine interest and fascination with the differences between languages and needing to Know more

and its because of the stupidest reason for starting learning it in the first place

[theygender]

One thing I love about learning Spanish is that for the most part everything has very consistent rules and even when a word is irregular the irregularity is consistent. Like tener is an irregular verb with its own special conjugation rules, but any verb that ends with tener (obtener, retener, contener, etc) is conjugated the exact same way. Volver is irregular too but all verbs containing it (revolver, devolver, envolver, etc) will also be conjugated the same, and so on. And these are just verbs, I can't think of a single irregular noun in Spanish

English on the other hand, seems like it has absolutely no consistency. Some of our rules have so many exceptions that there are more words that break the rule than fit it ("i before e except after c" comes to mind) and our many irregularities almost never apply to other similar words

How is someone who's learning English as a second language supposed to remember that the past tense of rise is rose but the past tense of surprise is not surprose, or that the past tense of freeze is froze but the past tense of wheeze and breeze are not whoze and broze, or that the plural of goose is geese but the plural of moose is not meese, or that the plural of mouse is mice and the plural of louse is lice but the plural of house is not hice, or that for a few random words like deer and fish the plural is the exact same as the singular. What the fuck

[kochivamarketing]

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[shingetsu-online]

JWSNHDFWIUEFHUEW AIMZ YOU DONT KNOW SPANISH???? I PITY YOU

[imflyingfish]

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[anonymousdormhacks]

I love that scale people made up about how hard a language is compared to your target language because spanish was way harder for me than japanese ever was. This isn't to say that japanese is easy, but learning any language is way way easier when you have a vested interest in reading the next untranslated chapter to a manga that was left on a cliffhanger last issue

[bookwyrminspiration]

fervently hoping my Spanish is good enough I can learn another language being instructed in it ough I’m. real nervous for Tuesday wish me well </3

[datastate]

i need to stop being nervous abt speaking other languages on here TT_TT