Benny Lewis's Blog, page 86

¿ROSETTA STONE FUNCIONA?: UNA RESEÑA DETALLADA Y HONESTA DE LA ÚLTIMA VERSIÓN (TOTALE)

Read this article in English here.

ESTA ES UNA RESEÑA MUY DETALLADA Y FRANCA DE LA ÚLTIMA VERSIÓN DE ROSETTA STONE: VERSIÓN 4 TOTALE

Rosetta Stone es una de las marcas más grandes en el aprendizaje de idiomas en el mundo angloparlante (no la confundas con la Piedra de Rosetta, la cual nos ha ayudado a descifrar jeroglíficos antiguos, y es de donde esta marca sacó su nombre).

El problema es que este producto está más allá del presupuesto de muchos aprendices de idiomas casuales y viajeros bajo presupuesto, así que en casi una década de viajar nunca he usado este producto.

Correr un blog tan grande como este significa que se me hacen las siguientes preguntas con mucha frecuencia: ¿Rosetta Stone funciona de verdad? ¿Debería comprarla?

¿Realmente es Rosetta stone la mejor (y la más divertida) forma de aprender un idioma? Le hice una encuesta a mis lectores sobre sus cursos de idiomas favoritos y menos favoritos, y Rosetta Stone quedó como perdedor dramático.

Pero tal vez muchas de las personas a quienes encuesté simplemente estaban en contra de la idea de que algo costara tanto como esto, o tal vez usaron una versión pirata limitada y simplemente no la valoraron mucho por eso.

No estaba interesado en rumores. Yo quería usar la última versión no-pirateada por mi mismo intensivamente y apropiadamente, y escribir una reseña detallada de las desventajas y ventajas como las veo.

 

MI RESEÑA FRANCA DE LA ÚLTIMA VERSIÓN DE ROSETTA STONE

Siendo así, contacté a Rosetta Stone para pedir una copia de repaso, y ellos fueron lo suficientemente gentiles de enviarme una.

Les dije que les permitiría ver esta reseña antes de publicarla para corregir cualquier error factual (yo hice algo similar para algunas de mis otras reseñas), y ellos fueron muy serviciales en asegurarse de que no hubiese nada de información engañosa aquí, inclusive yendo tan lejos como para darme una video-conferencia privada de 2 horas con preguntas y respuestas sobre el software.

Ellos pidieron que incluyera aquí un descargo de responsabilidad: Que yo tengo mi propio producto, Fluent in 3 Months PREMIUM, el cual yo vendo, aunque no veo eso como afecta un repaso balanceado y honesto de algo con lo que claramente no estoy compitiendo.

Yo soy un bloguero, y escribí una guía sobre como yo aprendo idiomas en general usando el método comunicativo, para ayudar a soportar este blog.

Yo garantizo que tu puedes aprender un idioma muy bien sin necesidad de mandarme nada de dinero, como sospecho que la vasta mayoría de lectores de este blog gratis lo hacen.

Solo para estar claros, diré que yo recomiendo que tu no compres nada de lo que tengo para ofrecer como una alternativa directa a Rosetta Stone, ya que lo que ofrezco no resuelve los problemas encontrados en un curso de idiomas específico que discuto aquí.

A pesar de la copia gratis, les dije que escribiría una reseña franca e informativa, y apropiadamente no hay un enlace de afiliación para comprar ese producto en ningún lugar en este artículo, donde yo podría ganarme una comisión (como en muchas “reseñas” que encontrarás por Internet).

Al leer esto, especialmente la última parte, entenderás porqué este ciertamente no es un artículo promocional.

Ellos me enviaron la versión más actualizada, TOTALe 4, y lo hicieron para el idioma holandés, ya que lo estoy aprendiendo actualmente. Sin embargo, esta reseña también incluye todas las otras versiones para otros idiomas por una (muy decepcionante) razón que explicaré más adelante.

Me enviaron los Niveles 1, 2 y 3, pero diferentes problemas técnicos hicieron que yo solo pudiera llegar a la mitad del Nivel 2. Ya que yo corro Windows en Virtual Box dentro de Linux, los de Rosetta Stone dicen que no pueden soportar el software totalmente en mi sistema, así que no discutiré estos problemas técnicos.

Yo quería compartir tres cosas mayores con mis lectores:

Rosetta Stone como funciona
Cuanto cuesta el sistema
Y si yo recomendaría este software

Mi estilo particular e independiente de aprendizaje, y un desacuerdo fundamental con aspectos de como está organizado el software, significa que a lo último tengo que decir que probablemente yo no volveré a usar Rosetta Stone para aprender ningún idioma, inclusive si se me da otra copia gratis.

Aunque te muestro algunas ventajas importantes, tengo que decir que no puedo recomendar esto como una inversión eficiente, tanto en términos de dinero y de tiempo que tu le metas.

Espero que esta reseña explique porqué, mientras también informo a la gente sobre lo que ocurre detrás de cámara y dentro de este software como lo vi.

A pesar de estar decepcionado a veces, también disfruté mucho de ciertos aspectos del software, y puedo ver porqué tu podrías escribir una reseña enteramente positiva sobre este producto.

De hecho, por el primer punto que establecí arriba yo si entiendo porqué por lo menos la mitad de su precio podría ser justamente justificado.

Sin embargo, en este punto tengo mucha experiencia en el aprendizaje de idiomas, así que puedo apreciar las ventajas y desventajas mucho más que muchas personas monolingües que podrían reseñarlo y considerar su potencial o factor de disfrute en vez de sus aplicaciones prácticas.

Estoy en Amsterdam y necesito hablar holandés; así que no hay suposiciones o estimaciones sobre que tan efectivo ha sido.

Primero, empezaré con las partes que me gustaron, luego me pondré un poco más franco sobre porqué no puedo recomendar todo el sistema.

 

LA FUNCIÓN MÁS ÚTIL HASTA AHORA: ¡LECCIONES EN VIVO CON UN HUMANO!

Ya que todas las reseñas que había leído sobre Rosetta Stone estaban basadas en versiones antiguas, ellos no mencionaron una función que yo disfruté mucho – ¡me sorprendió ver que tuve tiempo con un profesor nativo por medio del programa!

Soy escéptico de sistemas que te esconden del contacto humano, ya que creo que esa es la mejor forma de todas para aprender, pero ver que Rosetta Stone si te da ese contacto subió dramáticamente hacia arriba mi opinión de ellos.

Una vez tu completas una unidad en el programa, tu puedes ir al “Studio” y programar una sesión de 50 minutos con un profesor, donde puedes verlos por video (ellos no pueden verte), y ambos pueden hablar usando el auricular.

Los profesores son amigables, pacientes, muy profesionales y claramente profesores excelentes y experimentados en el idioma.

Un problema que tuve es que los espacios disponibles eran increíblemente inconvenientes para alguien con una zona horaria europea; las sesiones más tempranas posibles durante la semana eran a las 10 o 11 pm (usualmente llenas, con sesiones a las 2am y así estando disponibles).

Me dicen que esto es así porque la versión 4 de Rosetta Stone solo ha sido lanzada apropiadamente en los Estados Unidos, y ellos dicen que este mes la lanzarán en el Reino Unido.

Aún así, esto deja a muchas zonas horarias sin cobertura, y tuve que realizar mi aprendizaje alrededor de estas disponibilidades extrañas que ralentizaron mi progreso.

Si tu vives en los Estados Unidos es probable que esto no será un problema; aunque puede que otros bloques de tiempo no estén disponibles como consecuencia, como si tu prefirieras hacerlo tarde en la noche debido a restricciones de trabajo.

Rosetta Stone respondió a esto diciendo que a medida que crecen internacionalmente, sus servicios se expandirán respectivamente, y sugieren que ellos podrían tomar peticiones para ciertos espacios de tiempo, y tratar de acomodarte.

¡Pero una vez estaba en la clase, puedo decir que mi primera experiencia hablando holandés ciertamente fue dentro del ambiente de Rosetta Stone! Mi profesor era increíblemente paciente, y se rehusaba a cambiar a hablar en inglés (lo cual es consistente con la filosofía del programa discutida más abajo), sin importar que tanto estaba luchando yo.

Eso es algo con lo que estoy de acuerdo (aunque es difícil de mantener), pero es una obvia y sabia decisión para el beneficio del aprendiz.

En mis primeras dos sesiones tuve un profesor solo para mi, y me parece que cada sesión fue increíblemente útil. Después de eso todas mis sesiones fueron en grupo, y la verdad se sintió mucho como si estuviera de regreso en un salón de clases.

A diferencia de las lecciones privadas que yo podría ocasionalmente tomar al aprender un idioma, ellos tienen un programa muy fijo que siguen, y preguntas o juegos que ellos necesitan trabajar en una sesión de 50 minutos.

Todo esto es parte del plan maestro del programa, lo cual es justo, pero yo personalmente hubiese preferido simplemente hablar con el profesor.

La justificación para esto es que el programa te enseña vocabulario en particular antes de la sesión, y a partir de su plan general no tendría sentido preguntar preguntas aleatorias, ya que yo no estaría preparado para responderlas.

La respuesta de Rosetta Stone a esto es decir que hay más oportunidades de conversación sin estructura en el aspecto de “Rosetta World” (Duo/Simbio) del programa.

Sin embargo, como lo expliqué antes, esto no era posible en lo absoluto debido a mi combinación de idiomas. Ellos también intentaron hacer que los aprendices se preguntaran preguntas el uno al otro para que por lo menos se animara un poco de independencia.

Por fortuna, ellos eran pacientes conmigo si yo me salía por las tangentes, así que puedes ser un poco flexible si tu tienes un profesor para ti solo, pero por supuesto menos en una sesión de grupo.

No había indicaciones antes de ingresar a la clase de si tu estarías solo o con otros, o que tantos otros ya se habían inscrito.

Para mi esa información es útil, inclusive si la gente puede inscribirse 15 minutos en una clase o cancelar al último minuto. Tu puedes inscribirte para lecciones fijas un número ilimitado de veces, pero como el mismo contenido está cubierto solo puedo ver esto siendo práctico para repasar dos o tres veces máximo.

Existen cuatro unidades por nivel, así que esto a lo último significa 12 muy distintas (o más si te sientes con ganas de repetir una lección) lecciones privadas o con un muy pequeño grupo incluidas por el precio.

Para mi, esta era la más grande justificación para un precio más alto que las razones dadas arriba.

Tu puedes contratar profesores para obtener lecciones de Skype mucho más barato en otros lados, pero sería difícil encontrar personas tan integradas en un sistema tan complejo como este.

A pesar de algunas restricciones que no me gustaban debido a simples desacuerdos en estilos de aprendizaje (yo solía ser profesor; los profesores son los peores estudiantes ), a mi ciertamente me pareció que cada sesión hablada fue increíblemente útil, variando un poco dependiendo de si yo era el único estudiante, o si estaba con otros.

Esta era claramente mi parte favorita de toda la aplicación, y es a lo que más valor le saqué.

Sin esto con que trabajar (como lo era en versiones anteriores), me hubiese rendido con el programa debido a frustraciones en la interfaz de aprendizaje, pero tener algo significativo con lo cual trabajar me mantenía siguiendo adelante.

 

FILOSOFÍA INTERESANTE: ROSETTA STONE FUNCIONA SIN QUE PUEDAS USAR TU IDIOMA NATIVO

Se me explicó que Rosetta Stone fue fundado por personas que apreciaban aprender por inmersión, y que habían aprendido idiomas viviendo en el extranjero en ambientes de inmersión.

Ellos querían emular esto tan cercanamente como fuese posible para personas que no pudiesen viajar, mientras igual lo mantenían asequible económicamente.

Por supuesto yo tengo otras recomendaciones si no puedes viajar, pero el concepto base (inclusive si hay aspectos de eso con los que estás en desacuerdo) tiene sentido.

Yo particularmente no siento que la inmersión sea algo que puedes empacar en una versión genérica, pero ellos han hecho un buen trabajo en intentarlo.

Un aspecto interesante es como ellos no tienen nada de inglés en el programa además de la interfaz contenedora. Ellos nunca presentan la traducción de nada.

Todo es representado con fotos y audio y texto sin traducir. Aunque pienso que hay problemas mayores con esto (discutidos más abajo), la idea de no usar tu idioma nativo es una idea interesante que definitivamente tiene mucho potencial.

Tengo que admitir que yo (y muchos aprendices) aprenden mucho por medio del inglés (o lo que sea tu idioma nativo), obteniendo mi vocabulario por medio de tarjetas flash (usualmente basadas en traducciones en mi caso, pero tu puedes crearlas solo en tu idioma objetivo), buscando palabras en diccionarios bilingües, leyendo explicaciones gramaticales también en inglés, etc.

Estoy seguro de que hay un peligro de ir más lento y pensar en inglés a veces, lo cual es un problema que este programa exitosamente evita. Para personas que son fans de las filosofías de “aprende como lo haría un bebé”, pienso que le sacarían mucho a este programa.

Rosetta Stone dice que ellos no necesariamente están promoviendo una filosofía de “aprende como un bebé” porque ellos han eliminado las conjeturas involucradas en los métodos de ensayo y error. Pero yo mismo encuentro muchas similitudes.

Métodos de aprendizaje así tienen grandes ventajas, pero como aquellos que leen este blog saben estoy en desacuerdo con el concepto, y yo siento que nosotros podemos tomar ventaja del hecho de que somos adultos, y podemos hacer que nos expliquen cosas a nosotros en formas más complejas que solo ver imágenes y audio.

La devoción a aprender de una forma tan simple (inclusive cuando las investigaciones detrás de esto son muy complejas) me hizo aprender muy lentamente con Rosetta Stone. Después de días de usar el programa intensamente, sentí que hubiese aprendido las mismas palabras y frases dramáticamente más rápido usando otros métodos.

Rosetta Stone respondió a esto diciendo que la meta no es “la velocidad solo por la velocidad”. Ellos sienten que la técnica que ellos aplican se describe mejor como una técnica “certera” en vez de lenta, ya que sus más de 30 años de investigaciones sobre cuando y como se deberían introducir las palabras han probado ser muy efectivas.

Yo creo en que han realizado estas investigaciones, pero aún estoy en desacuerdo basado en mi experiencia.

Solo llegué a la mitad de mi colección, pero no puedo imaginar como completar todos los 3 niveles te llevaría más allá de lo que yo definitivamente llamaría un nivel básico. Es una idea ingeniosa, pero no la veo como una mejora sobre las alternativas.

Afuera del programa, este contenido únicamente-nativo es expandido al audio.

Yo copié el audio a mi reproductor MP3 y lo escuché mientras trotaba en la mañana, repitiendo todas las frases cuando se me pedía. Intenté algo similar cuando reseñé Pimsleur muy detalladamente.

Aún cuando Pimsleur es enteramente audio, y aunque tu pensarías que su audio sería superior, yo la verdad prefiero el audio de Rosetta Stone.

Aparte de las instrucciones (como repite, escucha, etc., las cuales son dadas en el idioma objetivo en los cursos de Pimsleur), todo está en el idioma objetivo.

Está basado en lo que has trabajado en esa unidad, así que tu en realidad deberías reconocer todo, y esta es una muy buena oportunidad para trabajar en tu pronunciación y examinarte a ti mismo para ver si tu entiendes lo que está ocurriendo.

Aunque es una mejora sobre Pimsleur (cuyo audio es casi todo inglés o repeticiones), igual me pareció un poco tedioso después de unas pocas sesiones de estudio, y pienso que contenido nativo de verdad como un podcast hubiese sido más útil para recrear un ambiente de inmersión.

Pero por supuesto, todo eso es parte del gran todo y filosofía del programa de solo presentarte con palabras que tu ya deberías saber.

En este sentido, la interconexión de la colección completa; lecciones reales, audio, juegos, clases en vivo, etc. está específicamente diseñada para depender en lo que has aprendido.

Tu no te verás puesto bajo mucho estrés en este programa para ver o escuchar cosas con las que no te has encontrado. Esto lo convierte en un ambiente agradable de aprendizaje, aunque como yo lo veo a duras penas es un ambiente realista.

 

LA HIPÓTESIS DEL INPUT DE KRASHEN

Rosetta Stone respondió a esto diciendo que el ritmo y estructura está basada en la Hipótesis del Input Compresible de Stephen krashen, cuyas investigaciones han hecho contribuciones enormes e importantes a la lingüística en el siglo 20.

Aunque tengo problemas con que tan lejos se toman unas investigaciones interesantes para ser la base de toda una técnica de aprendizaje, tengo que admitir que RS aplica ese método de la forma más efectiva que he visto hasta ahora.

A largo plazo, puro input reconocible como estrategia de aprendizaje es mucho más agradable que las situaciones estresantes que tu encontrarías en los ambientes de inmersión.

Sin embargo, tu aprenderías más rápido con esa presión, y simplemente es más realista a como el mundo te presentará con situaciones y palabras para las que no estás preparado.

La hipótesis del input es un ambiente de aprendizaje “ideal”, y por lo tanto no es apto para un mundo no-ideal como yo lo veo.

Por supuesto, a muchas personas les gustaría aprender un idioma suavemente por medio de un sistema como Rosetta Stone, y luego se sentirían preparadas para entrar a conversaciones reales al final.

Suena fantástico, solo que yo siento que después de todos los 3 niveles yo aún no me sentiría listo para la gran mayoría de conversaciones que es probable que yo tenga. Tu tendrás que luchar hablando sin importar lo que pase.

Si tu lo comparas con entrar suavemente al agua fría, yo considero que la cantidad que tu aprenderías en el sistema completo de tres niveles sería equivalente a meter tus dedos en el agua, en vez de lentamente meter todo tu cuerpo o por lo menos tus piernas.

El método de inmersión y comunicativo que yo aplico tiene la preferencia de meter todo mi cuerpo de una al agua, y superar la parte desagradable más rápido, ya que de todas formas pasará (presumiendo que tu si planees en usar tu idioma con gente nativa).

Si tu eres fan de las investigaciones de Krashen entonces amarás Rosetta Stone. Yo estoy de acuerdo con mucho de lo que dice Krashen, pero pienso que la mayoría de gente lo llevan demasiado lejos.

 

RAZONES DE POR QUÉ ROSETTA STONE ES TAN COSTOSO, ¿Y REALMENTE VALE LA PENA EL GASTO?

Si una clase típica para un grupo pequeño te costaría entre $10-$20, y 12+ personas están incluidas en esto, entonces el aspecto de lecciones en vivo del programa discutido arriba en realidad justifica más de la mitad del precio como yo lo veo (aunque yo personalmente recomendaría conseguir lecciones privadas personalizadas para tus necesidades en lugar de lecciones basadas en un curso genérico).

Por el resto del artículo miraré porqué no recibí valor de la otra “mitad”.

Un aspecto genial de hacer esta reseña es que la gente de la compañía me explicó como funciona Rosetta Stone: Me pusieron en contacto con gente de cargos altos en la compañía. Tuvimos una fascinante discusión donde me dieron un tour en vivo del software y me explicaron los detalles específicos de que ocurre en el fondo.

Una de mis primeras preguntas hacia ellos fue sobre el precio del producto; por qué cuesta varios cientos de dólares cuando tu al final recibes lo que físicamente cuesta mucho menos para producir (un micrófono tipo USB, un CD de software para cada nivel para tu computador, 4 CDs de audio por nivel, empaque y un código de activación).

Ahora, desde la perspectiva de Rosetta Stone, el precio (que cambia con frecuencia; recientemente estaba alrededor de los $500, pero la última vez que miré estaba a $379) si tiene sentido. Es la inversión que ellos le han metido. Y como digo antes, siento que 12 sesiones de 50 minutos con un nativo deben contar para algo en esto.

Yo si obtuve otras justificaciones, las cuales discutiré ahora y presentaré mi escepticismo sobre si ellas realmente ayudan a justificar el precio desde la perspectiva de el usuario final (no la de Rosetta Stone):

 

LAS INVESTIGACIONES QUE ROSETTA STONE USA PARA JUSTIFICAR SU MÉTODO DE APRENDER UN IDIOMA

Rosetta Stone en realidad ha gastado una fortuna en investigación lingüística, consultando a científicos cognitivos, PhDs, neuro-científicos y más. Y todo esto está incorporado en cada aspecto del software.

Desde los sonidos de harpa que actúan como refuerzo positivo (que pronto desactivé; siento que el sonido perdió su impacto totalmente después de varias horas de escucharlo constantemente), hasta las fotos meticulosamente planeadas (con las cuales también tuve problema, como lo describo más abajo).

Como todos ustedes saben, yo ciertamente no soy lingüista (yo estudié y trabajé como ingeniero inicialmente). Los lingüistas producen un cuerpo de investigación fascinante e increíblemente útil que nos ha ayudado a entender como funcionan los idiomas.

Un número pequeño de lingüistas también trabajan específicamente en la adquisición del segundo idioma, y para ser totalmente honesto, la gente con experiencia (o educación) en esto son quienes a mi más me gustaría que dominaran las investigaciones cuando se discute el aprendizaje de idiomas.

Con Rosetta Stone dirigiendo a un equipo de personas de especialistas en aspectos tan variados e increíblemente enfocados del aprendizaje, funciones cerebrales, psicología, etc., todos enfocados en producir un gran sistema para aprender idiomas, sería lógico presumir que eso conllevaría a crear el mejor sistema en el mundo.

Yo estoy en desacuerdo, y siento que las investigaciones se realizan más respecto a como podemos hacer un producto que venda bien y sea escalable, como preferencia por encima de como podemos asegurar que la gente definitivamente aprenda este idioma de la forma más eficiente posible.

Como tu puedes imaginar, Rosetta Stone está en desacuerdo en esto. Su respuesta es “Como nosotros lo vemos, un programa es verdaderamente eficiente solo si ofrece valor genuino de aprendizaje de idiomas a la mayor diversidad posible de aprendices.”

Sin embargo, esta preferencia por la escala era mi sentimiento como lo explico en varios puntos abajo. Así que lo siento, pero las investigaciones en las que invirtieron no es algo para poner en un pedestal.

 

RECONOCIMIENTO DE VOZ

Otra razón para justificar el alto precio es que tanta investigación se había realizado para desarrollar su sistema de reconocimiento de voz desde ceros.

A diferencia de sistemas de reconocimiento de voz que encontrarías en llamadas telefónicas automatizadas, esto fue desarrollado especialmente para gente no-nativa hablando un idioma extranjero, y todo es investigación hecha por Rosetta Stone.

Cuando tu hablas el sistema analiza tus grabaciones y las aprueba, o te pide que intentes nuevamente basado en como te fue. Si tu tienes algún problema en particular puede abrir el analizador de onda y ver visualmente la diferencia entre la onda de un nativo reproducida lentamente y la tuya.

Aunque me gusta esta idea, ya que te hace hablar al programa y te da retroalimentación, encontré muchos problemas con él incluyendo registrar un estornudo como una respuesta correcta, o tener que repetir algo muchas veces sin entender que era diferente cuando lo hice bien.

Esto podría ser por uno de los problemas técnicos con usar mi propio micrófono, ya que el micrófono USB no estaba siendo registrado por medio de mi virtual box basado en Linux.

Rosetta Stone recomienda que tu uses sus auriculares y que no soportan el uso de otros, inclusive cuando inicialmente mis auriculares no me dieron problemas, y ellos dicen que tu puedes usar otros si lo deseas.

También puede ser debido a la sensibilidad variable; por defecto 3 de 10. Tu tendrías que cacharrear con esto al usar el programa para encontrar el nivel que se ajusta a como es tu pronunciación, de tal forma que tu no seas rechazado mucho pero que igual te corrija cuando digas algo mal.

En esta imagen verás un espacio a la derecha para analizar los tonos de un idioma tonal como el chino. Como puedes imaginar, esto solo desperdicia espacio y está desactivado para los idiomas europeos.

Una sorpresa que vi fue lo malos que eran los ejemplos usados para entrenar mi pronunciación. Por ejemplo, se usaba la palabra “baby” y se separaba en dos sílabas con la ‘a’ pronunciada rimando con may, y enfatizada como importante.

Baby es una palabra prestada del inglés y holandés que no pronuncia la ‘a’ de esta forma normalmente.

Esto era muy engañoso, y esta parte del programa supuestamente me enseñaba fonética holandesa. Claramente solo esta allí como residuo de palabras copiadas y pegadas de todas las versiones que discuto más abajo.

Por suerte los ejercicios de lectura son contenido nativo, y la pronunciación que aprenderás de esto es más útil. También puedes obtener una guía de pronunciación más detallada para el alfabeto dentro del menú de ayuda del programa.

 

JUEGOS Y OTRAS FUNCIONES: ¿REALMENTE ES DIVERTIDO?

Además del curso central, existen otras funciones en el programa, como repasar, un examen de escritura muy básico, lección gramatical (contextual por supuesto; ¡algunos puntos gramaticales son muy difíciles de explicar sin nada más que ejemplos y fotos!), y leer texto.

A mi me gustó la lectura del texto, ya que era como un mini-podcast con un nativo hablando más consistentemente que el resto del programa, y te acostumbraba a leer mientras leías al mismo tiempo para asociar escritura con sonidos.

Los juegos eran juegos agradables de adivinar y de bingo con vocabulario principal. No era lo mio, pero ciertamente era algo útil para muchas personas.

Esto suena como una idea genial hasta que te detienes y piensas en ello por un momento. ¿Que tantas personas holandesas piensas que han comprado Rosetta Stone (especialmente considerando que la versión 4 solo está disponible en los Estados Unidos y dentro de poco en el Reino Unido), y están aprendiendo inglés?

Nadie en este país con el que haya hablado ha escuchado de Rosetta Stone, ni tampoco le sacarían mucho porque las lecciones son muy básicas para lo que la mayoría de niveles de Adulto serían en el inglés.

Así que básicamente, ¡yo no tendría a nadie con quien jugar Duo con esta combinación de idiomas! Yo realmente no pienso que esta parte del programa fue pensada lógicamente en lo absoluto.

 

FOTOS PARA APRENDER IDIOMAS “NATURALMENTE”

No fue mencionada como una razón mayor para el precio, pero sospecho que tomar foto profesionales, contratar modelos, y encontrar los lugares e iluminación correcta etc. puede ser muy costoso.

Me explicaron que al tomar esas fotos, un cuidado muy preciso fue tomado para asegurarse de que todo estuviese perfectamente correcto; incluyendo hacia que dirección el modelo estaba mirando mientras realizan la acción, ya que esto puede alterar dramáticamente lo que es interpretado.

Esto se ve, ya que las fotos en realidad están muy bien hechas, y tu sientes bien que la acción se realiza de forma natural.

Su investigación sobre como representar una palabra precisamente sin usar tu lengua nativa en solo imágenes es una forma interesante de presentarla, y es la fundación de como funciona el software.

En la mayoría de casos es muy claro lo que está pasando; aunque tuve un par de casos donde las fotos simplemente no me ayudaron, y tuve que ir a buscar un diccionario para ver lo que significaba la palabra.

Yo me consideraría un aprendiz medianamente “visual” (sea que una etiqueta así tenga mérito alguno o no está en debate), pero no puedo decir que cuatro (o más) imágenes sea una buena forma de presentar todos los conceptos en el mundo.

Rosetta Stone respondió a esto diciendo que ellos no están intentando eso, sino que ha sido basado en consejos de psicólogos cognitivos sobre como le gusta aprender al cerebro.

Una vez más, esto sale de mi frustración en como la preferencia es obtener gente de tantos campos a bordo, quienes no tienen experiencia específica en el aprendizaje de idiomas. No dudo que las imágenes son herramientas fantásticas de aprendizaje, pero en mi opinión, no son aptas para el aprendizaje de idiomas cuando se usan de esta forma.

Aprender un idioma haciendo clic con tu mouse en opciones de selección múltiple ni siquiera se acerca remotamente a emular un ambiente de aprendizaje de inmersión; sin las lecciones habladas que se basan en ellas la utilidad de estas lecciones de hacer clic aquí y allá desaparecerían enteramente como yo lo veo.

Hay muchas formas en que el software te presenta imágenes. A veces simplemente te pide que repitas frases, a veces explica una foto y te da una foto similar con un contexto ligeramente diferente que tienes que adivinar.

Sin embargo, la gran mayoría de tu trabajo en las lecciones se basa en selección múltiple (usualmente solo 2-4 opciones) y proceso de eliminación.

Se te da una frase o palabra y tu tienes que hacer clic en la foto correcta. Para mi es difícil de expresar totalmente lo poco natural que esto me hace sentir para aprender idiomas, pero aparentemente los lingüistas de RS están en desacuerdo.

Nuevamente siento que los neuro-científicos etc. pueden estar estudiando el aprendizaje en general pero fuera de contexto. Esta presentación foto-céntrica es un aspecto fundamental del sistema de aprendizaje con el que nunca estaré de acuerdo.

Un sistema similar ha sido copiado de Rosetta Stone por otros sitios web, y es todavía menos efectivo.

Pero olvidando la forma en que el sistema funciona por un momento, tuve dos problemas mayores con las fotos como tal:

Algunas de ellas estaban mal photoshopeadas:

Esto me sorprendió mucho. La gran mayoría eran reales, y algunas requerían un poco de edición (como para mostrar un reloj en la esquina, o un número en algún lado para sugerir la edad de alguien, o una bandera para sugerir un país), lo cual es justo.

Pero algunas eran bromas terribles de meter gente en frente de lugares como el coliseo romano. Ni siquiera puedo editar fotos, y puedo notar que están photoshopeadas.

Aquí a la chica en Roma obviamente se le tomó la foto bajo iluminación profesional artificial, no en un día soleado en Roma. Y el contraste es terrible en la foto de Moscow comparado con el modelo.

Seguramente ellos hubiesen podido contratar a alguien para cambiar la iluminación y contraste para hacerlo más realista, ¿o haber tenido esto en cuenta al tomar la foto en frente de una pantalla verde? O… tu sabes, ¿que alguien de verdad estuviese allí?

Rosetta Stone respondió diciendo que no es su misión que las fotos parezcan auténticas, y que el enfoque está en el valor del idioma de la imagen, y que son usadas como una señal o un guiño por así decirlo.

En algunos casos los modelos si estaban en el extranjero, así que no se porqué photoshopearon en otras fotos. Pero para un sistema basado en fotos que se enorgullece de lo profesionales que son sus fotos, hacer esto es simplemente perezoso.

Aparentemente lo molestos que algunos usuarios podrían estar por esto fue pasado por alto en esas investigaciones. ¿Tal vez no estoy solo en esto y nadie más usando este sistema se frustraría por estas imágenes?

 

2. Escenarios asépticos para no ofender a nadie en vez de relevancia cultural

Soy partidario de la “corrección política”. Yo amo que Star Trek tiene a una persona de raza negra, una mujer e inclusive un capitán calvo en sus series.

Presentar un grupo cultural de gente variado en fotos es genial si le estás enseñando a los niños a tener la mente abierta sobre el mundo, especialmente en ambientes multi-culturales. Pero es una distracción si estás aprendiendo un idioma culturalmente relevante.

Por ejemplo, al aprender la palabra para “periódico”, el texto del periódico en la imagen estaba impreso en árabe y yo no estoy aprendiendo árabe en el momento. Esto no me ayuda para nada y es parte del uso de imágenes copiadas y pegadas que discuto más abajo.

Pero inclusive olvidando eso por un momento, la mayoría de la cultura presentada en las fotos grita ESTADOS UNIDOS.

Cuando estoy aprendiendo sobre el holandés quiero ver fotos relacionadas con los países bajos y como actúa la gente holandesa (o los belgas); su lenguaje corporal, sus sonrisas, etc.

No quiero ver poses estadounidenses tontas. Inclusive los culturalmente sensitivos de las familias islámicas actúan como estadounidenses, pero usando ropa diferente.

Por ejemplo, en una imagen a alguien se le presenta una jarra de agua grande en un restaurante. Ellos no hacen eso aquí en Amsterdam. ¡No me puedo imaginar que tantos aspectos irrelevantes de fotos hay ahí una vez los comparas con culturas que no son del occidente!

Cada vez que empezaba a usar el programa sentí que estaba dejando los países bajos y regresando a los Estados Unidos. Es difícil para un estadounidense apreciar lo obvio que esto es en la mayoría de las fotos.

Como un no-estadounidense que ha vivido en varios países diferentes puedo decir que esto no está haciendo nada para ayudarte a preparar para ningún tipo de inmersión.

Hay una buena razón de por qué hacen esto, lo cual me lleva a mi más grande queja de todas de Rosetta Stone:

 

UN MÉTODO DE COPIAR Y PEGAR PARA APRENDER IDIOMAS DRÁSTICAMENTE DIFERENTES

Cuando estaba recibiendo el tour en video noté que el contenido de la lección (además de las fotos) era exactamente el mismo en sueco a como lo era en holandés.

Pregunté sobre esto y se me confirmó que era lo mismo para el chino, español, francés, italiano, alemán, japonés, ruso y otros idiomas muy diferentes.

Cuando algo era drásticamente diferente, ellos si tomaban eso en cuenta. Por ejemplo, una lección me mostraba como distinguir dos palabras holandesas para “familia” dependiendo en si es inmediata o más amplia.

Pero esto es más que todo por necesidad, ya que sería errado enseñarme que la misma palabra cuenta para ambas en el inglés.

Lo que ha hecho Rosetta Stone es investigar una forma de presentar un sistema de aprendizaje de idiomas y simplemente tradujeron el contenido (audio y demás) a todos los otros idiomas. Me dijeron que esto es porque un “idioma totalmente personalizado” (es decir, un curso único por cada idioma único) incrementaría los costos.

Me aseguraron que el contenido es desarrollado por cada idioma separadamente, y que nada es traducido directamente de un idioma a otro, pero he visto videos online del Rosetta Stone de la gente, he visto varias diapositivas de la versión sueca, y veo precisamente el mismo contenido en el que me encontré en la versión holandesa.

Inclusive si “solo” un 80 o 90% de ese modelo es el mismo, eso es demasiado en mi opinión.

La extensión de que tanto esto puede afectar negativamente el contenido no es tan clara, pero yo pude sentir que algunas lecciones simplemente eran muy irrelevantes para que yo aprendiera holandés.

Un hablante del inglés aprendiendo holandés tiene ventajas obvias sobre la misma persona aprendiendo chino, árabe o ruso, y aglutinar aprender cualquier idioma juntos siguiendo el mismo contenido genérico enormemente similar (si no idéntico), fotos y pasos es una locura.

Esto no tiene ningún beneficio en lo absoluto para el usuario final, y no es nada más que un atajo perezoso para poder escalar el sistema a todos los idiomas del mundo.

Aunque hay aspectos de Rosetta Stone que me gustan, esto realmente me dio mucha rabia, y esa una de las muchas razones por las que simplemente no puedo recomendarle este sistema a la gente.

El contenido tipo “unitalla universal” que cubren está en todas partes (audio, juegos, cursos, lo que guían las lecciones habladas en vivo), y todo en lo que el sistema se basa.

 

LOS APRENDICES DE IDIOMAS ACTIVOS SIEMPRE LO HACEN MEJOR

Entonces, ¿Rosetta Stone funciona o no? Algunas personas si se beneficiarán de Rosetta Stone. Puedo ver como ocurriría. Yo si aprendí algo de este programa, incluyendo tener mi primer conversación en holandés, lo cual me dio un gran aumento de seguridad en mi mismo.

Inyectar esta seguridad es algo que Rosetta Stone hace muy bien, pero para ser honesto, el tiempo hubiese sido mejor invertido en otras tareas.

Hablar sobre cielos azules y bolas rojas añadió muy poco a las conversaciones que yo necesitaba tener con la gente. Eso siempre ha sido un problema que he tenido con los cursos genéricos; ellos intentan enseñarte todo, y al hacerlo te enseñan casi nada de lo que realmente necesitas. ¡Ni siquiera aprendí la palabra “por favor” hasta el Nivel 2!

La gente siente que tirar dinero al problema lo resolverá. Tu en realidad puedes aprender un idioma completamente gratis encontrando material de aprendizaje relevante a gramática y vocabulario por Internet o en tu librería local, y luego encontrándote con gente nativa en persona (sin tener que viajar) o por medio de sitios web para aprender idiomas.

El problema es que hacer eso gratis o gastando poco requiere que el aprendiz sea activo. Rosetta Stone intenta alimentarte a cucharadas la información para que no necesites planear nada.

Ellos responden a esto diciendo que el aprendiz es muy activo y necesita interactuar mucho con el programa, lo cual desarrolla sus habilidades para que el idioma se mantenga en su mente. No estoy de acuerdo; el sistema si es complejo, pero de tal forma que casi todo está demasiado organizado para ti.

Ceder tu responsabilidad (además de la inversión de tiempo) antes de si quiera empezar a duras penas es un método aceptable. Los aprendices activos, inclusive con recursos limitados, pueden hacer mucho más, y personalizar lo que aprenden con lo que ellos están interesados y sobre lo que hablan, en vez de un sistema genérico diseñado para el mundo entero y todos los idiomas.

Las pocas personas con las que hablé quienes habían alcanzado fluidez usando Rosetta Stone, al ser presionadas dijeron que ellos en realidad habían usado otros sistemas junto con ese, lo cual yo diría que les ayudaron más de lo que pensaban.

Aquellos promoviendo el sistema no han demostrado mucho progreso o inclusive entendieron totalmente mal aspectos básicos del idioma.

Esta ha sido una reseña muy larga (¡6000 palabras!) porque quería presentarla con todos los detalles, explicar todo lo que si saqué del producto, y explicar porqué no puedo recomendarlo. Cité los comentarios de Rosetta Stone sobre mis criticismos también porque quería que esto fuese balanceado.

Ya que esta reseña no es ni promocional ni un discurso rabioso sin fin, sino enfocado en presentar tanta información como fuese posible, siento que tal vez es única en el Internet, ¡por lo menos en cuanto a lo profunda que es!

Si de alguna forma llegaste hasta aquí gracias por leer, y si tienes cualquier comentario o experiencias con Rosetta Stone para compartir, o quieres discutir partes en particular de esta reseña, ¡por favor compártelo en los comentarios!

Hola, ¡que tal! Aquí Santiago, el traductor. Espero hayas disfrutado de este artículo originalmente escrito por Benny, y ojalá te sea muy útil en tu aprendizaje de idiomas

25 Free Online Spanish Language Lessons

Learning how to speak Spanish? It can be tricky to find high quality online lessons that don’t cost a fortune.

You want to learn Spanish, and you’re willing to put in the time, but where can you go to learn?

With this question in mind, I’ve put together a list of online Spanish lessons that won’t cost you a single cent. While some of these programmes have a paid service, many of them are completely free, and all of them provide a hefty selection of free lessons that are perfect for getting started with Spanish.

Ready? Let’s get to it!

Free Online Podcasts To Help You Learn Spanish

Podcasts are one of my favourite ways to learn a language. You can take them with you wherever you go. Then, anytime you have a spare moment you can listen to native speakers teach you their language.

There are a lot of Spanish language podcasts out there, but not many that provide a complete language learning programme to help you build up your skills. Here are a few worth checking out:

Spanish Pod 101: Innovative Language, who produce this podcast, are my go-to publisher when I’m starting to learn a new language. It’s free to sign up and learn the basics. You’ll have to pay for more advanced lessons and premium material, although it’s worth it.
Coffee Break Spanish: Get a daily dose of Spanish in just a few minutes with this popular podcast.
Show Time Spanish: From the same folks that brought you Coffee Break Spanish, this series is for intermediate and advanced learners.
Finally Learn Spanish – Beyond the Basics: Perfect for those who studied Spanish in the past and need focused practise on listening and speaking.
Insta Spanish Lessons: This popular Spanish language podcast features weekly lessons for students of all levels.
Notes in Spanish: A husband (British) and wife (Spanish) team share lessons on real spoken Spanish for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners.
Learn Spanish with La Casa Rojas: Intermediate and advanced Spanish learners will appreciate that in this podcast absolutely no English is spoken.

Learn Spanish with Free Audio Lessons

Not all study programmes come in podcast form. Here are some free Spanish audio lessons that you can get without subscribing on iTunes or using an app:

123 Teach Me Spanish: Hundreds of lessons in a structured format make this a fantastic starting point for learning Spanish online.
FSI Basic Spanish: The Foreign Service Institute’s 55 lesson Spanish language course was developed by the United States government and includes downloadable PDF textbooks. It focuses on the Latin American dialect.
Spanish for Beginners: A compact selection of eight lessons that are perfect for beginner Spanish learners.

YouTube: Free Video Spanish Lessons

YouTube is a treasure trove of Spanish language materials. The following channels will provide hours of useful Spanish language instruction.

Professor Jason Spanish: Professor Jason’s videos have close to five million views in total. His extensive video lessons cover a wide variety of Spanish language topics.
Spanish Dict: These expertly produced videos are incredibly popular, and have a high-energy style to keep you engaged wihen the going gets tough.
Spanish Pod 101: This series of free Spanish video lessons from Innovative Language provides an excellent taster if you’re thinking about signing up for their podcast.
Spanish Sessions: These 48 videos are recordings of one-to-one Spanish classes, in Spanish. Don’t worry if you’re just starting out, as they’re subtitled.
Agustin Iruela: These lessons are produced according to the CERFL levels from A1 to B2. They’re a hidden gem, so don’t tell everyone!
Master Spanish Language: A series of 40 Spanish lessons for the complete beginner, with barebones production values. Close to half a million learners must be onto something.

More Free Spanish Video Lessons

Besides Spanish lessons available on YouTube, there are some clever and well-produced Spanish language video material from top notch sources.

5 Minute Spanish: A self-paced course from the University of Arkansas.
Destinos: an Introduction to Spanish: This 52 episode series teaches you Spanish through an engrossing telenova – a Spanish language television drama.
Mi Vida Loca: This immersive video mystery was produced by the BBC to engage Spanish learners.
Talk Spanish: Another offering from BBC with 10 focused lessons for total beginners.

Free Online Spanish Courses and Systems

Some of these language courses have lessons for sale. All include free lessons to help you get started with your Spanish language journey.

FluentU Spanish: Real world videos make this course unique and entertaining.

StudySpanish.com: Over 1,000 pages of free Spanish learning materials.

Spanish MOOC: Free beginner courses with real teachers on hand to answer your questions.

Duolingo Spanish: 38.5 million users mean that Duolingo is one of the most popular online Spanish language courses around. And it’s completely free. Check out our review to learn more.

Medical Spanish for Healthcare Providers: A series of lessons and resources custom made for those in the medical field.

Which Free Online Spanish Language Lessons Do You Use?

It is amazing how many high quality resources are available to learn Spanish online, at no cost. Though I’ve featured 25 places you can learn Spanish for free, I’m sure there are many more. What have I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Want more? Check out Benny’s favourite Spanish resources.

The post 25 Free Online Spanish Language Lessons appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

English Listening Practice: 50+ Brilliant Resources for ESL Learners

English can be a tricky language to learn. It’s full of weird spellings and strange pronunciations. As such, good English listening resources are really helpful for English learners.

That’s why I’ve put together this collection of English listening resources – to help you become a better listener as you improve your English.

This resources list is organised into five categories:

Videos: Watching videos helps you understand body language and provides valuable visual cues for your listening practise.
Podcasts and Radio: For covering a variety of topics and speaking styles, podcasts and online radio can’t be beaten.
Music: Listening to music gives you a look at the creative and poetic side of a language.
News: News provides you with more formal, standard use of the language, combined with contemporary topics.
Lessons: Lessons allow you to listen to English in a structured environment. This is really helpful when you first start learning English.

These English listening resources are for everyone, regardless of your level. So, let’s get started!

Videos for English Listening: Your Key To Understanding Body Language

Videos let you see body language. This is really important, because people say as much with their bodies as with their lips. Video is the only type of listening practice lets you see body language, so it’s a perfect place to start.

English YouTube Channels and Web Shows

YouTube started in the United States so of course there are lots of web series in English. Here are a few to help you view life in the English speaking world.

Chad Vader : Ideal for Star Wars fans, this show is about Chad Vader, a day shift manager at the local Empire Market.
Gary Saves the Graveyard : Created by the celebrated comedy group, The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, this show is about a man tasked with keeping 235 zombies entertained while they wait for eternal peace.
Long Story Short : This series of short clips (each under five minutes) share the internal dialogue of a young man as he goes around his daily routine. Short sentences and big jokes make this one worth watching.
S.O.S.: Save Our Skins : Part sci-fi, part horror, part comedy, S.O.S. won the best British Web Series award at the Raindance Web Festival in 2014.
Written It Down : This unscripted comedy series by Australian actors won numerous awards at LA Webfest.
About.com Video : About.com has a huge video database with topics on just about anything you can imagine. Not a web series, but still a fantastic resource for English listening.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. Run a search on YouTube for “web series” and you’re sure to find plenty of English videos to keep you entertained for hours as you learn English.

Live Video Chat with Native English Speakers

I’ve had great success in my language learning missions when video chatting with tutors. Watching someone’s body language while they are responding to what you say is much more authentic than just watching actors in a movie.

The best part? Everything you watch is 100% related to you and your life!

It’s worth checking out the following:

Google Hangouts : You can chat face-to-face using Google’s popular video and voice calling system. To put yourself out on a limb, you can broadcast the call live to the whole world!
Periscope : If you haven’t jumped on the Periscope bandwagon yet, you might not be too familiar with this live streaming video service. Recently I discovered you can search for live streaming video from different countries around the world, including of course English-speaking countries. This is a direct pipeline to listen to English (or any language) in a very authentic way. After signing up, follow me by searching for “polyglot”!
Apple Facetime : If both you and your conversation partner have Apple devices, then you can have a free call on Apple’s video conferencing software. This comes bundled with Apple computers, tablets and phones.
Tango : While I don’t have direct experience of this software, I’ve heard it is a good way to have face-to-face conversations with people all around the world.
Skype : The standard for most people when it comes to making video calls online. If you download eCamm’s Skype Call Recorder for Mac, or Pamela on Windows, you can record your conversations to review them later on.
LiveStream : While this isn’t a chat service, LiveStream is a platform where people can broadcast events or activities online. A great sampling of different people and genres from around the world.

Of course, all this assumes you have someone to speak with in English. If you need a language conversation partner, be sure to check out italki, where you can find amazing native English speaking teachers.

How to Watch English Television Online

Many English language TV shows can’t be viewed outside of the country of broadcast due to copyright. That means the pickings here are slim. Even so, I’d recommend that you catch up with English language television using these resources:

Viki : Viki is a community of television viewers who help create subtitles for shows from around the world. While mostly known for their Asian Dramas, they also have a wide selection of programmes from English speaking countries.
USTV Now : For American military personnel and families overseas, this service streams US TV networks online. The free service gets you seven networks like FOX, NBC and ABC.
Hulu : Hulu, a popular video streaming website based in the US, has lots of current and popular shows. If you are outside of the US you may need to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to view the shows due to regional copyright restrictions.
Netflix : Netflix is a paid-service for streaming TV shows and movies. You will also need a VPN if you are watching outside of their coverage areas.

In both cases, the easiest VPN I’ve found to use is the Hola plugin when watching in your browser.

English Movies

The US is the home of Hollywood. If you’re an English learner that means you have an easy source of great English listening materials at your fingertips! Again, if you see country restrictions, try using a VPN plugin.

Hulu Movies : Hulu comes to the rescue again with a great selection English language movies.
SBS : SBS, a service broadcast out of Australia, has a large selection of movies from around the world.
Netflix : Netflix has an astonishing selection of movies. Just remember that Netflix is a paid service and you may need a VPN service to view it outside the US.
Fandor : Fandor, similar to Netflix, is a paid subscription site that provides many films from around the world in a variety of languages.

English Video Lessons

The best part about video lessons in English is that they often follow a structured format. This is is perfect for new English speakers.

The following is a selection of some of great English video lessons to help you get started:

FluentU English : FluentU curates videos from all over the web, includes subtitles in various languages, and organises them for easy study.
Yabla English : Yabla specialises in helping you pick up English through videos in a natural way, with real English spoken by real people. You can check out some of the their sample videos and see what it’s all about.
Learn English Through Stories : This genius YouTube channel helps you by reading you stories. Play it before you sleep for a perfect bedtime.
English Anyone : With over 100,000 subscribers, Drew’s channel focuses on building native skills with English. With his clear diction and way of speaking he’s very easy to understand.
Rachel’s English : Rachel’s channel focuses on helping you develop your American pronunciation by showing you how sounds are created.
EngVid : With over 900 lessons, EngVid provides a YouTube channel for each of their 11 teachers. Plus, each teacher is from a different part of the world. If you want to practice listening to clearly spoken English with a variety of accents, then this is your channel!

Online Radio: Whatever You’re Interested In, There’s a Station for You

Online radio provides a wide sampling of topics you may not normally be exposed to. That’s why I love listening to it. Plus, it represents English spoken the way you hear it in real life. Remember: English is an official language in over 80 countries, which means there are a ton of radio stations available, in accents from all around the world.

Listen Live Europe : This website contains online radio stations for a variety of countries in Europe, including those in the UK and Ireland.
Talk Stream Live : This network of streaming radio talk shows is a treasure trove of English listening resources.
Talk Zone : Another network of online talk radio shows to help you listen to more English.
TuneIn : TuneIn is one of my favourite apps for listening to radio stations from around the world. They even have a category just for Talk Radio.

Music: A Gateway to English Lyrics and Creativity

English is different when used creatively in poetry and song. The topics and issues discussed through music or poetry tend to be closer to our minds and hearts.

Listening to music in English is a fantastic way to develop an ear for the language while being entertained and moved.

Here are some websites and links where you can find English music online.

TuneIn English : This awesome resource also includes many stations focused on music.
Irish Pub Radio : A music station from my home country, Irish Pub Radio streams a 24 hour selection of music that’s close to my heart.
I Heart Radio : Just tell this website which type of music you like and they’ll set you up with a customised playlist of English music.
Live 365 : This network of online radio provides a listing of stations from all around the world.
Jango : Jango gives you free online radio based on your preferred styles and artists
Radio Tuna : As it’s tagline says, this is online radio made easy. Pick a genre or artist and you’re good to go!
Pandora : Probably one of the first online music services, Pandora uses the technology from the music genome project to provide you with music you’ll love.

If all of those aren’t enough, the Telegraph newspaper has put together an exhaustive resource of their favourite online radio stations. Can’t find a radio station to satisfy your tastes here? Then it probably doesn’t exist!

And if music’s not enough, you can listen to English poetry on the following websites:

Poetry Out Loud : Poems and performances to increase your creative listening skills.
Poetry Archive : The Poetry Archive has a variety of audio recordings of poets reciting their own poems.

News: Contemporary Topics In Standard English

Having a conversation about the economy, politics, the latest movies or sports may prove challenging if you aren’t up to date with what’s going on in the world. Listening to the news in English will teach you valuable current vocabulary, and teach you the best way to phrase common expressions on popular topics. Plus, newscasters tend to use standard pronunciation, so this is a good way to hear things said in a clear (although somewhat fast) manner.

The Voice of America : Probably one of the best known English language news sources in the world, the VOA has been broadcasting world-wide for the better part of the last century.
ABC Radio : This is the official radio broadcast of the American Broadcasting Channel in the U.S.
CNN Radio Soundwaves : CNN also has an online radio broadcast to share it’s 24/7 news reporting with the world.
BBC News : The British Broadcasting Service provides this online feed of it’s world news service.
CBS Radio News : Another U.S. television network with it’s own radio news offering.
National Public Radio : The non-profit NPR network is known for it’s in-depth reporting on a wide variety of topics.
News in Easy English : Listen to news reports spoken with easy-to-understand English.

Podcast Lessons: Structured English to Help You Level Up

If you’re just getting started with English, then listening to the news or watching television shows might be overwhelming. Online English language lessons and podcasts are a great way to practise listening to the language in a graded, structured approach.

The good news is that since English is such a popular language for people to learn, the amount of English-learning podcast lessons are immense!

Here are some links to online lessons and materials that will help you learn English, while providing valuable listening practice.

EnglishClass101 : EnglishPod101 is one of the first resources I recommend to new English language learners. Their lessons and materials are top-notch.
ESL Pod : This podcast has over 1,000 lessons for English learners to pick from!
CU Lips Podcast : Fun English lessons with natural expressions and commonly-used vocabulary
6 Minute English : This new offering from the BBC gives you English lessons in bite-sized chunks.
The English We Speak : Another podcast from the BBC, this one focuses on the curiosities of spoken English.
Listen to English – Learn English! : These short (5 minutes or less) podcasts improve your listening skill with clearly spoken conversations.
Better at English – Listen and Learn : Genuine, unscripted conversations in English. You can download transcripts at their website.
Quality Time ESL : Clearly spoken oral exercises with an emphasis on grammar, correct usage and pronunciation.
ESL Aloud : Guided lessons in spoken English for those wanting to improve their communication skills.
English Vocabulary for Business : This podcast teaches advanced business-related vocabulary.

While all of these podcasts are related to English language learners, what if you want to listen to podcasts direct from America, England, Ireland, Australia or another English-speaking country? Searching through iTunes is often challenging since they target your search results based on your native language or country of residence. Here’s my hack for finding podcasts in your language of choice which will help you locate the best podcasts in the English language.

Where Do You Listen to English?

Be sure to use these resources to increase your exposure to the English language. Soon you’ll be improving both your comprehension and fluency.

If you have any other suggestions or if I missed your favourite place to listen to English online, let us know in the comments.

The post English Listening Practice: 50+ Brilliant Resources for ESL Learners appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

7 Common Language Learning Strategies That Don’t Work (And How to Fix Them)

Here’s a common scenario: you decide to learn a language and tell your all friends and family your plans.

Then they tell you about the “best” way to learn a second language (even though they don’t speak any other languages themselves).

“Take a class!”, says one person.

“Get a degree in the language”, suggests another.

“Just watch a ton of movies”, chimes in a third.

Those all sound like great strategies, so you pick one and gleefully dive in.

Fast forward three weeks (or three years) and you’re barely able to form a sentence. Fed up, you give up learning a language.

That is, until you pick it up again with a new strategy.

With each new strategy you try, the same thing happens. In the end, you give up completely.

Here’s the thing: most common language learning strategies don’t work because they ignore the most important rule of language learning: you can’t just study a language — you have to use it.

Today I’ll explain why some of the most popular language learning strategies don’t work, and how to adjust your approach to quickly level up your language skills.

Strategy #1: Take an Academic Style Language Class

Classrooms are not the best place to learn languages. Spending most of the time listening passively to someone talk at you about the language (often in your native tongue!) with very little speaking on your part is a poor use of your time.

The number of students graduating with 5+ years of classroom instruction in a language who still can’t hold a conversation shows that classroom learning is not the best way to spend your time or money.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Accountability

If you still have to take a class (such as for your college course), here are some ways to take the slow process of classroom learning and speed things up for rapid language acquisition.

Get accountability outside the classroom. The most common argument in favour of language classes is that it is too difficult to study effectively on your own. And while classes can be great for forcing you into a programme of study and accountability, I would argue that you can get the same thing from your network of friends, or a programme like the Add1Challenge.

Supplement your classroom time with an equal amount of time actually speaking the language. You can find tons of native speakers in dozens of languages over at italki, a marketplace for online language tutors and teachers. One hour of time spent with a native speaker talking in the language and reviewing what you learn in the classroom is always more effective than several hours of self-study at the school library.

Use SRS (Spaced Repetition Systems) and mnemonic memory aids to quickly memorise new vocabulary. SRS (Spaced Repetition Systems) and mnemonics can help you learn new words much faster than most of your classmates. With all the extra time you gain by not using rote memorisation you can focus on the most important part of language learning: speaking!

Strategy 2: Consider studying Linguistics in School

Linguistics is all about picking apart languages and discovering how they work. If a language is a car, then linguistics is looking inside the engine.

Many language learners believe that knowing a language’s rules means you will be able to use them. It’s a strange belief since it often doesn’t apply in other areas. If you knew all the rules of kickboxing would you feel confident getting in the ring? I hope not!

I’ve written before about the difference between linguists and polyglots but it basically boils down to knowledge vs. skill. Many linguists don’t actually speak more than one language so aren’t in a position to help you develop language acquisition skills. While linguistics is fascinating, it is not actually related to helping you directly use a language.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Get Real World Practice

If you have dedicated yourself to the study of the structure of languages I tip my hat to you. But it isn’t the same as being able to communicate in the language.

Understand that studying and speaking are different. The best way transition from a “language student” to a “language speaker” is to change your focus from book learning to “mouth using”.

To avoid mixing the two together, divide your focus and think of each one as a completely separate subject.

Imagine working during the day as a radio DJ, and also being passionate about playing the guitar. They are both related to music, but from very different perspectives. Studying linguistics should never be a substitute for practising your target language.

Strategy 3: Watch Movies and TV Shows

Watching movies or television shows as a way to “passively” learn a language sounds like a language learner’s dream. That is, until you actually try it.

Passive language acquisition is one of those myths that preys on the lazy “couch beast” inside each of us that tries to get something without putting forth any effort. Learning a language takes work. As I’ve said before, you just can’t become fluent by passively listening to a language.

Movies and TV shows can help, but not if you plant yourself in front of a screen for eight hours a day. You’re no more likely to learn a language doing this than you are to become a pilot by watching aeroplanes. You just need the right approach and mindset.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Act Out Your Favourite Movies

I’ve previously written about how to effectively use movies to study a language. In it, I share techniques on how to effectively use movies to provide a boost to your language learning projects.

Here are some of the key ideas:

Don’t just watch the movie. Study it. Viewing a movie for entertainment means you aren’t focused on learning the language. Treat the movie like you would a textbook, and study the material.

Break things up into consumable, repeatable segments. A two hour movie is too much language to absorb at once. Break it up into segments of 10 minutes or less, and review them multiple times until you have really learned something of substance.

Engage with the material. A movie is an open book on body language, accents, inflection, pronunciation and many other areas of language learning. Don’t just sit on your hands! Get involved in the story, act out parts, repeat lines and body movements and make the language come alive!

Strategy 4: Listen to Songs in the Language

As with movies and television shows, listening to music is often seen as a magic path to learning a language. The problem is that songs are written poetically so they aren’t usually a good source for everyday grammar and vocabulary.

Listening to songs does have it’s place in a language learning mission — as long as you have the right approach.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Sing Along

Instead of repeating myself, I’ll just recommend that you do the same as you would for movies or television shows: study the music (don’t listen passively), repeat segments (to really understand the material) and engage with the song (don’t just listen — sing!).

One additional fix is to recognise that song lyrics often take creative license with a language, so while they are helpful to your studies, keep in mind that it is the equivalent to studying poetry.

Strategy 5: Use the Rosetta Stone/Pimsleur/DuoLingo System

Popular language learning systems like DuoLingo and Pimsleur do have some positive benefits. DuoLingo gamifies language learning, which is good in principle. Pimsleur’s system helps with getting certain phrases down through audio training. Rosetta Stone is… sorry, I can’t think of any redeeming features… Yellow. Yes, it does yellow incredibly well!

But any system you buy is going to have one major disadvantage that you can’t escape: they aren’t tailored to you and your life. Most of the words and expressions you’ll use won’t be useful in your own life, and this lowers the effectiveness of these programmes.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Choose What Works For You

If you are going to use these systems (perhaps they were given to you as a birthday gift), there are three recommendations to help you make the most of each.

Read my reviews of each system. Be sure to check out reviews of the Rosetta Stone system the Pimsleur approach to language learning, and the Duolingo language learning app to provide you with a big picture pro’s and con’s view of each.

Supplement with personalised materials. As you go through each system, develop your own list of personalised vocabulary and phrases. If the topic of the lesson is “shopping”, then write out a list of 20 items that you shop for on a regular basis yourself and add those to your flashcard deck. This allows you to use the sentence structures and grammar you’re learning with relevant vocabulary.

Plug up the holes in their materials. Each system has deficiencies, so fill in the blank spaces with your own efforts. For example, If the system doesn’t include a lot of speaking, then be sure to converse with native speakers. Or if the system doesn’t provide much listening practice, find listening materials online.

Strategy 6: Translate a Book Until You Learn the Language

Back when I started my first new language – Spanish – I sat down with a copy of El señor de los anillos (The Lord of the Rings) figuring that if I forced myself to read it with my dictionary in hand then for sure I would be fluent by the time I was done.

It took me an entire week to get to page 2!

This method might seem logical, but it’s completely impractical. It takes a huge amount of time. You’ll also be limited to the specific language style of the author which may make you sound strange to native speakers.

Can you learn a language from a book? Absolutely! But only with the right approach.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Young Adult Fiction

Books should be a supplement to a language study program, not the core of it. And, just like movies, television and music, you have to change your mentality from entertainment to education.

I recommend selecting a book that you have access to in your native language so you can compare them side by side. Young adult novels (think: Harry Potter) work really well for this because the language used isn’t too stylised and the vocabulary won’t be too advanced.

Ways to use a book in your language study program

Here are my suggestions on using a book to learn a language:

Tackle the book in segments, such as paragraph by paragraph.
Get the book in your native language so you can get the gist of each segment before reading on.
Preview the foreign language version to see how much you can understand without studying the text.
Select any words you don’t know which appear multiple times and add them to your SRS flashcard deck.
Read the passage to your tutor to work on your pronunciation and accent
Record a native speaker saying the passage in both regular speed and slowly. Alternatively, pick up the audiobook.
Review the passage multiple times. First, make sure you understand what’s being said. Then practice pronouncing it.

If you spend several hours on each segment of the book you will find your comprehension and use of the language improve quickly.

Strategy 7: Only Interact with Other Language Learners

If you’re in a class, or have friends who are also learning a language, you might think getting together to practice the language will build your skills. After all, isn’t it important to speak as much as possible?

Meeting up with other learners to practice your speaking can be really helpful. The problem is, they’re unlikely to stretch you beyond your current level of speaking. To really accelerate your learning, you must interact with native speakers.

The Language Hacker’s Fix: Practise With Native Speakers

The best person to speak to when learning a new language is a native speaker of that language. You are exposed to subtle nuances in how the language is used that you may not otherwise realise. It is truly invaluable.

If you don’t know any native speakers in your area, then use the power of the internet to find a tutor on italki, through local meetups, couchsurfing, or the HelloTalk app. There are so many great ways to find native speakers online that you really have no excuse.

The Only Approach That Doesn’t Work is the One You Give Up On

As you can see, any approach can work, if given the right “language hacker’s” nudge. The biggest mistake I see language learners make isn’t a specific approach, but in not being flexible in their approach.

Constantly evaluate your language learning strategy and think outside the box to adapt them to your best advantage.

Don’t like your language class? What can you do outside of that room to improve your chances?

Studying linguistics isn’t helping you communicate? Supplement with time speaking the language.

Finding movies, music or books ineffective? Break them down and narrow the focus of your study.

Talking to the wrong people? Look for ways to find them on the internet.

You have the power to turn your approach around and gain fluency. So hack that language learning approach and level up your language!

The post 7 Common Language Learning Strategies That Don’t Work (And How to Fix Them) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

French Songs to Help You Learn French Faster

French is a beautiful language, no doubt about it. But wrapping your head around the liaisons or getting stuck in grammar can make learning French seem like an impossible challenge.

Truth is, French is actually not that hard to learn, with the right approach. There are a lot of language hacks to help you pick up French quickly. One of the most important is to develop a passion for French culture and art.

I love listening to music to help me learn French. That’s partly because music is fun. But more important, studying French songs helps me pick up the language faster.

Why Study French With Songs?

Here are a few of the biggest reasons why studying French through songs is a big advantage. Songs can:

Boost Your Memory

Probably the biggest benefit to studying with music is that it helps you remember vocabulary. Mnemonics are one of my favourite tools for committing new vocabulary to memory. But mnemonics aren’t everything. It turns out that our brains are hardwired to remember things through song. No wonder jingles remain stuck in your head years after watching a commercial. Music is the ultimate mnemonic device!

Give You an Inside Look at French Culture

French songs give you an inside look into the way French speakers express themselves. You learn cultural nuances and expressions for all kinds of situations.

Improve Your Comprehension

Many French learners find listening to French a challenge. After all, native French speakers talk really fast. Practising with songs will help bridge that gap and improve your listening comprehension.

Help You Sound Like a Native French Speaker

If you have a hard time getting French speakers to understand what you’re saying, then studying songs can help you master French pronunciation. In fact, Spanish learner Jonross Swabby found that learning songs in Spanish and Portuguese made it easier for him to talk with native speakers. Singing forces us to focus on the intonation and pronunciation of words in a way that repeating dialogues just can’t match.

8 French Songs To Help You Learn French Faster

Here are eight songs that are ideal for French learners who want to get ahead in their language learning.

Dernière Danse by Indila

With her haunting, clear vocals, Indila’s music is perfect for French learners. This song is sung slowly so you can pick up all the words, and learn about how Indila’s dancing helps her drown her sorrows.

Aficionado by BB Brunes

A French rock song by the band BB Brunes, the lyrics are sung so clearly and slowly that you can’t help by pick up new words. Plus the chorus is really catchy. You’ll find yourself singing along without even trying.

Sympathique by Pink Martini

Click here to view on YouTube

This song seems like it was pulled straight out of a lesson from a French language textbook. The words are easy to understand and you get a virtual classroom by watching the music video with its vocabulary-boosting graphics.

Je veux by ZAZ

This is an upbeat song with a great message, sung in a clear and easy-to-follow manner. Many of these are phrases and vocabulary that you would hear spoken in daily conversation which makes it even more useful for learning French.

La vie en rose by Edith Piaf

One of the most celebrated songs in history, this Chanson (a specific style of lyrical song) is about as French as you can get. While the lyrics are not too easy, singing this classic song in a room full of French people will get you some definite nods of approval.

Il est temps by Kyo

On the complete opposite side of the modern French music spectrum is this catchy pop tune by French boy band Kyo. Make sure you understand the lyrics for the full effect of this song about the end of a relationship.

A coup de rêves by Ben L’Oncle Soul

Ben L’Oncle Soul (born Benjamin Duterde), has a soulful song reminiscent of a Motown sound. If you like A coup de rêves then be sure to also check out Ailleurs which has a slower feel and even easier-to-follow lyrics.

Sous le ciel de Paris by Yves Montand

Yves Montand, a well-known Italian-born French actor and singer, was actually discovered by Edith Piaf while working as a music hall singer. This song in the classic French crooner tradition is really easy to understand.

La Tribu de Dana by Manau

Of course, this wouldn’t be a complete list of songs without a bit of hip hop. One of the best selling French songs of all time, La Tribu de Dana (“The Tribe of Dana”) is an elegantly written song that tells the story of a battle between celtic warriors and the Dana Tribe.

100+ More French Language Songs for Learning French

Of course, these are just a few of my team’s favourites, but you can find a wide range of amazing French songs online.

There are also many fantastic resources to help you make the most of your French studies and find more songs in French.

Here are a few helpful links to get you started:

21 French Songs for French Learners : FrenchLearner.com have put together a helpful list of songs specifically for students of the French language. These include songs to learn the French Alphabet, days of the week, colours, and much more.
40+ Fun and Easy French Songs : This YouTube playlist includes over 40 songs perfect for beginner French learners.
Billboard’s Top 10 French Songs : If you’re not sure what is currently popular, then be sure to check out the current Billboard chart for the best of what French songs have to offer.
Learn French Fast Through Story and Song : Another YouTube Playlist with 24 songs to help you learn French quickly.
Top 20+ French Songs : OnlyLyrics.com has a selection of some of the most popular French songs of the week. And, as their name implies, they have the lyrics too! Perfect for studying the language.
Lyric Translations : Find your favourite song lyrics translated into other languages at LyricsTranslate. These are done by community members so keep in mind that the translations might not be perfect.

Let’s Listen to French Music

There you have it. Some great songs to help boost your French and additional resources to keep your studies moving forward.

Do you have a favourite French song? Share it in the comments so we can all have a listen!

The post French Songs to Help You Learn French Faster appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Learn Spanish: 30+ Resources for Spanish Reading Practice (Beginner to Intermediate)

With Spanish as your target language, you know how important it is to learn lots of Spanish words and pick up basic grammar.

One of the best ways (besides speaking) to learn Spanish words and grammar is to read Spanish. The problem? Textbooks are too basic (or too boring!), while novels are difficult for beginners.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a collection of reading resources that are perfect for beginner and intermediate Spanish learners. They’re easy to read, and just as important, they’re fun to read.

As long as you know a few basic Spanish phrases, then you’re ready to dig in.

The Breakdown of Reading Resources

This article includes Spanish reading resources in several categories:

Reading Resources for the Beginner Spanish Learner
Amazing Children’s Books to Build Your Skills
Spanish Reading Resources with Video and Audio
News, Information and Current Events in Spanish
Apps for Spanish Reading Practise
Paid Resources to Help You Build Your Spanish Reading Skills

I’ve included over 30 resources, most of which contain dozens of articles and stories to read.

Reading Resources for Beginner Spanish Learners

These resources are perfect to help you master the basics of Spanish and build essential vocabulary.

Reading Passages with Vocabulary Lists

Each passage on topics from Bancos (Banks) to Viajes (Travels) includes a helpful list of related vocabulary.

Reading Comprehension for Teachers and Students

This list of a dozen reading resources is designed to help beginners with reading comprehension.

200+ Passages with Quizzes

This massive collection of over 200 Spanish passages includes integrated quizzes so you can check you’ve fully understood what you’ve read.

Spanish Stories and Much More

This website features a selection of Spanish stories. It also includes a variety of other Spanish reading materials, such as poems, riddles and more!

Cultural Readings for Various Levels

These texts deal with cultural topics in Latin America and Spain, and are broken up by level. Start at A1 if you’re a beginner.

Amazing Children’s Books to Build Your Skills

These children’s books are aimed at beginner Spanish readers, and are much more entertaining than dry essays or reports.

International Children’s Digital Library

The ICDL has a massive collection of children’s books from around the world, including many in Spanish. This website is a treasure trove for language learners.

Children’s Books Forever

These cute downloadable Spanish books feature charming illustrations.

Grimm Stories in Spanish

The Brothers Grimm are known for collecting classic stories including Hansel y Gretel (Hansel and Gretel). What makes this website extra special is that each story is available in many different languages. You can compare, side by side, the Spanish version with one in your native language.

Hans Christian Andersen Stories in Spanish

As with the Grimm stories mentioned above, here’s the same service for the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.

Childrens Books Online

This is another brilliant selection of children’s books, many in Spanish. It includes classics like Jack and the Beanstalk and The Golden Goose.

Spanish Comic Strips

Comic strips are great fun for all ages. This website includes several popular comic strips such as Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes in Spanish translations.

Spanish Reading Resources with Video and Audio

Reading is a great way to discover new Spanish words. It’s even better when you can listen to the audio of what you’re reading or watch the stories acted out.

20 Readings with Audio

This website provides over 20 readings for beginners, together with audio recordings.

Listen and Read Spanish – With a Quiz

These readings with audio have a built-in quiz system, so you can double check what you’ve learned.

University of Texas Austin Spanish Proficiency Exercises

This amazing resource features videos of native Spanish speakers from many different regions. It focuses on 15 main language skills such as describing basic objects, counting, and talking about your family.

News, Information and Current Events in Spanish

I love reading newspapers and magazines to learn Spanish. I find out what’s going on in the world and improve my reading skills!

Spanish News Bites

This website provides small, bite-sized chunks of news in Spanish. Perfect for a beginner Spanish learner.

CNN in Spanish

Not just for beginners, this is CNN’s Spanish-language website, providing all the latest headlines.

Online Newspapers in Spanish

M.I.T. has put together this comprehensive list of Spanish language newspapers. You’re sure to find a newspaper you like.

Even More Online Newspapers in Spanish

Another list of online newspapers for Spanish readers.

Wikipedia in Spanish

Believe it or not, you can get Spanish reading practice from Wikipedia. Search for any topic in your native language, and then click on the left column link for Spanish to be taken to the Spanish language version of that article. This is a great way to build topic-specific vocabulary.

Apps for Spanish Reading Practice

There are lots of apps that can help you practice your Spanish reading skills. Here are a few of the best..

Duolingo

Duolingo is a fun language learning app for iOS and Android. It provides a guided, gentle introduction to Spanish, with quizzes and reading exercises.

FluentU Spanish

FluentU curates the best Spanish videos on the web and provides reading tools to help you study them effectively.

Cat Academy

This free app combines the appeal of cats with the language learning power of SRS (Spaced Repetition Systems, more on these in a moment).

Paid Resources to Help You Build Your Spanish Reading Skills

All the resources I’ve shared so far have been free. But if you want results fast, you might consider investing in paid products.

Spanish Pod 101

I’m a big fan of Innovative Language podcasts. What you might not realise is that all their materials include downloadable transcripts so you can practice your reading right along with your listening.

Amazon’s Spanish Children’s Books

This selection of the best selling Spanish language children’s books is ideal for beginner Spanish learners.

Teach Yourself Spanish

Teach Yourself Spanish includes plenty of opportunities for reading practice.

Yabla Spanish

I love Yabla. They’ve curated the best video content they can find online over a range of fun topics, and they host the videos on their site with precisely timed subtitles in both English and Spanish. A great way to practise your reading!

Coffee Break Spanish

This programme by the Radio Lingua Network provides audio-focused lesson. You can also get downloadable transcripts to help with your reading comprehension.

4 Hacks to Help You Speed Up Your Spanish Reading Progress

Here are my top tips to help you cut hours off your study time, so you can become a Spanish reader faster than you ever thought possible.

Improve Your Recall with Spaced Repetition Systems

SRS is the best way I know to quickly learn new words. SRS prompts you to recall new words when you’re on the verge of forgetting them. This makes them stick in your long-term memory. My favourite SRS tool is the Anki flashcard app.

Use Mnemonics for Better Memory Retention

Mnemonics provide “hooks” for your brain to attach information, which makes them harder to forget. One of the best (and free) apps for setting up mnemonic devices is Memrise.

Increase Your Reading Speed Using Learning With Texts

This open-source, cloud-based foreign language reading app will help you absorb Spanish vocabulary at an accelerated rate. Best of all, it’s free!

Pomodoro Your Productivity

The Pomodoro Technique is a way of breaking up your study sessions into short segments, followed by even shorter breaks. This helps you study faster and smarter.

What Are You Waiting For? Get Reading Spanish!

Reading in Spanish is important. However, the best way to learn Spanish fast is to speak from day one. I always recommend a study programme focused on speaking.

Reading isn’t an end unto itself. It’s a tool to help you learn new words. It also exposes you to grammar and culture.

With this list of reading resources for beginner Spanish learners, you can level up your Spanish language faster than ever!

The post Learn Spanish: 30+ Resources for Spanish Reading Practice (Beginner to Intermediate) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Add1Challenge Review: Learn a Language in 90 Days

When I met Brian Kwong a few years ago and saw his immense enthusiasm, I was glad to see someone else so eagerly encouraging language learners. He surprised me further by putting his enthusiasm into practice and building a community where language learners support one another.

His Add1Challenge community is an excellent support network. Members give one another encouragement for speaking their target language.

Rather than have Brian talk about the community, I wanted to invite an active participant in the Add1Challenge to share everything involved. Here, Kevin Morehouse from Language Hero shares his experience with the community.

The central premise of the Add1Challenge is this: hold a 15 minute conversation in a new language after just 90 days of learning.

If the thought of a whirlwind sprint to the conversational finish line has you thinking twice, don’t worry. You’ll be taking on the task with dozens (perhaps hundreds!) of other language learners. Plus you’ll be part of one of the internet’s most vibrant and nuanced language learning communities t.

The Add1Challenge has rapidly become one of the most popular language learning tools on the web, and with good reason – it works!

The idea behind Add1Challenge was born from a presentation by language enthusiast Anthony Lauder.

Anthony Lauder’s presentation inspired the Add1Challenge.

In this presentation Lauder sought to boil down the quest to become a polyglot into a simple equation. To learn 10 languages you only have to follow two steps:

Learn nine languages.
Add one.

That’s one very difficult step, and one much easier one.

Want to learn eight languages?

Learn seven, then add one.

Following this logic, the easiest step towards becoming a polyglot always boils down to just adding one.

Brian Kwong attended this conference hot off the heels of his own successful three-month challenge in German. He heard Lauder’s words and was motivated to build a community where participants could support and inspire one another as they all attempted to learn a new language in 90 days.

With that, the Add1Challenge was born.

The Add1Challenge Gives You a Really Simple Mission

All participants in the Add1Challenge share one, singular goal:

Hold a fifteen minute conversation with a native speaker in 90 days.

How does the Add1Challenge help you achieve this goal?

Simple: Accountability and Community.

Accountability: You Can’t Quit When You’ve Got Friends Like These

The Add1Challenge holds you responsible for your learning. The entire challenge is structured so you can see your progress, share your experiences, and receive feedback.

Before you even start the challenge, you’ll meet the first line of accountability: the price tag. If you want to be part of the Add1 community, you’ll have to pay a fee of $97 USD. This is meant to separate the learners who are “on the fence” from those who are truly “all-in”. It makes participants more likely to stay committed to the community for the entire three months. As a bonus, Add1Challengers who complete their assigned tasks will have the opportunity to earn their money back (and more) in the form of prizes.

At the start of the challenge, you pick one language to study for the entire 90-day period. Then, you must commit to how often you will study (days per week) and how long you will study (minutes per day). This is your non-negotiable study routine.

There are no official limits to how much or little studying you can do during the challenge, though the lower limit of days per week is typically four, and the lowest number of minutes per day is usually 30. The upper bound of the study routine is most often seven days a week at one hour per day, though recently I’ve seen a few challengers do two hours per day.

Here’s how it works:

Every day, you will record your progress on the challenge-wide accountability tracker. If you meet your study goals for the day, you write “Yay!” If not, you write “Nay”.
(Optional) Every week, you will check-in briefly with two small groups: your study group (challengers learning your target language) and your Mastermind group (random challengers).
Every month, on Days 0, 30, and 60, you will submit a short video of yourself speaking in your target language.
On day 91, you will submit your final video, where you will speak entirely in your target language with a native speaker for a minimum of 15 minutes.

 

Community members sharing their Day 1 and Day 91 videos.

Keep in mind, that the Add1Challenge team takes these requirements seriously. If you do not submit the required videos by their assigned deadlines, you will be removed from the Facebook group, without a refund.

Community: With the Add1Challenge, You’ll Never Walk Alone

At every turn, Add1Challengers are presented with opportunities to meet, interact, and learn with one another, including:

The “Add1Challenge In Action” Facebook group: This is the primary hub for all Add1Challenge interactions. It is constantly bustling, with challengers posting their video submissions, asking questions, posting comments, and generally sharing their enthusiasm for all things related to language learning. If you’re in search of advice or feedback from a large variety of committed language learners from all walks of life, the official Add1Challenge Facebook group is the place to be.

A glimpse inside the official Add1Challenge Facebook Group.

The Mastermind Groups: This is an optional feature of the Add1Challenge, but one I’d highly recommend checking out. If you join a Mastermind group, you will be given access to a private Facebook group along with several other randomly selected challengers. Since these groups are not language specific, these groups are great for discussing the more general challenges of language learning, such as motivation, time management, and study methods.
The Study Groups: Another optional feature, the study group functions in the same manner as the mastermind group, except that you will only be paired with people that are studying your language of choice. Since you all share common linguistic ground, the possibilities here are nearly endless: you can chat exclusively in your target language, you can discuss grammar and vocabulary, you can share resources, recommend tutors, and even come up with activities to complete from week to week. Study groups are heavily encouraged to meet with one-another over Skype, as well.
The “Burning Questions” Google Hangouts: This is one of the key features of the Add1Challenge that I believe separates it from other online language challenges: every month, challengers are given the opportunity to “pick the brains” of various established members of the polyglot community. This is a fantastic chance to share your struggles with heavily experienced language learners, and hear their thoughts on whatever challenges or doubts you may be going through as you learn. Questions are fielded either directly from Hangout participants (limited seating, get there early), from email submissions, or from questions posted within the official Add1Challenge Facebook group. Past “Burning Questions” polyglots have included Benny Lewis, Luca Lampariello, Judith Meyer, Richard Simcott, Olly Richards, and Conor Clyne.

Our very own Benny Lewis in a Burning Questions Hangout.

Assignments and Mini-Challenges: Throughout the challenge, members of the official Facebook group can participate in optional assignments and mini-challenges. Assignments usually require you to briefly write your experiences about a specific aspect of the challenge for others to see and comment on. Mini-Challenges are generally intensive two-week “sprints” that require you to do as much as you can of a specific task. Past challenges include writing target language sentences, logging speaking hours, and even joining the italki language challenge.
Grand Prize Voting: Depending on the number of participants in any given challenge, the Add1Challenge team is able to award a free round-trip ticket to any target language destination of the winner’s choice. In the first round of voting, participants nominate one another, and often share stories about how much they’ve learned from or been inspired by other challengers over the course of the three months. The votes are then tallied, and the challengers with the most votes then go to the final round, where the winner is selected by Brian and a panel of expert polyglots.
Many More Opportunities: The Add1Challenge is always evolving. With each new iteration, I’ve seen Brian and his team add more and more features aimed at helping you successfully achieve that 15-minute conversation on the challenge’s final day. Newer iterations have even included free language learning materials and a “language hacking” course.

My Experience with the Add1Challenge

Prior to joining the fifth Add1Challenge, I had had years of experience studying several languages in a variety of contexts. With my diverse experiences, I never expected the Add1Challenge to impact my learning style as much as it did. The Add1Challenge, with its daily YAY or NAY accountability tracker, gave me something I had never had before: a reason to show up every day.

I’ve taken classes, downloaded apps, and purchased tutoring sessions, but none of those things ever gave me a need to show up day in, day out, Sunday to Saturday. When I joined the Add1Challenge I suddenly felt like I was part of something bigger than myself. I had dozens of people walking the same path as I was, and I strongly felt the need to give the challenge my all, so I didn’t let them down.

For both of the challenges I’ve been a part of thus far, I’ve made the choice to learn for an hour every day. Depending on your circumstances, that may or may not be a viable option. But whatever you choose to do, I’m sure you will find that on those days when you’re not learning, you begin to miss it. You’ll miss typing in your YAY for the day, and filling in the little green box. You’ll find yourself inexplicably pulled towards building a chain of successive “yays”.

Once you’ve got a streak going, you’ll become protective of it, and your study routine will become an essential part of your day. Soon, as you watch your line of successes build alongside your fellow challengers, you’ll realize that you no longer have to actively think about whether or not you’re going to study. You just do it. At that point, language learning has become a habit.

Altogether, the interconnected elements of the Add1Challenge have helped me build a daily language habit and gain serious momentum in my studies. With each passing day (and each box checked) I got a little bit better at my language skills. Taken one day at a time, this progress might not seem like much, but over a three-month span, it meant I was light-years ahead of where I would have been with my choppy, inconsistent study habits that I had held previously.

For my first Add1Challenge, I took on French. My brief sojourn into the language during my university years yielded sub-par results. I saw the fifth Add1Challenge as an opportunity to finally make some headway into a language that I had always seen as opaque, despite my experience with other Latin-based tongues.

Make headway I did. One hour at a time, I took myself from a near-beginner in French on Day 1 almost all the way to the intermediate level on day 90. I didn’t do it alone, of course. I had the help of some excellent tutors, quality resources, and of course my group mates, who kept me learning and laughing with them all the way through. I enjoyed the process so much that I didn’t even miss one single day of my French studies. Where I first completed my daily routine out of obligation to myself and my fellow learners, I later completed it out of reflex. Learning French has become such a part of my life now that I give no thought to whether or not I’m going to put in my hour. I just find the time, and get it done.

This is not to say that the challenge was easy. Even if you build the language learning habit, your motivation will always tend to wax and wane. This is why I made sure I had a wide variety of learning activities to draw from—like reading non-fiction books, watching movies, listening to music, chatting with a tutor, and even pronunciation practice—that I could rotate through to make sure I never got bored enough to even consider giving up.

The Add1Challenge Gives You The Freedom to Learn Your Way

More Day 91 videos from Add1Challenge community members.

The Add1Challenge is great for language learners who need some basic structure in their learning efforts. At any given time, there are learning targets to be aimed at, fellow learners to check-in with, challenges to be completed, and videos to be made.

However, if you are looking for your hand to be held throughout the learning process, the challenge may not be for you.

Though you are expressly required to submit your four progress videos by certain deadlines, the Add1Challenge provides you with an incredible amount of freedom and flexibility in nearly every other area. In fact, I would go so far as to say the Add1Challenge leaves all of the important choices to the learner, including what language you’ll study, how often you’ll study, when you’ll study, and what materials you’ll study with.

Put simply, the Add1Challenge is a force multiplier. Every ounce of effort you apply to it will yield tons of rewards in terms of knowledge, skills, friendships, and more. If you use the Add1 ecosystem to your advantage, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more motivating environment in which to learn and grow.

Note, however, that since the Add1Challenge only multiplies your efforts, it cannot make something out of nothing. Just as you are free to choose your learning path, you will also be free to falter and fail. If you do not follow your plan, engage with the community, use the resources, and even ask for help when you need it, you will not attain the results you are looking for, challenge or not.

Is There Anything Not To Like?

The Add1Challenge’s greatest weaknesses are the unfortunate result of its greatest strength: people.

Where I’ve seen many challengers thrive and become standout members of the community, I’ve also seen others fade into the background, sometimes never to be heard from again.

For every study group or mastermind group full of dedicated, punctual, motivated learners, I’ve seen or heard of another that struggles due to poor participation, lack of direction, or time zone troubles. Learners of obscure or underrepresented languages even run the risk of having no one to form a study group with.

Each person has different ways of approaching the challenge, which means that levels of satisfaction can vary wildly. If you’re not fortunate enough to be paired with responsible, proactive learners, you may feel lost or out of place, and your opinion of the challenge will likely reflect that.

I believe that the above circumstances are merely the consequence of the Add1Challenge’s youthfulness. Having not yet hit its tenth installment, the Add1Challenge’s community and staff does not have the sheer numbers and infrastructure it would need to ensure that everyone has the guidance they need.

As the challenge grows in size and prominence, I would like to see much of this guiding infrastructure filled in. For mastermind and study groups, I envision an official “Add1 Action Plan” that will help groups decide how to effectively organize and carry out group meetings. For language newbies in need of direction, I would like to see one-on-one coaching, or even an “accountability buddy” system that pairs each new participant with an experienced Add1 veteran. I am also eager to see Add1’s community together in the real world, in the form of in-person meetup groups, parties, and even conferences.

I do believe the Add1Challenge is headed in this direction. But it is not there yet. For the Add1Challenge to be the best it can be, it needs one thing: you. Without you, and without more people like you, none of these things will be possible. So please: show up, take part, and show the world that you are up to the challenge of learning a language.

So What Are You Waiting For?

Whether you’re making your first foray into languages, or you’re a seasoned polyglot aiming to add one more to the pile–the Add1Challenge can’t be beat. Its community and depth of resources gives you the tools necessary to get started on the right foot, and the momentum to keep you coming back for more.

Head to Add1Challenge.com and sign up today.

About the author: Kevin Morehouse is a language coach and blogger who writes about language learning motivation and mindset at Language Hero.

The post Add1Challenge Review: Learn a Language in 90 Days appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

German Pronunciation: 6 Really Effective Tips for a Better German Accent

I’m spending this summer working on my C-level (advanced) languages, so I’ve been very focused on going into specifics that can really polish up my skills.

And as I’ll be intensively working on my German shortly, I welcomed this interesting article by native German speaker Kerstin from Fluent Language about getting German pronunciation just right.

Over to you, Kerstin!

 

You don’t have to have a perfect accent to speak German.

Even if you don’t feel ready to start speaking German, just open your mouth already. No matter whether you create the perfect sound or not, learning is an adventure that only starts when you start. I’m going to share some high-impact tips that will help you reduce your native accent when you speak German. But advocating perfection is not my deal.

That said, most language learners do want to be understood by native speakers. And that means working on your accent.

The following tips are really effective ways of cutting out the most noticeable signs of your native accent when you speak German. Even though improving your pronunciation with these is highly effective, remember that ultimately the pronunciation of an individual letter remains a subtlety to be practiced over time. Find what works for you. We’re not language robots after all.

Tip 1: Practice, Practice, Practice

 

As soon as you have learnt something new, go out and practice it. Record yourself and share it online. Chat with your tutor or language partner. There are more than 100 million German speakers in the world. You only need one to help you out.

Tip 2: Don’t Get Hung Up on Dialect

German has all kinds of dialects – but don’t worry about that . As a German learner, you can use hochdeutsch, our standard German dialect, to your advantage. Most German natives will be used to speaking to all kinds of people every day whose dialect is very different from their own. It is normal for Germans to modify their pronunciation to be more generic, so for you as a foreigner there is just no need to worry whether your accent is spot-on.

Tip 3: Listen Intensively, not Passively

I regularly see language learners make a lot out of immersion through listening.

Listening practice is really important. As Ron from Language Surfer put it in a recent podcast interview I did with him: You want to become used to being uncomfortable as early as possible. Passive immersion is fantastic for getting a little bit uncomfortable. And it’s good for staying motivated because picking out more and more words that you understand feels super rewarding.

But it isn’t going to do much for your speaking skills.

For the purpose of improving your accent, you should slow down your listening practice and focus on intensive listening. That way, you can make sure you understand every word and repeat words and phrases as many times as necessary so you can really work out what people are saying.

For German learners, there are many slow language resources to start you off. Practice everyday language with Slow German and Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten. Alternatively, find short clips of natural, native content at Audio Lingua. My talented colleague André Klein also offers audio versions of his stories in simple German.

You want to find clips that are so short that you can easily work with them intensively. That means five minute podcasts rather than audiobooks and movies. Listen to and transcribe what you are hearing, then check for correct spelling. Say the words out loud, and finally record yourself.

As a bonus, it’s even better to ask a friend from Germany to record their own version of the script that you have produced at normal speed. This trains you in recognising words and accents. If you don’t know a suitable person to ask, try submitting your text to Rhinospike.

Tip 4: Practice Your Fricatives

In the German language, fricatives play a significant role. The word fricative may be intimidating, but it refers to a sound that you are already familiar with so there’s no need to worry.

Fricatives are all sounds produced from the lip shape that produces the letters f and v in English. You’re basically creating a friction sound by pushing air through a contracted space. You may notice that Germans put these fricatives in all kinds of places when they speak English (“ve are valking to ze vall”) and you need to reverse-engineer that effect when you learn German.

It should look like this:

A couple of pointers on the fricative:

The German “w” is a fricative. Forget ever producing the “rounded lips w” sound from English words like “what” or “why” in German. Instead, you want to aim for a very soft v, with your front teeth gently touching the lower lip and opening from there.

The German v is pronounced in two different ways. At the start of a word, it’s an unvoiced fricative. Basically, that means you don’t produce sound with your vocal chords and your teeth touch your lips a little bit. Or to make it even easier, the German “v” sound is the English f sound. Listen to this word for an example.

The voiced V (this is the English “v” sound) exists when the v is in the middle of a word as in Navigationsgerät. It can also occur at the start of words such as Vakuum that originate in Latin or French.

Tip 5: Never Pronounce the “R” as You Would in English

The basic German r is what many language teachers call the “French r”, a kind of very gentle throat clearing. The phonological name for this is “uvular fricative” – yes, it’s another fricative sound but this time coming from the throat area. The sound is slightly similar to the ch sound from the Scottish word “Loch”.

Listen to Forvo’s recording of the word “Rache” to see what I mean. The R sound is throaty and fast, but the ch sound is more guttural as there’s more friction to it.

You can pick and choose whether you would like to roll your r. In Southern German dialects it’s very commonly rolled, and in the Hamburg area too. But for me as a native German speaker from the Mosel valley near France and Luxembourg, rolling the r is not natural at all and I don’t do it.

In short: Rolling the r is not compulsory in German. Just don’t say it like you do it in English.

Tip 5: Learn How Vowels End Up Stretching

Every German vowel has a long and a short pronunciation, and there are consistent rules that will tell you when a vowel is pronounced short or long.

The vowel is always short before a double consonant, for example in “brennen”, “Tanne” and even “Osten”
The vowel is always long before a h, such as in the words “Dehnung”, “Bahn” and “Fehler”

In fact, the h is often called “Dehnungs-h”, the stretching h, among German teachers. No matter if you’re pronouncing Bahn, Bohnen or Dehnung, rest assured that this rule is one ot be relied upon.

How does this apply to “ß” (“ss”)? During the German spelling reform in 1998, the rule of how to pronounce ß words was simplified. If the vowel comes before a -ss, it’s short. If it comes before a -ß, it’s long.

This means you’ve got to watch out when working with slightly older materials, but also that a government reform actually did something useful.

Tip 6: Record Yourself and Ask for Feedback on Soundcloud or Youtube

Soundcloud offers all kinds of possibilities when you want to improve your accent and pronunciation. You can not only find independent musicians and songs in your target language, but also use the hashtag for your language to hear spoken word content from many radio channels. Recently, Soundcloud has even started offering podcasts as part of its service.

When you upload your own recording, others can comment on it and highlight the specific point in the recording their comment refers to. So where you are practicing pronunciation, you can get exact feedback about the sounds you are struggling with. Come and join our free group Speak German like a Native in which I regularly upload and review new German pronunciation materials, and submit your own German pronunciation recording for feedback from the group.

Here’s an example to get you started. This is a recording of the full German alphabet on Soundcloud. I would like to invite you to post your own response or practice playing with the pronunciation of city names like Zürich, Mönchengladbach, Wuppertal, Greuth and Trier.

Over to You.

Which sounds in German are tricky for you? Which of these tips did you already know? I’d love to hear more about your German accent training methods in the comments.

About the author: Kerstin Cable is a native German speaker and is working on her eighth language. She teaches online courses in German, French and Teacher Training. Check out her website Fluent Language to discover more about Kerstin and her languages.

The post German Pronunciation: 6 Really Effective Tips for a Better German Accent appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Is Watching Foreign Language Movies a Waste of Time?

In the world of language learning folklore I often hear that foreign language movies are a golden ticket to fluency.

But are foreign language movies really a great way to learn a language? Or are they a big waste of time?

Let’s take a look…

The Wrong Way to Watch Foreign Movies

“Watching foreign movies is a great way to learn a new language” is really exciting to hear. After all, it sounds like you can sit down in front of your TV, and expect to miraculously become fluent in Italian after 90 minutes of watching Cinema Paradiso.

Needless to say, this doesn’t happen.

When watching foreign language movies fails, you can end up tossing the whole idea of watching movies in favour of your tried and tested flashcards. As a result, you’d miss out on rich cultural experiences and the opportunity to improve your language skills.

Watching foreign language movies can help you learn another language, if you go about it the right way.

You can’t just watch a movie. You have to study a movie.

Here’s The Right Method for Watching Foreign Language Movies

Before I share a specific method for watching foreign language movies, I’d like to dig into the foundations you should lay before you start viewing films in another language.

Here are the five attributes of a study-focused approach to movies:

1. Focus

Passively watching a movie for fun won’t help you learn a language. You have to actively study the movie you’re watching, and focus on every word that’s said.

2. Segmentation

Watch an entire 90 minute movie in one sitting, and your brain won’t be able to absorb most of what you see. You’ll slip into “passive watching mode”. Break up movies into smaller chunks of time — even down to just one scene or a small 10 minute segment — for greater language absorption.

3. Repetition

Watching a movie just once is akin to looking at a flashcard just once. If you are going to study the material you need to review it multiple times.

4. Engagement

You should be actively engaged with your movie. Speak along with the characters, practice mimicking their pronunciation, and copy their body language.

5. Subtitles

Subtitles can either be a huge crutch, or an incredible study aid. Using them the right way can elevate your study of a language to new heights. I’ll explain how to use them in a moment.

My Method for Studying a Language with Foreign Movies

Here’s the method I recommend to help you learn a language when watching films in another language. I’ve broken it down into five simple steps that will help you get the most out of your foreign movie study.

Step 1: Pick a Movie You Like, With Subtitles

The key here is to make sure your movie has excellent subtitles, both in your target language and your native language. This is no time to settle for second-rate products. It will be worth your while to shell out a bit more money for the right DVD.

Since you’ll be studying this movie over the course of several weeks, the cost is actually quite reasonable for the sheer volume of language learning you’ll get from a single movie.

You should also pick a movie that you have some familiarity with or covers a topic you are interested in. You’re going to be watching this movie several times so be sure you enjoy it. If you’re a big sci-fi action adventure fan, then watching a romantic courtroom drama will quickly get boring.

Step 2: Watch The Story and Break It Into Segments

The first time you watch the movie you have two goals:

Learn the story and get to know the characters
Break the movie up into segments

Watch the movie all the way through with your native language subtitles on. Learn the story and get to know each character’s personality. This way you can just enjoy the movie itself, so the story doesn’t “get in your way” of using it for language learning later.

Also, at the same time take out a notebook and pen to write down time markers for short segments of the story. You’re looking for scenes of around five to ten minutes that are fairly self-contained, plot-wise.

Step 3: Write Down New Words and Phrases

The next time you watch the film, you’re into study mode. This time, just watch the first segment and turn on the foreign language subtitles. Write down any words or phrases that you don’t known. Pay particular attention to words or phrases that seem significant to the story or are repeated regularly.

Since you have the subtitles on you can easily pause the movie to write down words and phrases, then look up in your dictionary. Aim to collect around 20 new words and around 10 new phrases per segment. Don’t worry if there are more than 10 or 20 words or phrases that you don’t know. Just pick the ones that stand out to you. You can always go back and repeat this step again to pick up more vocabulary.

Watch the segment at least five times while picking out your selection of words and phrases. Repeat the words as you hear them to work on your pronunciation. With a 10 minute segment, this step should take about an hour or two.

Bonus Hack: Once you have a list of vocabulary add them to your SRS (Spaced Repetition System) flashcard deck, and include them in your daily vocabulary review.

Step 4: Check What You’ve Remembered

After you’ve watched this segment of the movie five times, you’ll know it really well. Next, turn off the subtitles and see how much you can understand without them. You don’t need to have full comprehension, but you should be able to get the gist of what you hear.

For this step play the segment between five and ten times, depending on how many characters there are and the amount of dialogue. By the end of an hour or two you should have pretty good comprehension.

Bonus Hack: To give yourself a more intensive study session, imagine yourself as one of the characters in the film and when someone asks them a question, quickly pause the movie and try to answer as that character. Then push play and see how you did. Take note of the actual dialogue to see how you could adapt your response.

Step 5: Review the Film with Your Tutors and Teachers

To take things to the next level, meet with a language exchange partner or your teacher, and watch the film together. Be sure to let them know ahead of time what parts of the film you want to study so they can look it up and watch it before they meet with you.

Here are some ideas of what you can cover with your teacher:

Ask for help understanding cultural nuances in the film, or why characters are doing specific things that you don’t understand.
Ask for clarification on phrases or accents that are used in the film.
Have your teacher ask you questions about a specific segment, then try to answer them in the target language.
Have your teacher play the part of one of the characters in the movie and practice dialogues with you.
Ask about the role this film plays in your teacher’s society and culture.

These are just a few ideas to get your started. Your teacher may have other suggestions for how to use the movie in your study sessions together.

Bonus Hack: Not sure how to find a teacher? The language network italki helps you locate native speaking teachers that you can meet up with from the comfort of your home using Skype. With Skype you can share your screen and review specific segments of the movie together!

How Long Does It Take To Study a Movie?

As you can see, studying a foreign movie takes time, effort and focus. But that’s true of language learning in general, right?

I recommend spending at least three days, studying for at least one hour each day, studying each segment in your chosen movie. That way you’ll have time to practice, learn and review all of the necessary words, phrases and dialogues.

Break up a typical 100 minute film into 10 segments of 10 minutes each, and you’re looking at around a month of study for one movie, at an hour per day. It sounds like a lot, but you will get quicker and quicker, and be able to watch a subsequent one quicker, and eventually simply enjoy the movie in the target language the first time.

You make this investment now, so you don’t have to for the rest of your life!

The Benefits of Studying Foreign Movies

Keep in mind that the method I’ve shared is just one way to approach a language study project through foreign movies. Of course, whatever method you decide to use, the benefits of studying foreign movies are countless.

I love watching foreign language movies, because they:

Expose you to new cultural situations.
Are a great way to observe body language and other nonverbal cues.
Have more “authentic” vocabulary than what you might find in a textbook.
Allow you to pick up idioms and colloquial ways of expressing ideas.
Show a language being used in “real world” scenarios.

Watching foreign movies can benefit your language learning projects, but only if you study them.

Approach watching foreign movies the same way you approach any other part of your language learning project. You’ll get out of foreign language movies what you put into them.

Then soon enough the time will come where the fact that it’s in another language will be irrelevant, and you’ll enjoy it just as you would a movie in your native tongue.

What’s your favourite foreign language movie? Let us know in the comments.

The post Is Watching Foreign Language Movies a Waste of Time? appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Listen to Spanish: 50+ Amazing Spanish Listening Resources

I’ve said before that listening is one of my biggest challenges when learning a language. My Speak from Day One approach to learning langauges, means I’m usually stronger at speaking than listening.

With that in mind, I’ve collected over 50 resources to help Spanish learners improve their listening skills.

I’ve organised this collection into five categories:

Videos: Watching videos helps you understand body language and provides valuable visual cues for your listening practice.
Podcasts and Radio: For covering a variety of topics and speaking styles, podcasts and online radio can’t be beat.
Music: Listening to music gives you a look at the creative and poetic side of a language.
News: This provides you with more formal, standard use of the language, combined with contemporary topics.
Lessons: It is helpful to listen to Spanish in a structured environment, especially when you are first starting out.

These Spanish listening resources are for everyone, regardless of your level. So, let’s get started!

Videos for Spanish Listening: Your Key To Understanding Body Language

Since most communication is nonverbal, seeing the body postures, facial expressions and hand gestures of Spanish speakers will make it easier to understand them. And video is the only type of listening practice which allows you to practise this important part of Spanish communication.

Spanish YouTube Channels and Web Shows

Here are some Spanish YouTube series to view life in the Spanish speaking world.

Freaklances : An animated series following the lives of several freelancers.
Malviviendo : This show follows the lives of several friends living on the outskirts of Seville, Spain.
Enseriados : A comedy about two flat mates who share a passion for television. English subtitles are available.
Apples : A comedy about a group of lesbians, a dummy and a stuffed cat who work together to solve their problems.
Gangster Que Hago? : This is a comedy series about a man looking for love in all the wrong places. Please note that it also comes with a parental advisory warning for content.
SUNY Albany : The State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany put together an extensive list of video resources in the Spanish Language.

Live Video Chat with Native Spanish Speakers

I’ve had great success in my language learning missions when video chatting with my tutors and teachers. Interacting with a real person is much more authentic than just watching actors in a movie.

The best part? Everything you watch is 100% related to you and your life!

It’s worth checking out the following:

Google Hangouts : You can chat face-to-face using Google’s popular video and voice calling system. To put yourself out on a limb, you can broadcast the call live to the whole world!
Periscope : If you haven’t jumped on the Periscope bandwagon yet, you might not be too familiar with this live streaming video service. Recently I discovered you can search for live streaming video from different countries around the world, including Spanish-speaking countries. This is a direct pipeline to listen to Spanish (or any language) in a very authentic way. (Follow my Periscope by searching for “polyglot”, and I’ll do streams in Spanish every once in a while!)
Apple Facetime : If both you and your conversation partner have Apple devices, then you can have a free call on Apple’s video conferencing software. This comes bundled with Apple computers, tablets and phones.
Tango : While I don’t have direct experience of this software, I’ve heard it is a good way to have face-to-face conversations with people all around the world.
Skype : The standard for most people when it comes to making video calls online. If you download eCamm’s Skype Call Recorder for Mac, or Pamela on Windows, you can record your conversations to review them later on.

Of course, all this assumes you have someone to speak with in Spanish. If you need a language conversation partner, be sure to check out iTalki, where you can find amazing native Spanish speaking teachers and tutors.

How to Watch Spanish Television Online

There are a wide selection of Spanish language television programmes available online. Here are a few worth checking out:

Drama Fever : This website provides telenovelas (TV dramas) with English subtitles. As a bonus, you can also use it to watch TV dramas from Korea, China and other countries!
Hulu Latino : Hulu, a popular video streaming website based in the U.S., streams televisions shows in Spanish.
Multilingual Books : This website provides a link to online television station streaming video feeds from a wide variety of countries. A treasure trove of Spanish TV.
Streema : Streema is a service that provides links to the websites of many television stations in Spain. You can also search for programmes from other Spanish speaking countries in Central America and South America.
Univision : A network name synonymous with Spanish language television, the Univision website provides access to an amazing selection of their Spansih-language television programmes.
Telemundo : Telemundo is another television network with an extensive selection of programmes in Spanish.

There are actually so many Spanish language television shows available to view online that there’s no way to list them all here, The resources above will get you on the right track.

Spanish Movies

Spanish speaking movie goers are currently the second largest demographic in the United States, and with the startling number of films coming out from all of the Spanish language countries in the world, there is plenty of viewing fare for Spanish language lovers everywhere.

Spanish Movies Online : This website provides exactly what it says: Spanish movies online. Lots to choose from here.
Zumvo : This website provides links to movies from Spain that you can stream online.
Hulu Movies : Hulu comes to the rescue again! Not only do they have Spanish language television shows; they also have Spanish language movies.
SBS : SBS, a service out of Australia, has a large selection of free Spanish language movies from around the world.
Netflix : Netflix has movies from both Latin America and Spain. Just remember that Netflix is a paid service and you may need a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to view it outside the U.S.
Fandor : Fandor, similar to Netflix, is a paid subscription site that provides many films from around the world in a variety of languages.

Spanish Video Lessons

The best part about Spanish language video lessons is that they follow a structured format and are perfect for those new to the language.

The following is a selection of some of my favourites, as well as a few that have come highly recommended.

Spanish Pod 101 : You might know Innovative Language’s Spanish Pod 101 podcast series as a great place to learn a language. This is their YouTube channel to help you see the language being spoken.
FluentU Spanish : FluentU curates videos from all over the web, includes subtitles in Spanish and English. Curated videos are carefully organised so you can study them easily.
Yabla Spanish : Yabla specialises in helping you pick up Spanish through videos in a natural way, with real Spanish spoken by real people. Check out some of the their sample videos to see what it’s all about.
About.com : About.com has various videos instructing on aspects of the Spanish language, including a wide selection on verb conjugations.
Web Spanish : An amazingly fun show giving you authentic Spanish instruction with memorable visuals and humour.
ES Audio : This series of videos entitled “How to Speak Spanish Fast” provides insight into many parts of the Spanish language.
Señor Jordan : This might be one of the funniest Spanish language video courses out there. Definitely worth watching if you want to bust a gut while learning a language.
Complete Spanish : Language Transfer have put together this series of Spanish language lessons to take you through their entire Spanish programme.

Online Radio: Covering Every Topic You Can Think Of

Online radio provides a wide sampling of topics you may not normally be exposed to. That’s why I love listening to it. Plus, it represents Spanish spoken the way you hear it in real life, in accents from all around the world.

Listen Live Europe : This website contains online radio stations for a variety of countries in Europe, including many in Spanish.
Cadena Ser : Several podcasts and shows are available on this network’s website.
E-Spanyol : Over 600 Spanish language radio stations are listed in this directory.
Live TV Radio : A large selection of Spanish language radio channels, organised by country.
TuneIn Spanish : TuneIn is one of my favourite apps for listening to radio stations from around the world. For Spanish radio, check out stations in Central America, South American and Spain.

Music: Spanish Lyrics and Creativity

Spanish music uses language differently than in day-to-day conversation. The issues and topics are closer to our hearts and minds.

Spanish music can be an entertaining way to improve your listening skills and gain a deeper understanding of cultures in the Spanish speaking world.

Here are some websites and links where you can find Spanish music online.

Last.fm Spanish : This popular music recommendation site provides great Spanish music and downloadable mp3 files.
8tracks Spanish Playlist : Another music recommendation site where users create their own playlists. These include playlists of Spanish music.
Online Radio Spanish : This list of online radio stations from Spain, Central America and South America has many stations dedicated to music.
Surf Music : A German online radio station directory with a vast list of stations from all over Spain.
TuneIn Spanish : TuneIn is ideal for listening to stations that play Spanish language music. Stations listed are from Spain, Central America, and South American.

News: Everyday Topics In Standard Spoken Spanish

Listening to the news in Spanish will teach you valuable current vocabulary, and teach you the best way to phrase common expressions on popular topics. Plus, newscasters tend to use very standard pronunciation, so this is a good way to hear things said in a very clear (although somewhat fast) manner.

About.com : About.com has put together a list of Spanish language news sources, some of which are audio and some printed.
RTVE : Spain’s national public broadcaster, RTVE, has a wide array of news broadcasts in Spanish
SBS : SBS provides a list of Spanish news sources.
MIT : The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a list of news sources in Spanish in print, audio and video.
News in Slow Spanish : If you are not quite up to speed with the rapid nature of a newscaster’s delivery, this is the resource for you.

Podcast Lessons: Structured Spanish to Help You Level Up

Listening to the news or watching television shows might be overwhelming if you’re new to Spanish. Online Spanish language lessons and podcasts are a great way to practise listening to the language using a graded, structured approach.

These online lessons and materials that will help you learn Spanish, while providing valuable listening practice.

SpanishPod101 : SpanishPod101 is one of the first resources I recommend to new Spanish learners. Their lessons and materials are top-notch.
Notes in Spanish : Real, authentic Spanish language conversations, broken down to help you build confidence.
Audiria : This podcast, put out by two brothers from Malaga, puts out daily (that’s right: daily) podcasts for Spanish learners.
Coffee Break Spanish : This popular podcast from the Radio Lingua Network provides an introduction to the Spanish language as the host introduces aspects of the language to a beginner learner.
Podcasts in Spanish : Over 170 podcasts for Spanish learners. The audio is free, but you’ll have to pay for the downloadable worksheets.
Spanish Obsessed : Rob and Liz have put together an amazing collection of Spanish language materials, for everyone from total beginners to advanced learners.
Language Treks : Language Treks has a selection of free Spanish language lessons on useful topics for daily life
AiringPods : AiringPods lists dozens of Spanish podcasts you might want to try.

While all of these podcasts are related to Spanish language learners, what if you want to listen to podcasts direct from a Spanish speaking country? Searching through iTunes is often challenging since they target your search results based on your native language or country of residence. Here’s my hack for finding podcasts in your language of choice which will help you locate the best podcasts in the Spanish language. Be sure to check it out!

Where Do You Listen to Spanish?

Be sure to use these resources to increase your exposure to Spanish. Soon you’ll be improving both your comprehension and fluency with this wonderful language, and you’ll find that learning Spanish can be easy.

If you have any other suggestions or if I missed your favourite place to listen to Spanish online, let us know in the comments.

The post Listen to Spanish: 50+ Amazing Spanish Listening Resources appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.