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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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5 Tips for Improving Your Spanish Through Conversation Practice

There is no secret or hack to becoming fluent in a language. It's about putting in the time and effort to learn the language. For different languages, the number of hours needed to become fluent varies. For example, it may be relatively easier for an English speaker to learn Spanish compared to Mandarin, and a Mandarin speaker may find it easier to learn Korean than Spanish. If I had to suggest a hack or secret to language learning, it would be to focus on conversation, conversation, conversation. It can be extremely awkward to not know what to say to someone because you don't know how to express yourself in their language. I guarantee that having just one conversation with a fluent speaker every day will do more for your language learning than any amount of self-study. Even if you hire a tutor, try to have a conversation about a specific topic. The corrections and feedback from the tutor, as well as the use of a dictionary and translation tools, will be more helpful than any c...
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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
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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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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
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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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Conversational Spanish vs. Mature Spanish: Tips for Improving Advanced Vocabulary

Conversational Spanish vs. Mature Spanish My girlfriend and I were discussing our language abilities and we stumbled upon something interesting. Here's the context: my girlfriend can speak Spanish fluently and English fluently, while I can speak Spanish fluently and English fluently. However, her English is fluent, but not mature, and my Spanish is fluent, but not mature. By "mature," we mean advanced active vocabulary. She understands that her English advanced vocabulary is not as deep as her Spanish advanced vocabulary. We both understand that our second language levels are not up to par with our native language levels, which is normal. This is something that we often hear people discussing - how to make the "next jump" from upper intermediate to advanced. If you dropped me in the middle of Bogota, Colombia, and told me to get back home, I would have no problem communicating my way back. However, if you asked me to give a presentation using slick language and ...
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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
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How to use "Ya"

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One of the more difficult concepts to understand is the many ways to use "ya". It has some pretty common uses but it also has about a dozen other uses which make it super versatile as a word but also super confusing to understand and for Spanish Langauge Learners to understand as well. Common Uses "Now" and "Already" The most common use of "ya" is "now". Be careful of how you use this. Depending on your tone it could imply a bit of rudeness. Some examples of how to use "ya" as "now": Quiero un dulce ya.  Nos podemos ir ya? Vamos ya! As you can see in this context of the sentences they are kind of rude, but they have their place in language. The other common use of "ya" is "already".  Ya he lo pagado  Ya me lo ha dado Ya compre los tiquetes  There is a pattern here, though. If you are talking in the past tense it's safe to assume that you are going to use the...
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Which Spanish Should I Learn?

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What Type of Spanish Should I Learn? I see this question ALL the time, "What type of Spanish should I learn?" First off this question is a little weird because more or less the types of Spanish are pretty much the same. Honestly, most of the differences are just cultural slang. There are different words that each country uses so I can see why someone would ask this question. My novia is infatuated with Puerto Rican Spanish. It's mainly the accent and the slang. We also live with a lot of Mexicans so she'll find herself saying "oraleeeee!" in Walmart when she overhears people speaking Spanish. A little "bobita" but we'll allow it.  Really a lot of beginners just are trying to deal with conjugations, greetings, and how to tell the time, but the more advanced learners, they are trying to hone their language skills. The questions are more like "which accent should I focus on?", "Which country should I travel to?", "W...
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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 ...
Read more