My Spanish Resources (1YearOfLangs Day 9)
As well as language-learning resources I’ve used in general for other languages. I might update this post later, or maybe not, but for now these are the top tools I have at my fingertips. :) Oh, and my boyfriend who’s fluent.
Duolingo, obviously -- Duolingo is great because it gets you to interact with the language every day in order to keep your streak. Even if you only do a lesson or two a day, every piece of input helps! I need not explain more because I think everyone uses Duolingo at this point lol. I used Duolingo as my primary way of studying Czech over the summer (Ahoj!) and it was a lot of fun. I especially like the new leaderboards, as it got me to practice more in order to move up in rank.
Mango Languages -- I get this program for free through my local library and although I haven’t been using it for long, it’s already become probably my favorite tool. There’s something about the way it presents content that has really helped me understand it, and what’s awesome about it is that it helps develop your listening/comprehension as well as your speaking. I haven’t gotten far enough to see if it provides opportunities for production as well, but even without that it’s still incredibly useful for beginners. Oh, and it has cultural notes tied in as well.
Anki -- I think most of y’all either already use Anki or know about it, but with my German class last semester it was invaluable in helping me do well on vocabulary quizzes. The science that goes into it Actually Works, and there’s a decent forum community dedicated to getting the most out of the software. Physical flash cards get bulky and time-consuming fast, and Anki has worked just as well if not better for me, because I can’t lose my cards!
Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner -- This is the holy grail of language-learning books. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read; it’s always on top of my stack of language books. He has a website too (https://fluent-forever.com/), and a new app which I am going to start using this week!
Dicho y Hecho -- This is my Spanish textbook for the upcoming two semesters. I haven’t interacted with it much yet, but no doubt we’ll become very familiar over the coming months.
Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs, 7th Edition -- This is like, the Bible of verbs. I think it’ll come in most handy with composition exercises.
Living Language Spanish Learner’s Dictionary -- Alright, hear me out. As a complete beginner, a full-on Spanish-English dictionary isn’t going to help me out much. It’s too big and confusing, but this one is more targeted and useful for a newbie like me.
McGraw Hill Easy Spanish Step-by-Step -- A grammar workbook! Soon I’ll be portioning out what lessons to do each week, probably whatever matches up with my college course’s lessons.
McGraw Hill Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Vocabulary, 2nd Edition -- Not the most recent edition (I think they’re on the 3rd), but helpful and relevant nonetheless. This is a huge workbook, and again I’ll be portioning it out to more or less line up with my actual course.
I have some other books too, but these are the main ones I’ll be using outside of children’s books, etc.
I have auditory processing disorder, and podcasts are difficult for me to get anything out of. Regardless, I have a list of podcasts I want to at least TRY, especially during my 30 minute commute to work.
Notes In Spanish Inspired Beginners podcast
Unlimited Spanish podcast (I can already understand some of the episode titles!)
Learn In Your Car Spanish podcast (on YouTube)
