Murphy101 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I’ve made it to level 3 on Duolingo Korean. I’m proud to note that I can now say and read “wow! Fox milk!” and sincerely hope I never have to actually say that. 😆 I do enjoy that my household can compete even though we are doing different languages. What language apps have you used and would recommend? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I’ve only used Duolingo. My son used a different app for trying to learn Croatian, I can’t remember the name but it has a 5 minute per day limit. Croatian is an extremely difficult language so he was going to need much more instruction to get proficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted October 7, 2022 Author Share Posted October 7, 2022 7 minutes ago, Rachel said: I’ve only used Duolingo. My son used a different app for trying to learn Croatian, I can’t remember the name but it has a 5 minute per day limit. Croatian is an extremely difficult language so he was going to need much more instruction to get proficient. Duo free doesn’t limit your time but if you can’t buy “hearts” then after 5 mistakes you have to wait several hours to earn a heart back and get to play again. I do wonder if I will continue putting in 20 minutes a day if I don’t pay for the unlimited version. Right now I have it unlimited for free for a limited time. My only complaint is that for Korean the symbols are very tiny compared to the English letter fonts. Which can make it super easy to miss the details of the symbol that change the sounds. And I’m playing on a rather large screen. There’s no way to enlarge the fonts either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I used Language Transfer. It teaches in a very different way but I find it a helpful addition to Duolingo. I also just search Spotify for podcasts. They have both an Android and Apple app https://www.languagetransfer.org/app 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 42 minutes ago, Murphy101 said: Duo free doesn’t limit your time but if you can’t buy “hearts” then after 5 mistakes you have to wait several hours to earn a heart I'm doing German, but I can earn hearts by doing a review lesson (no waiting necessary). However for that to work you have to have some completed levels so you have something eligible for review. It sounds like Duo is making a major change to the home page on November 1, so I'll have to figure out all-new strategies for working the system. For a while we used Anki flash cards as an important part of language learning, but I've moved away from that now that I'm just studying on my own. The spaced repetition really helped me learn vocabulary and grammar rules quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 Duo made some big changes in using it on the browser on my PC at least in the last few weeks. I am having mixed feelings about it and have definitely been doing it less and moved down a couple leagues. I am considering a paid membership, I may ask for it for Christmas. I have about a 480 day streak and I'm on unit 41 of Spanish. I also just ordered a workbook on verb conjugations to start, that is the thing I am finding confusing right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 Duo’s newest changes move you faster through the material with less review. At least as far as I can see. Today will be day 925 on my Duolingo streak. But I am using it for language review and not for learning a language from scratch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 34 minutes ago, catz said: Duo made some big changes in using it on the browser on my PC at least in the last few weeks. I am having mixed feelings about it and have definitely been doing it less and moved down a couple leagues. I am considering a paid membership, I may ask for it for Christmas. I have about a 480 day streak and I'm on unit 41 of Spanish. I also just ordered a workbook on verb conjugations to start, that is the thing I am finding confusing right now. I think that having a printed grammar resource is really important. Something that you can reference when you run into a new construction or haven't seen something in a while. Now if I could just get excited enough to actually *use* it. 🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 3 hours ago, Murphy101 said: Duo free doesn’t limit your time but if you can’t buy “hearts” then after 5 mistakes you have to wait several hours to earn a heart back and get to play again. I do wonder if I will continue putting in 20 minutes a day if I don’t pay for the unlimited version. Right now I have it unlimited for free for a limited time. That's only on the phone app - I use the website. I don't like the phone app. There are a bunch of youtube channels for Spanish I've found helpful. (dh likes one so much, he dropped duo. que el buho no es feliz) (I've yet to figure out how to do accents and tildes on my computer in most programs.) I know there are a bunch of youtube sites for other languages as well. I've listened to a few polyglot channels for their tips on mastery. (one thing they've said is be sure and speak the language aloud - different languages use different muscles in your mouth/face. He learned the hard way - his first day speaking aloud with people, his face hurt after 20 minutes.) Because I'm getting to where I can "read", I've been finding early elementary readers in Spanish and using them (as one resource, not the only reading source.) - that was another tip. read read read. I only do a word spanish => english if I absolutely can't think of a picture/emotion/object/feeling/etc. for the spanish. Otherwise - I will focus on a new word (as often as it takes for me to not have to think about what it means. e.g. I might think of it five times while doing a lesson/reading. And the next time I encounter the word I'll do it another five times, etc. until I don't even think about the meaning of the word.) and it's motion/feeling/picture/etc.... ie. last night, I was introduced to rastrojo for the first time. I'm actually shocked I'm remembering it so easily. It means stubble. I thought about a man's beard stubble, or a farm field after harvest stubble. I thought about what they felt like as well as what they look like. I did look up pronunciation just to make sure, repeated it several times while thinking of what stubble looks and feels like. It's funny - because there are other words where now, when I see the word the first thing I think of it the motion I attached to it. I also found a pretty good (it has its weaknesses) dictionary that will show cases/conjugations/etc through the various future/present/past/etc. - AND it has the actual word being pronounced and showing a phonetic pronunciation. There are times - I will just go to the site to be sure of pronunciation. After all - what's the point of learning a language if a native speaker can't understand me? I'm on day 1000 for duo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 3 hours ago, catz said: Duo made some big changes in using it on the browser on my PC at least in the last few weeks. I am having mixed feelings about it and have definitely been doing it less and moved down a couple leagues. I am considering a paid membership, I may ask for it for Christmas. I have about a 480 day streak and I'm on unit 41 of Spanish. I also just ordered a workbook on verb conjugations to start, that is the thing I am finding confusing right now. spanishdict.com You can look up your verb - and it has the entire table of conjugations. No more need for "501 Spanish Verbs". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 5 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said: spanishdict.com You can look up your verb - and it has the entire table of conjugations. No more need for "501 Spanish Verbs". Oh I use that website all the time. It is a great resource! I just wanted something to logically lay out conjugation stuff and there is something about needing to use a pencil and write it out that really gets it in my brain. I just got this today, we will see how it goes! https://www.amazon.com/dp/126045245X?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details#customerReviews 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 26 minutes ago, catz said: Oh I use that website all the time. It is a great resource! I just wanted something to logically lay out conjugation stuff and there is something about needing to use a pencil and write it out that really gets it in my brain. I just got this today, we will see how it goes! https://www.amazon.com/dp/126045245X?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details#customerReviews My dd loved this book when she was learning Spanish independently. DH uses it now. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 5 hours ago, Murphy101 said: Duo free doesn’t limit your time but if you can’t buy “hearts” then after 5 mistakes you have to wait several hours to earn a heart back and get to play again. I do wonder if I will continue putting in 20 minutes a day if I don’t pay for the unlimited version. Right now I have it unlimited for free for a limited time. My only complaint is that for Korean the symbols are very tiny compared to the English letter fonts. Which can make it super easy to miss the details of the symbol that change the sounds. And I’m playing on a rather large screen. There’s no way to enlarge the fonts either. You can sign up for an education account on Duolingo and hearts will not be limited. The app with the 5 minute limit might be Language Drops; that is the limit for the free version. The paid version is I think a one-time cost and includes access to all languages, I went ahead and paid for it and use it for vocabulary practice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I used to use Anki in combination with Breaking the Spanish Barrier 1. I have since switched to a custom app that I wrote using the Airtable platform. I really like the system I have now. It lets me take it easy and go into maintenance mode when I need to, or I can easily ramp up when I feel motivated. I work on vocabulary (English to Spanish), verb conjugation drills, and grammar (English to Spanish sentence translation). My system is heavily influenced by Gabe W.? (the polyglot) but I prefer straight translation versus straight visuals If I was still with Anki instead of my current app, I probably would have given up. I’ve tried Duolingo and several other apps, but none of them lasted for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I also like the fluent forever app, but there isn't a free version. I like being able to make my own sentence cards for review, and the pronunciation trainer was pretty good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 One of my favorite methods of language study is audiobooks. I use children's books (currently the Keeper of the Lost Cities series) and listen in English and then in my target language. I typically speed up the English and slow down the target language version. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 32 minutes ago, maize said: One of my favorite methods of language study is audiobooks. I use children's books (currently the Keeper of the Lost Cities series) and listen in English and then in my target language. I typically speed up the English and slow down the target language version. Do you do this in pieces? Like a chapter at a time? Or maybe the books are short enough that you can listen all the way through in English and then in your target language? Interesting! I have a couple of longer books in Spanish and German that I've never gotten up the nerve to tackle. Maybe this would get me over that hump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 18 hours ago, Miss Tick said: Do you do this in pieces? Like a chapter at a time? Or maybe the books are short enough that you can listen all the way through in English and then in your target language? Interesting! I have a couple of longer books in Spanish and German that I've never gotten up the nerve to tackle. Maybe this would get me over that hump. I've tried both ways. My current book, I listened all the way through in English, then in German, then in English again, and now in German again. These are longish books, 10-12 hours of listening but I do a lot of audiobook listening while doing housework and yard work. I think whether you want to break it into shorter chunks--say a chapter in English, then in the target language--might depend partly on how comfortable you are with the target language and what percentage you are able to follow in that language. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 Another language app that I'm interested in trying out for Spanish is Lupa. It is geared for intermediate learners. It is tied to the Radio Ambulante podcasts which I already listen to (but I'm not able to fully understand them). They cover stories from all over Latin America. I downloaded the app a couple of years ago, but I don't want to purchase all the content until I have time to use it - once my current seniors graduate I'm thinking I will have more free time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 I’ve used a couple of others - drops, Busuu come to mind. I always come back to Duo. I only use my phone and have made much less progress since they limited lives (but have also started working and have much less free time). I’d like to get a plus subscription and now they offer a family option it feels more worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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