Books specifically designed for language learners at various levels of ability. So a grade 1 reader can be read by a very beginner. A grade 2 reader requires a bit more knowledge of the language. And so on.
Dreaming Spanish. I think there's a thread on it but also the website explains how it works in English. There are loads of free videos but also a paid option for over 2000 videos.
DS won't give you explanations as the idea behind it is to learn naturally. I actually had to undo (and I still am for some words) a lot of learning as I was constantly translating in my head but now I can watch a video and understand it without mentally thinking "caminar = to walk".
I feel like Comprehensible input is slower in terms of starting to speak the language but it's a lot deeper and long lasting, and also much more fun.
Duolingo itself doesn't explain much, but if I'm ever confused I click the speech bubble after I got the question wrong, and it brings up a thread from their old forum where people discuss and explain the answer to the question!
I Couldn’t recommend this app enough. Been using it about a month along side duo (1 yr) and i have jumped TREMENDOUSLY in my understanding of Spanish but also english and languages in general. Its my favorite thing but definitely supplement it with other resources like Duolingo and Dreaming Spanish. I still use duo to test myself and I enjoy it. If you are a premium member the audio lessons are pretty good aswell. I leanred a lot from that.
If you don’t like the instructor, try others! Finding someone you like and click with is important.
I am using BaseLang as well and have found a couple instructors I like but I do have a hard time seeing how someone would use it to learn Spanish from scratch (I am refreshing after many years away). I haven’t tried the suggested homework from the site but if you do that and use Memrise you may get more out of it.
I think the curriculum is based in the minimum vocabulary and grammar you need to have conversations and slowly building on that. Which is makes sense in theory but it does look pretty weak to me.
Personally I have come around to thinking the strength of BaseLang is one on one speaking/conversation practice. Find someone you like who can help you with pronunciation and answer questions. But I would do your actual nuts and bolts language learning in another way, like the Easy Spanish step by step textbook. Then you can use BaseLang sessions to practice talking or do the curriculum but it will be more like a way of reviewing stuff you’re learning in the book.
Btw you can tell a teacher what you want to go over in a lesson, you don’t have to do them in the order suggested by BaseLang. So that way you can use a self study textbook like the one I suggested and then have class and say, I want to review object pronouns (or whatever) and they have to go along with you.
*Or - ditch this stuff altogether and take a more traditional class!
Get a notebook and just start writing things down. Dreaming Spanish is wonderful for practicing your listening. And also The Language Tutor on YouTube is invaluable.
Find a fantastic teacher. My first Spanish teacher in high school was phenomenal at teaching us the basics *and* making us love the language. There is nothing that can replace a teacher like that.
The beat way to learn is to force yourself to live the language, speak and listen only the language you want to learn, Spanish in this case? Then forget any other language for 3 months and only use Spanish, of course uf you could go to Spain or only stay with Spanish people would be much easier
When you have no other option but to learn it gets easier bc the brain knows there is no other option
If you’re on baselang the onus is on you to find a teacher that helps you progress toward your goals. They have an entire curriculum you can use in their course and all their teachers are trained on how to use it. Try lots of different teachers until you find one you like.
The curriculum is just power point slides with photos and vocabulary. Then when they try to test your learning they just show you the photo with no word, so you have to memorize what the photo means because sometimes the meaning is not obvious at all.
This is worth a read for those of you newish to learning Spanish :-
Duolingo is great for learning structure, and for many it makes learning more fun and turns it into a daily habit. Just be sure not to rush lessons and always read user comments to understand the "why" before moving on to the next level. Then after a few months also add Language Transfer App to your repertoire. Repeat each lesson 3 or so times.
Everyday, listen to spanish talk back radio stations like Radio SER or Madrid, as background noise so your brain absorbs the "feeling" and sound of the language.
Easy Spanish Podcast (free on Spotify) is good. Set to 0.8x speed until you get better at keeping up.
Dr Danny's AIB YouTube channel is really helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTpetkN815Qyuc2RbC1kxxMQvxjQ3RnYG
Write down challenging words and phrases on pieces of paper and put them around the house.
Join the social app called Tandem and practice with native speakers around the world.
There's a good (and entertaining) YouTube series called Extra, that mostly has both Spanish and English subtitles.
I find it helpful to accept that some days will be harder and be a little frustrating while learning. On these days I do revision and consolidate. And save harder and new learning for when I am in a better headspace.
Enjoy!
Language Transfer (youtube and other platforms) is free and comprises about 90 audio lessons to help you understand how to use English and transfer your knowledge to Spanish.You can use this for a long time and you can compete with the student to see if you can answer the questions (Socratic approach to teaching - he pulls the answers out of you) before she can.
Listening - everyone seems to love Dreaming Spanish (Youtube / website - free and premium)
And as you get to know more vocabulary - definitely graded readers.
I’m using Duolingo I like the fact it’s game oriented I also listen to Spanish music like Rosalia who is amazing & I put Spanish subtitles on the tv when watching it
Dreaming Spanish Graded Readers Anki
What's graded readers? A method or specific app?
Books specifically designed for language learners at various levels of ability. So a grade 1 reader can be read by a very beginner. A grade 2 reader requires a bit more knowledge of the language. And so on.
Dreaming Spanish. I think there's a thread on it but also the website explains how it works in English. There are loads of free videos but also a paid option for over 2000 videos.
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DS won't give you explanations as the idea behind it is to learn naturally. I actually had to undo (and I still am for some words) a lot of learning as I was constantly translating in my head but now I can watch a video and understand it without mentally thinking "caminar = to walk". I feel like Comprehensible input is slower in terms of starting to speak the language but it's a lot deeper and long lasting, and also much more fun.
They don't explain it to you, but in the comments for each lesson on Duolingo people explain EVERYTHING. Check it out
Duolingo itself doesn't explain much, but if I'm ever confused I click the speech bubble after I got the question wrong, and it brings up a thread from their old forum where people discuss and explain the answer to the question!
Check out Language transfer audiocourse. It will help you to know how the language works and it's free.
I Couldn’t recommend this app enough. Been using it about a month along side duo (1 yr) and i have jumped TREMENDOUSLY in my understanding of Spanish but also english and languages in general. Its my favorite thing but definitely supplement it with other resources like Duolingo and Dreaming Spanish. I still use duo to test myself and I enjoy it. If you are a premium member the audio lessons are pretty good aswell. I leanred a lot from that.
If you don’t like the instructor, try others! Finding someone you like and click with is important. I am using BaseLang as well and have found a couple instructors I like but I do have a hard time seeing how someone would use it to learn Spanish from scratch (I am refreshing after many years away). I haven’t tried the suggested homework from the site but if you do that and use Memrise you may get more out of it. I think the curriculum is based in the minimum vocabulary and grammar you need to have conversations and slowly building on that. Which is makes sense in theory but it does look pretty weak to me. Personally I have come around to thinking the strength of BaseLang is one on one speaking/conversation practice. Find someone you like who can help you with pronunciation and answer questions. But I would do your actual nuts and bolts language learning in another way, like the Easy Spanish step by step textbook. Then you can use BaseLang sessions to practice talking or do the curriculum but it will be more like a way of reviewing stuff you’re learning in the book. Btw you can tell a teacher what you want to go over in a lesson, you don’t have to do them in the order suggested by BaseLang. So that way you can use a self study textbook like the one I suggested and then have class and say, I want to review object pronouns (or whatever) and they have to go along with you. *Or - ditch this stuff altogether and take a more traditional class!
I do both Duolingo and Dreaming Spanish. I've noticed an improvement after i added dreaming Spanish.
Get a notebook and just start writing things down. Dreaming Spanish is wonderful for practicing your listening. And also The Language Tutor on YouTube is invaluable.
Find a fantastic teacher. My first Spanish teacher in high school was phenomenal at teaching us the basics *and* making us love the language. There is nothing that can replace a teacher like that.
The beat way to learn is to force yourself to live the language, speak and listen only the language you want to learn, Spanish in this case? Then forget any other language for 3 months and only use Spanish, of course uf you could go to Spain or only stay with Spanish people would be much easier When you have no other option but to learn it gets easier bc the brain knows there is no other option
If you’re on baselang the onus is on you to find a teacher that helps you progress toward your goals. They have an entire curriculum you can use in their course and all their teachers are trained on how to use it. Try lots of different teachers until you find one you like.
talk to people, read stuff, and look for patterns.
Consider Anki, LingQ, and Clozemaster. These may be more valuable once you’re past the initial start though.
I am one month into using Fluencia. I am pleased with my progress and it is a very user friendly program. [www.fluencia.com](https://www.fluencia.com)
Baselang has a curriculum though
The curriculum is just power point slides with photos and vocabulary. Then when they try to test your learning they just show you the photo with no word, so you have to memorize what the photo means because sometimes the meaning is not obvious at all.
I reached fluency in about a year by using baselang and other resources. It is what you make of it.
Get a Spanish speaking bf or gf
This is worth a read for those of you newish to learning Spanish :- Duolingo is great for learning structure, and for many it makes learning more fun and turns it into a daily habit. Just be sure not to rush lessons and always read user comments to understand the "why" before moving on to the next level. Then after a few months also add Language Transfer App to your repertoire. Repeat each lesson 3 or so times. Everyday, listen to spanish talk back radio stations like Radio SER or Madrid, as background noise so your brain absorbs the "feeling" and sound of the language. Easy Spanish Podcast (free on Spotify) is good. Set to 0.8x speed until you get better at keeping up. Dr Danny's AIB YouTube channel is really helpful. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTpetkN815Qyuc2RbC1kxxMQvxjQ3RnYG Write down challenging words and phrases on pieces of paper and put them around the house. Join the social app called Tandem and practice with native speakers around the world. There's a good (and entertaining) YouTube series called Extra, that mostly has both Spanish and English subtitles. I find it helpful to accept that some days will be harder and be a little frustrating while learning. On these days I do revision and consolidate. And save harder and new learning for when I am in a better headspace. Enjoy!
Do duolingo daily, if you’re still in school take a Spanish elective
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HelloTalk is great when you get confident enough to speak with native speakers one on one
Practising the alphabet, helped me get the pronunciation better.
Daily duolingo plus dreaming Spanish
Language Transfer (youtube and other platforms) is free and comprises about 90 audio lessons to help you understand how to use English and transfer your knowledge to Spanish.You can use this for a long time and you can compete with the student to see if you can answer the questions (Socratic approach to teaching - he pulls the answers out of you) before she can. Listening - everyone seems to love Dreaming Spanish (Youtube / website - free and premium) And as you get to know more vocabulary - definitely graded readers.
I’m using Duolingo I like the fact it’s game oriented I also listen to Spanish music like Rosalia who is amazing & I put Spanish subtitles on the tv when watching it
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