Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. Does anyone with experience have a recommendation for the best tools to learn Spanish? This is for someone is who not gifted at learning new languages.

There is no substitute for human interaction. Audit a class at a community college (some have programs for adult learners that are not for credit), join a conversation group, hire a private tutor (can find some who work abroad and charge less for virtual sessions). Some churches and non-profits will offer conversations classes for free. You can use Duolingo to help reinforce and practice in your spare time, but honestly you need to use the language in a meaningful way with live humans.

Anonymous wrote:Duolingo did not work for me but some people love it.

I used a mix of materials and made sure I developed reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. I started with the pimsleur audio series along with the practice makes perfect workbooks. I emphasized comprehensible input and listened to the dreaming spanish videos on Youtube and added vocabulary on an Anki deck.

About 4 or 5 months in, I added leveled readers and soon after was able to start reading YA novels. Also, started working with an online tutor on the platform Italki which was invaluable for my speaking skills. I also really think every person learns differently so there is some trial and error in the beginning to determine what resources would best serve you.

Yeah, as I got more skilled, I started listening to the Duolingo podcast, which is fantastic, genuinely good listening regardless of the language (I got hooked on the episode where the Duo CEO told his story of leaving Guatemala and coming to the US) and confidence building... I also started reading leveled readers and there have been some good full-spanish podcasts where they don't speak insanely fast. I watch soccer games in spanish, because there's a lot to choose from. I'm not terribly worried about the speaking part, because there arent' a ton of reasons for me to have extended conversations in spanish, but if I reach a point at my life in which there would be, for example, living abroad or working with a full-time Spanish speaker, I can definitely understand and get through enough that it would be its own practice.

Anonymous wrote:I like Duolingo but they changed it and now it seems like the learning goes much slower. I guess that's to make you upgrade to SuperDuolingo?

Well, I got it because I wanted to use it more often than the free really uses, my son wanted to use it as well, so it made sense. Of all my subscriptions, it's one of the least expensive and one of the ones that actually doesnt' ruin my brain.

DS uses it everyday to practice and essentially complement his learning, and to keep fresh over the summer (he is taking college level language courses). We have the paid version.

Thanks for the responses. Does anyone with experience have a recommendation for the best tools to learn Spanish? This is for someone is who not gifted at learning new languages.

Duolingo did not work for me but some people love it.

I used a mix of materials and made sure I developed reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. I started with the pimsleur audio series along with the practice makes perfect workbooks. I emphasized comprehensible input and listened to the dreaming spanish videos on Youtube and added vocabulary on an Anki deck.

About 4 or 5 months in, I added leveled readers and soon after was able to start reading YA novels. Also, started working with an online tutor on the platform Italki which was invaluable for my speaking skills. I also really think every person learns differently so there is some trial and error in the beginning to determine what resources would best serve you.

Anonymous wrote:What languages does Duolingo support best?

French is good. Kids have been using it for 4 years now.

What languages does Duolingo support best?

Anonymous wrote:Does it have English?

Yes.

I like Duolingo but they changed it and now it seems like the learning goes much slower. I guess that's to make you upgrade to SuperDuolingo?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, DD has been trying to learn Russian on Duolingo and it’s pretty cr@ppy (I’m a native speaker). She’s very good with languages in general so I think it’s the app.

I took about 8 years of Russian in HS and college and have used the duolingo app as a refresher. It’s not great for complicated grammar, and that’s definitely true of Russian. It’s pretty good for vocab development. I’ve also used it for Spanish and Italian where it is better because the grammar is so much simpler.

I think it’s best with grammar that’s similar to English. I’m the PP who uses it to improve my Japanese vocab/reading skills and I would never advocate for anyone using Duo to actually learn Japanese but I think it’s helpful for drilling as a supplement to real classes.

That's probably because you are an Indo-European speaker. Japanese is a completely different language.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, DD has been trying to learn Russian on Duolingo and it’s pretty cr@ppy (I’m a native speaker). She’s very good with languages in general so I think it’s the app.

I took about 8 years of Russian in HS and college and have used the duolingo app as a refresher. It’s not great for complicated grammar, and that’s definitely true of Russian. It’s pretty good for vocab development. I’ve also used it for Spanish and Italian where it is better because the grammar is so much simpler.

I think it’s best with grammar that’s similar to English. I’m the PP who uses it to improve my Japanese vocab/reading skills and I would never advocate for anyone using Duo to actually learn Japanese but I think it’s helpful for drilling as a supplement to real classes.

I think it has more to do with what was discussed before which is that not all languages on Duo are created equal. A lot are created for a client, and the level of sophistication varies based on user numbers. If the Japanese usership started surging, it would probably lead to a more advanced developed course. Case in point, the Spanish and French courses have associated podcasts.

They do explain the level of proficiency they are aiming for with each course level. Spanish and French are CEFR B2... Japanese is only A1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, DD has been trying to learn Russian on Duolingo and it’s pretty cr@ppy (I’m a native speaker). She’s very good with languages in general so I think it’s the app.

I took about 8 years of Russian in HS and college and have used the duolingo app as a refresher. It’s not great for complicated grammar, and that’s definitely true of Russian. It’s pretty good for vocab development. I’ve also used it for Spanish and Italian where it is better because the grammar is so much simpler.

I think it’s best with grammar that’s similar to English. I’m the PP who uses it to improve my Japanese vocab/reading skills and I would never advocate for anyone using Duo to actually learn Japanese but I think it’s helpful for drilling as a supplement to real classes.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know, DD has been trying to learn Russian on Duolingo and it’s pretty cr@ppy (I’m a native speaker). She’s very good with languages in general so I think it’s the app.

I took about 8 years of Russian in HS and college and have used the duolingo app as a refresher. It’s not great for complicated grammar, and that’s definitely true of Russian. It’s pretty good for vocab development. I’ve also used it for Spanish and Italian where it is better because the grammar is so much simpler.

Anonymous wrote:Duolingo is fine. It make me feel like I was doing well as it repeats the same thing over and over again with few changes.
I speak better than I read and understand which is unusual. This is the reason I liked Duolingo, but got bored at the end.

I got a little bored, but you hit a certain point and it starts ramping up pretty quickly. They also now have the music which is a fun break. I also augmented with the Duolingo podcast, and now I just listen to podcasts in Spanish.