QuasarchShooby [OP] 3 points 1y ago
Personally, I don’t think any of those language apps are very good if fluency is the goal. But Duolingo is OK if you’re planning on using your Spanish for travel. it’s been years since I’ve used it, so I can’t speak to its accessibility currently. However, I thought it was accessible??? I could’ve sworn something about it being accessible. I’m taking classes at my college, which is great for accountability. However, it’s totally possible to learn a language independently. Your best bet is to sit down with a textbook to learn grammar, do the practice activities in a textbook, talk to yourself and native speakers, and input input input. The reason we get really good at our first language is because we hear it a lot. You need to do the same with Spanish.
Of course, if you’re planning to learn Spanish only for a trip, it probably is excessive to buy a textbook. In that case, I would see what basic tutorials you can find on YouTube.
For comprehensible input and improving your listening, I suggest watching dreaming Spanish. Do keep in mind that it’s ran by a guy from Spain, so the accent is a little different. The vocabulary is also a little different, but I would conceptualize the difference to be more akin to north versus south in the United States.
I have a Braille display, so one of my favorite ways to get used to reading Spanish is to connect my display to my phone, turn on subtitles in Netflix, and watch my favorite show in English and read it in Spanish. I actually made a post about this in this sub Reddit, so you can find instructions if you scroll through my profile.
Hmm what else…
Oh, there’s also an entirely untapped world of Spanish podcasts. Coffee break Spanish, for what I’ve heard, it’s a good way to learn the basics.
The subreddit r/Spanish is also pretty great. They host weekly speaking marathons on zoom. They will also give you feedback on your accent if you post a recording of yourself.