Hey guys! This is going to be part 1 of my How Should I Study for IB? Summer edition! The whole idea of this is to give you ideas of how to keep working through summer whilst still enjoying your summer.
Honestly summer is crucial, but it’s also not healthy to go full speed and not take a break during this time. So here it is, my advice for language B, which for me was Spanish so I may give some suggestions specific to that.
So here it is, my fun tips for learning a language for IB!
Watch a tv show in the language, kids ones might be a bit easier (holler at Soy Luna who saved my IB grade)
If listening is too hard, watch a tv show in another language than you own and subtitled into your IB language B. I did this with Skam. It’s in Norwegian but I had Spanish subs and I LOVED IT. It’s translated into a bunch of languages so I 100% suggest it.
Brush up on your grammar! Do a couple grammar exercises
Read trashy celebrity gossip /magazines in the language (Hola! was 100% my fav)
Start journalling, in a language you’re learning! If you don’t know a word / conjugation, just look it up and you’ll slowly learn
Have a weekly coffee meet up with other classmates where you talk in the language for 30min
duolingo! Or memrise! Learning words is fun!
Go over your necessary units for Spanish and research articles about those (kills 2 birds with one stone)
Podcasts for learners!
Find a pendpal or someone to talk to in real life or in tumblr. If that’s hard, Hello Talk was really useful for me. It’s an app where you talk to people and they learn english or you learn their language.
Fun Tips for Intermediate Spanish (and other language) Learners
I’m not an expert on languages, and I’m not a teacher, but I am a student of Spanish and I’ve realised some things that help me learn. These may or may not work for you, but feel free to try them out.
I’m a student of Spanish and I’m generally going to suggest free resources that would support language learning in a classroom, but I’m sure quite of few of them can be used regardless of how you’re learning the language.
Hope you enjoy!
Vocabulary:
Duolingo: I know its usually used as a starting tool for people wanting to learn a new language, but I’ve found it to be one of the most useful things when I can already speak Spanish to an extent. Because of how I’m taught, we usually only graze the surface of vocabulary units such as animals or food. It helps me to not only relearn those after years of not using them often but also building a vocabulary on a subject I know really well.
Quizlet: Because I love the extra learning games this has. Honestly, I can never learn vocabulary just looking at flashcards, so I always start with the games. To not be overwhelmed with new words I suggest not making sets over like 70 words (because you want to finish a game in 1 go) and starting with the flashcards, then the scatter game, then the spanish>engish “learn”, to the english>spanish “learn” and then the “speller” in any order you like.
You can look up anything on Quizlet,(so if you’re study for a certain unit for school, it really helps) but some of my favourites are:
Some simple demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
Work related words
Film / Movie related words (because who doesn’t want to be able to talk about the latest it movie?)
Some grammar and transition words
Adjectives and verbs
And a long list of ready made intermediate study sets
Memrise: Almost the same idea as quizlet, but just a little different style to how it teaches the words. You might like this or quizlet better, or you might be like me and switch up from the two to make sure you don’t get bored. Also, these have ready made courses so you won’t have to bother with finding sets to learn as often.
Introductory Spanish (for those like me that like to feel good about their spanish skills once in a while and just relearn old words)
Conjugation
Most Frequently used words
100 most popular verbs
Reading:
It’s important to read a variety of things in the language that you’re learning. I take Spanish B in the IB, so a lot of my texts have been news articles. But, it’s also nice to have a wide variety of vocabulary, so translated YA books into Spanish and buzzfeed in Spanish.
News site
More news
Buzzfeed (in Spanish!)
A great site for books and here’s some English books translated into spanish (so read your favourites so you don’t get confused if you lack a bit of the vocabulary) I love this site because it delivers almost anywhere and it has free shipping! Seriously, I’m not getting paid to say this. The site is just that great
If you don’t want to spend money on Spanish books. Try a local library. You’d be surprised with what they have.
Hola.com (because gossip magazines can stop being a guilty pleasure and become educational if they’re in english)
Spoken language:
For me, this is the hardest part of Spanish. I can read and understand words well, but the second someone says them I feel the exact same as when I started to learn the language. There’s something about the speed of the spoken word and accents that just make it really difficult to understand for me.
But, practice does make perfect. So here’s a couple TV shows, podcasts, and you tubers to help you.
The best way to learn is to turn on a short clip. Listen to it. And then write down word for word what you’re hearing. After a while, it gets easier to process what’s going on. But if you don’t have time for this tedious process, just watching the show can help, but it might take longer.
El ministerio del tiempo (really cool scripted TV show that I’m utterly obsessed with)
Masterchef Junior
An amazing comedy channel on YouTube in spanish
more YouTube gold
Spanish music on Spotify
podcasts
Conversation
Oh this is the trickiest part to do alone. I’m in a class, so I’ll often just start speaking Spanish to my friends (especially if it’s before an exam) Honestly, just take every chance you get. If someone else is learning Spanish too, start texting them in Spanish, or have a dinner where you can only communicate in Spanish. It’s great practice and actually very fun.
If you don’t know anyone who you can do that with, I think there’s a few Tumblr langblr communities that do regular skype sessions in languages? Also, HelloTalk is amazing. It’s an app where people just talk as they try to learn a language. It’s a great place to meet people, and if you ever get bored of just speaking Spanish, help out someone who’s trying to learn english by starting up a conversation!
Finally, this is a weird trick that I use. Before I go to bed, I try and only think in Spanish. I go over all of those night-time thoughts, but in Spanish. It calms to down to help me sleep, and helps me out with Spanish. Try it!
All in all, I hope this helps. Please feel free to add your own tips or resources after this. I’d love to hear some of your opinions on the best way to learn a language!
