Usually my wife comes with to help translate but she was busy this time so I did it alone.
Tbh I definitely didn't understand everything the doctor was saying but I got enough to answer all the main questions so I'm pretty happy and this feels like another milestone in my learning journey
Preface: I am not requesting language resources for a specific language, I would like some recommendations in general.
Instead of Duolingo - I've been using duolingo for learning for years now, but hate what they did with AI-ifying everything and announcing about a year ago that they are happily replacing real people with AI (resulting in job losses..) This didn't align with my values but I kept using the app bc I need sg for an easy daily thing I can do so I don't forget what I already know.
BUT I've noticed that there is some incorrect information in the lessons now for some languages I know, some of them repeatedly the same which is really concerning.
I don't use duolingo as my main source of learning, but it used to be really good for a low effort daily activity to practice.
I struggle with my health at the moment and can't do anything that needs a lot of mental effort or focus, so immersing myself in something native would be difficult for me. But I don't want to forget things I know so I'd love to try another app if there is one that isn't completely run by AI (don't have illusions that there is one without 🤣)
NO ADS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING APPS PLS I want to hear from ppl re their real experiences
I'm wondering whether is it possible, in your 30s, to reach an advanced level of comprehension (being able to watch movies and TV shows without any subtitles) if you're at an upper-intermediate level. How long might it take, and what methods would help to get there?
I'm asking because whenever I start watching a TV show, I alsways end up pausing to catch what was said in the subtitles, since I have trouble understanding without them. Thanks!
Currently I have listened to 102 episodes of InnerFrench, and as I mostly listen to them while at the gym or during a walk, I just listen passively. I have heard from some people that they work with transcripts, translate unknown words and expressions, listen to it many times.
I can't make myself do that as it feels boring, and I would rather listen through many episodes understanding usually between 70% and 90% depending on the topic.
On the one hand it gives me quantity, but I don't use each episode to 100%
Do you have any preferred way of working with podcasts that you could share?
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I’m a new journalist and for the last few stories readers have been commenting under my post pointing out misspellings. Since this is such an important part of the field, I really want to get better. For reference I use speechify to read my work back to me and I thought it worked for a while. Any advice would be appreciated.
I started learning language so many years ago, since I am 14. I am originally from Peru, and I make a living off the stock market. I have free time 24/7 and the only two things I do are my 2 interests: language learning and French music (listening or writing). Man, life is inherently meaningless so why not just enjoy what you love to do? I currently speak 6 languages fluently: Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Russian, and Vietnamese. Currently I am learning Quechua because I love the Inca history and… I want to become president of my country once I reach 35. I am also doing a Bachelor’s on Computer science just for fun and honestly coding is ridiculously easy compared to human languages.
Hi all! I'm not sure if this is allowed here (mods, please let me know if it is not!), but I'm learning a few languages, so I decided to build an AI tutor on my local computer (link). I found that I always struggled with holding conversations - if I spoke with a native speaker, it felt they knew too many words and I kept having to switch to English to ask them what they were saying. If I spoke with other students in my class, the conversations felt super circular based only on the common words that we knew.
How it works: you speak into the app in your target language, and on the back-end the app translates what you say, feeds it to the LLM, and the LLM responds to you using a list of pre-approved words that you already know in that language (or more, if you want to learn new vocab). The app then takes that response, runs it through the translation service, and speaks it back to you. I also added a speed control, because oftentimes native speed can be too fast for new learners.
It's all open source, I'm not trying to sell anything, I just wanted to add an additional resource for others looking to learn :)
I knew someone who was actually really good at English on papersolid grammar, good comprehension, could understand almost anything. But the moment they had to speak? Full freeze like they knew exactly what they wanted to say, but it just wouldn’t come out fast enough.
They were preparing for IELTS and kept saying, “I don’t lack vocabulary, I just can’t speak it in real time.”
Instead of over-studying, they switched to just using English more short daily speaking practice, low pressure, no worrying about mistakes. Just speaking. After a while, the hesitation started fading. It wasn’t perfect, but the flow became way more natural. And they eventually passed IELTS speaking, which used to be their biggest fear.
It made me realize again: speaking isn’t really learned from studying it’s built from actually using the language regularly.
This word - revise - does NOT mean the same in British English as it does in American English, I've come to learn!
I kept seeing it used in language learner YouTubes, posts, and discussions. It's used it to mean the act of revisiting previously studied material, to study again.
İn American usage, the word for that process is Review. İn British English, the word for this is apparently Revise. İt's super jarring to hear American accents say Revise when they mean Review 🤪🙃😆🤷♀️.
I'm curious what word other English dialects use for this 'studying again' process? Aussies Kiwis, Canucks, Desis, Saffos, Caribeňos?
And does anyone else get that jarring feeling when confronted with the word 'revise' where an American world use 'review'?