Hello! I'm interested in learning Spanish during my gap year and I was wondering if anyone had ideas for cheap/free resources that I could use. Just some background, I know VERY little Spanish and would be starting as a beginner.
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My parents dropped me off in Mexico during my childhood summers. It was pretty cheap...
But I do like using Duolingo to learn some phrases in other languages. Try to learn some and then find people to practice with. That’s pretty cheap!
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I used The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice when I was living abroad. It was pretty good but nothing replaces actually having conversations with Spanish speakers! I recommend looking for a non profit that works with Spanish speakers and see if there are any volunteer opportunities.
Duolingo
I do 5-10 minutes of Duolingo every morning after waking up. It’s been pretty helpful.
I always find it hard to get the motivation
In many cities, you can find conversational language meetups. There also might be free/very cheap extension (non-credit, not graded) classes at a local community college or community center.
When I do DuoLingo, I'm all about beating my level or moving up, so it's like a game.
Wordreference.com is my favorite dictionary. Using the forums there, you can ask questions and practice writing at the same time.
There used to be an about.com page for spanish grammar that I learned from initially. Not sure if it still exists, but I found it clear, to the point, and pretty close to comprehensive.
Volunteering with a Spanish speaking population helped me too.
Watching movies in Spanish with the Spanish subtitles on is also helpful for practice. Listening to songs you like in Spanish and reading the lyrics is also good.
There used to be an about.com page for spanish grammar that I learned from initially. Not sure if it still exists, but I found it clear, to the point, and pretty close to comprehensive.
Volunteering with a Spanish speaking population helped me too.
Watching movies in Spanish with the Spanish subtitles on is also helpful for practice. Listening to songs you like in Spanish and reading the lyrics is also good.
Might sound dumb... but it’s the first thing I do everyday. My alarm goes off... I roll over... complete 5 min of duolingo... and get out of bed. Makes me feel like I accomplished something without even moving lol
Can you find a way to practice with people who are fluent Spanish speakers? For example, I am a scribe for a bilingual practice. I have to translate what the patient is saying.. though I will say that I know enough Spanish to write an effective HPI and Assessment. I took 6 years of Spanish with high school and college, but unfortunately never practiced and lost a lot of it. Taking a position in which I am now required to understand Spanish to a certain degree has really helped bring it back. I've learned A LOT. Also, I try and talk with my coworkers in Spanish as well. My biggest issue is being confident with conversation. If you can get a general base knowledge for Spanish and then practice with fluent speakers, it will be a lot easier. I don't think that learning Spanish is as easy as duolingo though. There are A LOT of rules and exceptions when it comes to a language, and you really need to practice with others.
