I've always loved the idea of learning a language and I've always been pretty quick at learning the basics of languages (which has helped me in the IT field as well, in picking up basic programming syntax), but I was never able to become fluent in High School, where I took 3 years of Spanish (year 2 and 3 were AP, but I got bored with the way it was structured - it has always been that way for me in school), then stopped. I'm now 27 and hadn't touched Spanish since High School until January 2017 (earlier this year). I stumbled upon 'Duolingo' while searching 'learn spanish free' on the Google Play Store.
6 months later and I'm improving by leaps and bounds!!! Feel free to check out some of my articles for proof, but I am very proud of the progress that I've made in this short amount of time. The fact of the matter is that DuoLingo ROCKS!! They make it a game, they make it a contest, and they make it manageable to keep going. My favorite part about it is the 'streaks'!!
I grew up playing video games and one of the things I ALWAYS loved to do was 'perfect a game', meaning I'd find all the hidden items, get all the power ups, etc. (my favorite 'perfects' were Zelda: OOT and Zelda: Minish Cap), so the idea of a streak was something that drew me in. In order to start a streak, you have to complete anywhere between 3 and 5 levels (depending on the levels)/lessons (I like thinking of them as levels to make it more fun!).
If you are diligent in doing your levels all in a row, you can complete your daily practice in about 10-15 minutes. You maintain your streak by doing your lessons each day!! My maximum streak was about 130 (then I finished all the lessons and was ready for books and TV as a practice), but there are people with over 1000!!! I'm really thankful for this app because it has really helped me start to enjoy the learning process with Spanish and has improved me as a person for sure!
They have all kinds of languages, from Spanish to Celtic! They even now have Klingon! haha
The app will teach you the basics of structure, vocabulary, and tense and it does it in a way that will really work for you if you are the type who learns by example and by doing! Having finished the Spanish course there, I started reading Escalofrios (Goosebumps) in Spanish and have been watching some kids shows (Octonauts if you're familiar) and some other stuff such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Castlevania, Yugioh, and others! This is also a way for me to have fun while I learn.
FYI, I'm also discovering that there is a great Spanish community on Steemit already, something to consider if you are also a Spanish student!! I know that I've been practicing on some Steemit content written in Spanish.
Thanks for reading and I hope that you can one day find the joy in learning a language that I have! :)
Yes I am using duolingo for my spanish courses and i can tell you that I have never made such kind of progress by the past. what is very important is that you just play a little bit every and you can learn barely 10 times faster.
That's so awesome! I had the same spectacular results; it's amazing what it can do! :)
Now I am listening to childish stories in spanish on youtube. It is easier to understand because I am using Duolingo
Nice, I love watching stuff that I watched when I was a kid in Spanish. I get practice and a healthy dose of nostalgia!
I've learned more about languages on duolingo than 9 years of canadian french classes
YES! It seriously works 10000x better for me than school (school sucked haha so boring elementary through college).
You are totally right. Duolingo is a fun and useful app. I used it for French for some time, and it definitely helped. The hard part is being consistent, or at least for me. Keep it up. Te deseo mucha suerte.
Gracias amigo! You too! :)