Jan 4
There will always be a lot to solve, but don’t forget to enjoy and celebrate all that you have achieved. 💚
seen from Italy
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Australia
seen from Costa Rica
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from India
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
There will always be a lot to solve, but don’t forget to enjoy and celebrate all that you have achieved. 💚
Duolingo alternatives
Duolingo’s been in the news for going all AI. Of course, if AI is your bag, that’s cool. But if you’re interested in learning language from resources made by real native speakers and humans…
Here are some suggestions…
Speaking/Listening
-Innovative Language (known for JapanesePod101, koreanclass101, spanishpod101 and their collection of 30+ language programs - teaches languages through conversations (you listen to a convo between two native speakers and then get it explained). Lessons are about 5–10 min on average in audio/video format https://www.innovativelanguage.com/online-language-courses
Pimsleur - similar approach as above but lessons are longer - 30 min and audio only - https://www.pimsleur.com
Reading
LingQ - learn by reading native content and breaking down the words inside. https://www.lingq.com/en/
ReadLang - a browser based tool that translates articles and books you read. https://readlang.com
Satori Reader - (for Japanese) - read level appropriate stories (my fav for reading)
Vocabulary
Anki - not sure if this needs extra explanation - most language learners love Anki’s flash card approach https://apps.ankiweb.net
Clozemaster - learn words in sentence context (instead of just words alone) https://www.clozemaster.com
I haven’t been really active lately but I came across something I wanted to share.
It’s a free language learning app called Lingo Legend, and I’m honestly a bit surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.
It’s basically just a vocab game where you’re a farmhand. The game is split between working on your farm and going on adventures.
You can choose what theme of vocab — though it doesn’t seem to be possible to put in your own — and set the pace you wish to play. There’s a daily energy limit, which you can refill by watching ads but there are no ad interruptions.
Supported languages are:
French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.
Maybe I’m just late to the party and everyone already knows about it but I rarely see it talked about.
I reblogged a kickstarter for this game a while back, and it’s in early access on steam now!
✨A language learning adventure where you must learn and communicate in a second language to save the kingdom and befriend its people! 🎮
If you didn’t see the original post — it’s an immersion based language game good for beginners, the idea being you’re dropped on an island and have to figure out the language.
It has a surprising number of languages too.
Latin-American Spanish
Castilian Spanish
French
Italian
German
Brazilian Portuguese
Tagalog
Dutch
Turkish
I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll get back to you lot when I do. I’ll probably test the Spanish and then maybe try Dutch or Tagalog :-)
Let me know if you’ve tried it and what you think!
DtMF - Bad Bunny / Vocab list
This breakdown is not for beginners. I only made note of words or phrases that I don't know. I love this song and while I can sing along I wanted to fully understand the lyrics.
Vocab
disfrutar – to enjoy
extrañar – to miss
mirar – to look
contar – to tell
tirar – to take / throw (informal: to take a photo)
emborracharse – to get drunk
prender – to turn on / switch on
chequear – to check / look at (informal)
terminar – to finish / end
hablar mierda – talk crap / gossip
el beso – kiss
el abrazo – hug
el pecho – chest
la máquina – machine (music/party context)
el batá – batá drum (traditional instrument)
el dominó – dominoes
el perreo – reggaeton-style dance
el nude – nude photo (slang)
la estadía – stay / visit
pelado - bare / exposed
de todas esas cosas – all those things
los que se van – those who leave
esas que ya no se dan – those that no longer happen
a la última vez – to the last time
mi estadía cerquita de ti – my stay close to you
todavía se da caña – people still party / have fun
diablo – damn
vamos a disfrutar – let’s enjoy
nunca se sabe si nos queda poco – you never know if we have little time left
The fastest way to discover what you don't know in a language is to start writing in it.
📔🌬️
Idiomatic Expression - por si las moscas
This is an idiomatic expression in Spanish that is roughly "just in case"
The exact literal translation is "(for/in case of) if the flies", referring to the insects
But in general you use this as "just in case" in the sense of preparing for the worst, or anticipating something unpleasant or inconvenient
The origin (or if not the origin then just the general imagery to keep in mind) is that when you're eating outside or trying to preserve food in general, you're always trying to keep things covered when you're not eating so that bugs aren't getting into the food - the idea of doing something extra "in case of flies" is how you get into the idea of preparation
...You can apply this same logic to any picnic or eating outside experience; then also add to that an era before refrigeration and what people would have done "in case of pests" to keep food safe
...
And now now applies to any kind of preparation "just in case"; it isn't specifically insect related anymore, so any time you're making contingency plans you can say it's por si las moscas
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The default translation of "just in case" is por si acaso - this is probably what any dictionary will say
Literally acaso is "maybe" or "in the case of", and por si acaso is standard everywhere; so por si las moscas is just a different way to say it