I am currently taking a Spanish course this fall semester and it has been a pleasant but laborious journey. I am not a pro but I have noticed I am improving because I was able to piece together a conversation I heard in the grocery store the other day. Here are a few websites that have helped me to strengthen my language skills, use to review material, and study:
- StudySpanish
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This is a great website for reviewing topics and getting a foundation and understanding of the way things work. There is a pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and verb drill section. Each section has topics or units that are split up and you advance as you go. Each section also has free quizzes you can use to test what you have learned. You can upgrade to gain access to some hidden sections but you do not have to. I love the layout of the website, perhaps they could update the background color and add some liveliness but overall content-wise, it is great!
- Duolingo
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Yes, that little green bird app. “Duolingo is an American language-learning website and mobile app, as well as a digital language proficiency assessment exam’. Duolingo has many languages you can learn such as French, German, Japanese, and many others. I love using the app when I am out and about, it is an easy way to get your daily practice in. It reminds me of a children’s game app that teaches you the alphabet for the first time. I love this approach because when you are learning a new language you are essentially a newborn.
- SpanishDict
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SpanishDict is reported to be ‘the world’s largest Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and language learning website’. You can put in an English word or sentence to get the Spanish translation, self-explanatory. A magnificent feature about the website is it breaks down whatever you put into the translator to give you a better understanding of conjugations, tenses, etc. It is a more in-depth Google Translate however the website does not have a conversation translator like Google Translate among many other features.
Overall I recommend checking out the above websites/apps as well as incorporating the language into your daily life. A helpful tip my professor told us is watching tv shows, videos, or movies (use subtitles if needed), and reading books in Spanish. Try to speak the language as much as you can (even if that means whispering it to yourself in public).