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Effective Language Learning Strategies: From Classrooms to Immersion

Effective Language Learning Strategies: From Classrooms to Immersion So there are definitely pros and cons to a bunch of different methods. I have done every type of learning a second language that there is to offer. I have sat through classes, I have been tutored, I have done Rosetta Stone, I have done the audiobooks and podcasts, I have clearly lived in a different country. There are pros and cons to each and every one of those methods and some are just flat out terrible. Here are some of the ways to learn Spanish: Classes I started with classes when I was in the third grade. I'm not gonna spell out the pro and cons of this time period because it wasn't very intense, but it is the basis for why I chose to study Spanish in high school. I already had that base from earlier.  In high school, I was in a classroom setting for Spanish. Most of us know how that turned out....none of us were fluent. But why? The thing is a classroom setting, especially a large classroom...
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Best Spanish Grammar Book

Best Spanish Grammar Book!  Starting out in Colombia, I remember being pretty frustrated with trying to understand the Spanish Grammar. There is just something about learning a new language that makes you think that EVERYTHING about the language is different than your own when in actuality, a lot of languages share the same patterns.  While I was over there, frustrated, I figured I needed a grammar book to help me study. so I bought: Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Spanish Grammar This book was amazing in helping me understand the grammatical structure of Spanish, but also helping me understand the different tenses. I will admit I skipped a lot of parts that I already knew like "the present tense" but even going back and reading it after I was still able to learn a thing or two about the grammar, not just how to use it.  I fully recommend this book to anyone trying to get a grasp on Spanish Grammar. I also remind you that buying this book is not going...
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Top Free Online Resources for Language Learning

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Top Free Online Resources! So we're going to go through what I think are the top applications/websites that will help you with your language learning. All of these websites/apps I have either used or am currently using. A lot of people think you have to buy a 200 dollar program to learn a language. You can get A LOT of education purely through free programs! Note: I have linked where you can find the resources so that you can try them out for yourself! Doulingo -  Duolingo So let's start with Duolingo, this program is AMAZING for the basics. A lot of people want to learn a language but simply do not know where to start. If you are looking for a starting point this is my recommendation. The good thing about Duolingo is that it progresses well, gives you a good starting point, and it's a very easy application to use. It has multiple languages as well. The bad thing about Duolingo is that people think that using Duolingo will get you to an intermediate/adva...
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Study Spanish: Best TV Shows To Learn Spanish

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These are my favorite telenovelas that will improve your Spanish. La Esclava Blanca This novela is probably my favorite one of the 4 telenovelas that will improve your Spanish. It's about a girl who grows up as a "slave" in Colombia. Better said, she grow up with a bunch of slaves that have escaped and then are recaptured. This is probably my favorite novela of all time because the drama takes you all the way to Spain and back to Colombia. It will have you on the edge of your seat screaming, "NO DON'T DO THAT" and will also have you crying over the love between Miguel and Victoria. I would watch this telenovela with the Spanish Subtitles on because the way the black people talk at first is a little weird. They always drop the "S" on their words so "como estas" becomes "como esta". It takes a little bit of time to get used to but after that you will get sucked into the story line and you'll binge watch like you've neve...
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Speak Conversational Spanish: Losing Hope

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This experience that I'm going to talk about is not something that I have a name for, to be honest, it's just a little thing that I noticed happens. What I'm going to talk about is losing your morale while practicing having conversations. In this post, I'm going to talk about when you'll feel this, how you will probably feel (at least how I felt), and what you can do to get over it.  What You'll Feel I have mentioned in previous posts that you need to learn the basics ( here ) then after you learn the basics you need to start moving on to listening practice, speaking practice, and overall conversation practice. Once you start feeling more it will be even more of a head pain. When I was just getting into the "correct me" phase, my girlfriend and her family really took into that. They would correct me for every little mistake that I made. Even though I wanted this I could feel the fatigue of constantly getting something wrong and thinking through what ...
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