Help Your Experience Learning Spanish

[dying_kwik2000]

What helped you learn Spanish quickly? If you are at B1/B2, how did you get there? What is your experience with Duolingo?

Personally, I find ChatGPT to be very helpful. If you have an AI apps to help learn Spanish, please recommend.

 

[martyrdom]

I'm not learning Spanish, but I've become fluent in a number of other languages. I'd avoid ChatGPT because it often makes mistakes and doesn't speak naturally. Duolingo is not very good for a number of reasons, but it can get you to the basics. The best possible method for learning any language is immersion - so consume a lot of content in your target language. Anki (a flashcard spaced repetition program) is also extremely helpful for vocabulary. The human brain is hard wired to pick up languages easily so basically using it a lot will get you there. Another piece of advice that's a little unorthodox, focus on vocabulary the most, not grammar. Most people will understand you. Grammar will become intuitive as you speak, write and consume more content.

 

[Forveleth]

Watch YouTube videos in Spanish. You might not understand everything but hearing native speakers is the fastest way to pick up a language.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

Mine principally involved being drunk in Spain itself, and then asking bewildered waiters things like "Dónde está el baño?" I think I've a ways to go before I hit B1. Just a gut feeling.

 

[meiherasayuri]

As a native Spanish speaker, I would recommend that you know the meaning of words, since a word can have one meaning in one country and something different in another. This is to avoid misunderstandings

 

[capitaldrunk]

I haven't committed to learning Spanish yet, but I love hearing and attempting it. I love repeating phrases while watching Narcos, or singing along to songs. Learning the grammar is the main thing that holds me back

 

[ConfusedClouds]

+1 for just getting out there and learning by travelling. I spent 3 months in south america having never spoken a word of spanish before and it became so much better than the 5+ years I had of learning french in school. Communicating with others in person allows you to fumble/stumble and learn on the go using things like expressions and hand gestures to help. How many times in English (or your native language) do people put words in the 'wrong' order or use the 'wrong' tense/ending, but you still get exactly what they're trying to say. Mission accomplished. School mark your entire essay wrong for putting a tiny accent in the wrong place. Its irrelevant! Over time once you build basic vocab and communication, grammar starts then becoming actually interesting to learn more.

 

[kouna]

I speak 5 foreign languages, Spanish being one of them. What I did (other that studying with a professor):

-Switch my windows and phone to spanish
-Switched social media to Spanish
-Followed the news in Spanish, CNN.mx, BBC.com/mundo and followed Spanish content on social media
-watched English films with Spanish subs, later Spanish films with Spanish subs and eventually Spanish films without subs.

While learning Portuguese and French, for every class I wrote an essay as Extra homework, even from the first day. So it started with just 2 lines introducing myself and progressively it got harder, usually with the subject of the weekly book chapter.