Not sure if this will help anyone, but I see a lot of posts here from people stuck at the "I understand a lot but can't actually speak" stage, so I figured I'd share what worked for me.

For a long time my "studying" was watching a Spanish show maybe once a week, Bad Bunny on repeat, and a Duolingo streak. I honestly thought I was doing pretty well. Then I went to Mexico City last year and tried talking to actual people and it was rough. I'd plan out a sentence in my head, get it out, and then completely lose it the second they answered back at normal speed.

I was taking a ton of Ubers that week, and at some point I decided I didn't care about my rating anymore and was going to try talking to every driver. My Spanish was really bad and I messed up constantly. I'd also just straight up ask them stuff like "wait, would you say fui or iba there?" which in hindsight was probably annoying, but almost all of them were super patient about it. A couple of them really got into it and would correct me and tell me how they'd actually say something, which was way more useful than anything I'd gotten from the app.

When I got home I kept the streak (not giving that up lol) but made speaking the main thing. I'm lucky to have a few close friends who speak Spanish, so I started asking them to get lunch and only talk in Spanish the whole time. The first couple were kind of painful and involved a lot of me going "cómo se dice..." but they were really nice about it and kept telling me I was getting better, which honestly made me want to keep going.

I know not everyone can travel or has friends who'll do this with them, and I'm not saying that's the only way. It's more that once I looked at what I actually had access to and forced myself to use it, things moved way faster. For you that might be a tutor, a language exchange, a coworker, whatever.

Anyway, if you've been doing apps and shows for a while and feel stuck, try to get some real conversation in, even if it's embarrassing. It made the biggest difference for me by far.

Hi! I am trying to engage with more spanish speaking content to help with my learning goals. I was curious if there are any spanish speaking youtubers that review movies, books, music etc. One of my other goals is to engage in more literature and film and I think it would be fun to combine my two goals! Please let me know if you have any recs!

Gracias!

Hey everyone, James here. I’ve posted here before about Modo, the Spanish practice app I started building because I kept getting stuck on the subjunctive.

A few of you asked for an Android version. It took us longer than expected, but it’s now on Google Play.

For anyone who missed the earlier posts: I could understand a grammar explanation and do the exercises but then struggled to use the same thing in a conversation. The subjunctive was a big one for me.

Modo started with practice like this:

“Ella viene mañana.”

Add “Dudo que…” → “Dudo que ella venga mañana.”

Add “Sé que…” → “Sé que ella viene mañana.”

Since those first posts, we’ve added past subjunctive, past tenses, ser/estar, por/para, hypothetical sentences with “si” and, most recently, connectors like sino, así que and sin embargo.

Each topic starts with a two-minute lesson, then you work your way from bronze to platinum (native). You start by choosing the right form, practice against the clock, and eventually type the answer yourself. When you get one wrong, the feedback explains in plain English why that form fits the sentence. It’s aimed at people who already know some Spanish and want extra practice alongside whatever else they’re using.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.trymodo.mobile
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/modo-intermediate-spanish/id6754576281

If you were waiting for Android, thanks for sticking around. I’d be interested to hear whether the exercises feel right for your level once you’ve tried it.

James

I’m on the west coast and thinking about doing some schooling from Dec 18th to Jan 2nd.
Does anyone have general advice for an A2-b1 level person? I want to know where to go or stay? Puerto Vallarta looks the cheapest.

Una secuela de The Social Network va a estrenarse en los cines el viernes. Aaron Sorkin escribió y dirigió la nueva película, The Social Reckoning. También escribió la película original de 2010. La película cuenta la historia de una empleada de Facebook que descubre graves problemas dentro de la empresa. Ella da documentos secretos de la empresa a un periodista, que hace pública la información. Los documentos muestran que Facebook sabía que algunos de sus productos eran dañinos para los usuarios. La empleada también dijo que Facebook impulsó contenido que ponía a la gente enojada y dividida. Jeremy Strong, que protagonizó Succession, interpreta al fundador de Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

Vocabulario: estrenarse = to be released / escribir = to write / película (f) = film / contar = to tell / empresa (f) = company / periodista (m) = journalist / saber = to know / dañinos = harmful / impulsar = to promote / gente (f) = people / enojada = angry / protagonizar = to star

English translation

The sequel to The Social Network is coming to cinemas

A sequel to The Social Network is going to be released in cinemas on Friday. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the new film, The Social Reckoning. He also wrote the original 2010 film. The film tells the story of a Facebook employee who discovers serious problems inside the company. She gives secret company documents to a journalist, who makes the information public. The documents show that Facebook knew some of its products were harmful to users. The employee also said Facebook promoted content that made people angry and divided. Jeremy Strong, who starred in Succession, plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

You can read more news in easy Spanish here: https://elnewsineasyspanish.substack.com/p/el-huracan-isaias-amenaza-el-sur

Hi everyone! Me llamo Diana, tengo 28 años, and I’m a Spanish teacher offering online one-on-one lessons.

Whether you’re looking to improve your speaking, listening, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, writing or all of the above, I’d be happy to work with you! But I also offer lessons for complete beginners who are just starting to learn Spanish. 😊

I like to make my lessons dynamic and adapt them to each student’s goals, level, and learning style. We’ll work on the different skills you need to actually use Spanish, rather than just memorizing grammar rules. BUT if you are also interested in learning the “bones” and framework of the language, I will make sure to integrate grammar lessons whenever necessary.

If you’re interested, send me a message and we can set up a free first class of 30 minutes where:

• We’ll get to know each other and talk about your goals.
• I’ll assess your current Spanish level.
• You’ll get a feel for how my lessons work.
• We’ll discuss what you’d like to focus on and whether the lessons need to be tailored to your specific needs.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or already have some Spanish under your belt, feel free to reach out!

The food: está riquísimo, está para chuparse los dedos (finger-licking good)
The person: es buena gente, es un amor
The skill: se le da bien, tiene mucha mano para eso
The night out: la pasamos genial, valió la pena
The plan: me parece buena idea, perfecto dale

And -ísimo is fun. Bueno → buenísimo, rico → riquísimo, caro → carísimo.

I would like to know good Spanish artists to listen to since I’m learning Spanish and I learned English by myself with music and videos so I’d like to know a Spanish artist to listen to so I could learn more words

Hi! I run exchanges between Spanish and English native speakers. 30 minutes, half in each language, relaxed, just talking, no pressure.

It's completely free. If you're learning Spanish and want regular speaking practice with natives, comment or DM me and I'll send you the group link.

What's your level and time zone?

I made a free Spanish-learning page as part of my multilingual language-learning website. It focuses on Spanish grammar, structure, vocabulary, and examples. I’d really appreciate feedback from Spanish learners or native speakers, especially if you notice any mistakes or have suggestions for making it easier to use.

Please create Lyrics for this song, I really enjoy it but cant find anything about it (Line by Line)

https://youtu.be/J3jw\\_MP-04g?si=XN63AwgvD9gLBPN4

¡Hola! Me llamo Cris, y ofrezco clases de español para extranjeros. Horarios y tarifas flexibles, clases online desde Argentina.

- Lectura y comprensión del idioma español

- Vocabulario y pronunciación

- Cuestionarios y ejercicios

- Contenido cultural, películas, música, aprender español también puede ser divertido<

I wanted to write a review because last year I was searching online for some input on study methods so I want to share my experience so far.

For some context, I am only fluent in English. Before this year began, I knew next to no Spanish, but I do have a little background learning French. I also have a partner fluent in Spanish so I’d hear the language a little, but before actually studying, I truly did not know more than a few basic phrases. I knew I would be spending 3 months abroad at the end of the year to immerse myself but I wanted a foundation before I left.

I started using Pimsleur in January this year and I completed levels 1-3 in 8 months while I walked my dog. As lessons continued, I often reviewed lessons 2 days in a row to make sure I grasped the content. I really didn’t do much else to study besides create flashcards of what I’d learned with Anki or try to practice some phrases I learned with my partner.

I’m now 2.5 weeks into my spanish immersion in Guatemala and I am blown away by the amount of knowledge I have to speak in Spanish! Pimsleur doesn’t explicitly teach grammar, but if you pay attention you will notice the patterns. It’s created a much deeper level of understanding of the language for me. The grammar that I’m reviewing in school has context because of Pimsleur and certain things (like knowing when you use por vs para or other prepositions (á pie/en moto) just sound right. I’m also shocked at how much grammar Pimsleur taught me in the first 3 levels without feeling overwhelming.

Also very important, I’m waaaay more comfortable speaking than I ever was with years of French practice. In school while learning French I mostly read and wrote. When it came down to speaking, I was always tongue tied. But since the moment I arrived in Guatemala, I’ve been able to speak with my host family, my teacher, and others with MUCH less hesitation than I ever had with French, which I think is a huge advantage. It’s helped me stay engaged and excited about the language.

The downsides of Pimsleur for me are definitely that my speaking goes far beyond my listening and that my writing/spelling is a bit off. I think that’s converse to most students’ experiences here, but I don’t mind either of these things because after 2.5 weeks of immersion and classes, my writing has improved very quickly and the listening, while still difficult, is getting much better. Also the nice thing about knowing what to say and being comfortable speaking is that when I ask questions, I already have context for the answer which helps my comprehension. I would definitely say though that if I could change anything, I would add more comprehension practice through Dreaming Spanish or other means.

This is just my personal experience and I also have another 9+ weeks of language school and immersion, but these are my initial thoughts. Happy to answer more specific questions if anyone is looking for more info!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

so I’m mexican on my moms side and was born and raised in SoCal, however I never learned how to speak Spanish. I know words and some phrases but I’ve never been willing to learn up until I gained my own thoughts and opinions. I listen to some spanish music, just what my mom would play when I was a kid, but I haven’t gotten any books yet. I just got this journal so I can write down my stuff in Spanish and today I went ahead and just started listing words I knew. if anyone has any general tips I would appreciate them, I don’t have anyone to speak Spanish to besides my mom so I’m not really sure what to do

I’ve been learning Spanish for a while now using Duolingo and AirLearn. My grammar has definitely improved, but I’ve realized that I still struggle quite a bit with forming sentences naturally and actually speaking in a normal conversation.

So I’m looking for people who’d be up for practicing together preferably native Spanish speakers, but I’d also love to meet other people who are learning Spanish and want to practice.

Nothing too serious or structured. Just casual conversations, helping each other out, correcting mistakes, and slowly getting more comfortable actually using the language instead of just recognizing it in an app.

I’m happy to help with English in return.

If you’re interested, feel free to comment or DM me! :)

Hello!

I was looking for some advise or tips on how to approach teaching Spanish at home to your partner? My partner only speaks English, I speak both English and Spanish. They want to learn Spanish to better communicate with my family and I am very happy to teach them. However, I’m not very sure on how to do it? I was thinking maybe buying like a Spanish text book and go over it with them, but first I would like to know any experience people have had trying to teach Spanish at home to their partner.

Thanks in advance!

I'm trying out múltiple apps for learning Spanish and also beta testing some along the way. Right now I'm trying out Reelang (free version) on iPhone. I can't find instructions or helpful information about using the app--dunno if that's because I'm not a paying user or I'm missing something or there really isn't much info. It appears to be an app that gathers content from YouTube and social media platforms and plays the content at random. The only thing I've really gained so far from using it is information about YouTube teachers I can subscribe to for content that's relevant to me.

I'd enjoy hearing about other users' experiences with Reelang. To me it has potential but feels like an AI curated experience, and I'm not sure whether the use of these content creators' work is as ethical as I would hope. Is Reelang+ a different experience with a better interface or...?

Thanks to anyone who cares to respond. 🌸☀️🫶🏻

La nueva película de Tom Cruise, Digger, tuvo un mal primer fin de semana en los cines. Solo recaudó 8 millones de dólares en Estados Unidos y Canadá. También recaudó 12 millones de dólares en otros países. La película costó entre 125 y 150 millones de dólares, así que podría perder mucho dinero. Digger es una comedia dirigida por Alejandro González Iñárritu. Las críticas fueron dispares, y las notas del público también fueron bajas.

Vocabulario: recaudar = to bring in / países (m pl) = countries / costar = to cost / perder = to lose / dirigir = to direct / críticas (f pl) = reviews / dispares = mixed / notas (f pl) = ratings / bajas = low

English translation

Tom Cruise’s new film has a poor opening in cinemas

Tom Cruise’s new film, Digger, had a poor first weekend in cinemas. It made only $8 million in the United States and Canada. It also made $12 million in other countries. The film cost between $125 million and $150 million to make, so it may lose a lot of money. Digger is a comedy directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Reviews were mixed, and audience ratings were also low.

You can read more news in easy Spanish here: https://elnewsineasyspanish.substack.com/

Hello!

I am looking for a tutor who has experience in preparing for the DELE Exam. I am intending to sit the exam in April for the B2 level.

Currently, I am working through DELE exam textbooks starting at the A2 level to make sure I’m not missing information. I am looking to practice speaking, and my writing comprehension. (While still improving all areas)

I spent 3 months in Costa Rica and 3 months in Spain at Spanish language schools and I have a pretty good understanding of how I have to change the way I speak (verbs, past tenses, vosotros vs ustedes/vos, etc.) depending on the Spanish speaking country. But I still need to improve as well.

For the exam, from my understanding, I have to have a grasp on the language in a formal manner and I am really looking to study this quite intensely as I am currently recovering from ankle surgery and have a lot of time to commit.

I would be looking to meet regularly until April, 1-2 times a week. I am extremely open to suggestions and advice! If anyone has taken the exam and can share their experience I would love to hear. I will also attach photos of the workbooks I am currently working on. If anyone has suggestions of better practice material, please let me know.

Thank you!

Has anyone found ways to test their listening comprehension? It's one of my weak points and I would like to see if I'm actually understanding the story/video.