Re: Any opinions of Fluencia, Spanish learning site?
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:37 pm
I have never posted on any of these forums before but because I have used them multiple times, I figure I should give back since I feel like I have made a bunch of progress using a variety of apps to learn Spanish. I have had very little formal instruction apart from four sessions with an online tutor in the middle of the process. I would like to share what I got out of all of these programs, including Fluencia.
- Duolingo: the program that got me started and probably the best way to begin. Free and user-friendly, this is the program that gave me the initial push to try and learn the language. The gamification of the lessons is very fun and useful. I learned the basics through this program and completed it. I still do two lessons a day as a refresher. It very quickly becomes a little too easy though.
- Brainscape: a mobile flashcard app which was the next step. Probably the best way to learn vocab. Have been using this for about two years now and still haven't finished going through all the vocabulary words. Also has a great a sentence building side to things which taught me more of the fundamentals of grammar in way that Duolingo couldn't. Forcing you come up with the words and sentences in Spanish on your own rather than translate from Spanish or choose from multiple choice is more challenging and ultimately more useful. I have finished all of the sentence building lessons, all fifteen of the 200-card-each vocab lessons, and am now continuing on in the business spanish / food and drink / medical etc. ancillary lessons.
- Pimsleur: for me, this was THE "app" for listening and understanding Spanish. None of the other apps helped me actually understand Spanish more than this. It's listen/repeat exercises of real Spanish speakers was crucial for me to actually formulate phrases and conjugate verbs automatically and practically rather than academically. I am halfway through the 4th unit (out of five). Mind you, you will have very limited vocab if you exclusively use this course.
- Learning Spanish Like Crazy: This I found far less useful than Pimsleur. It moves a little too rapidly through the material and doesn't repeat things nearly as much. I think I used it too early on--I might try using it again after I finish the Pimsleur materials.
- Fluencia: While costly, no other course taught me the por vs. para, imperfect, and present subjunctive better than this one--especially the subjunctive which is barely touched upon in Duolingo and is not even mentioned in brainscape. The subjunctive is all over the place and is really essential, especially for reading. I also like the crisp, real audio as opposed to the robot audio of Duolingo. Every unit starts with a long conversation in Spanish at normal speed--this is a good supplement to the very short conversations of Pimsleur. I am half way through the 9th level (each level has ten units and each unit has about 10 lessons).
- extr@: a fun sitcom in Spanish based on Friends. Good way to practice listening at the basic level.
- Destinos: fun, overdramatic soap opera. Still working my way through the show since it has so many episodes.
I have not tried either the FSI program or Language Transfer although they seem intriguing. With regards to Fluencia, I would say that it is very useful grammatically but that it should be used concurrently with the other programs. In fact, I would say all of these programs are complementary and work together since they excel in different areas. I have been practicing Spanish for about two years and can now have conversations exclusively in Spanish (albeit with a patient Spanish speaker!)
- Duolingo: the program that got me started and probably the best way to begin. Free and user-friendly, this is the program that gave me the initial push to try and learn the language. The gamification of the lessons is very fun and useful. I learned the basics through this program and completed it. I still do two lessons a day as a refresher. It very quickly becomes a little too easy though.
- Brainscape: a mobile flashcard app which was the next step. Probably the best way to learn vocab. Have been using this for about two years now and still haven't finished going through all the vocabulary words. Also has a great a sentence building side to things which taught me more of the fundamentals of grammar in way that Duolingo couldn't. Forcing you come up with the words and sentences in Spanish on your own rather than translate from Spanish or choose from multiple choice is more challenging and ultimately more useful. I have finished all of the sentence building lessons, all fifteen of the 200-card-each vocab lessons, and am now continuing on in the business spanish / food and drink / medical etc. ancillary lessons.
- Pimsleur: for me, this was THE "app" for listening and understanding Spanish. None of the other apps helped me actually understand Spanish more than this. It's listen/repeat exercises of real Spanish speakers was crucial for me to actually formulate phrases and conjugate verbs automatically and practically rather than academically. I am halfway through the 4th unit (out of five). Mind you, you will have very limited vocab if you exclusively use this course.
- Learning Spanish Like Crazy: This I found far less useful than Pimsleur. It moves a little too rapidly through the material and doesn't repeat things nearly as much. I think I used it too early on--I might try using it again after I finish the Pimsleur materials.
- Fluencia: While costly, no other course taught me the por vs. para, imperfect, and present subjunctive better than this one--especially the subjunctive which is barely touched upon in Duolingo and is not even mentioned in brainscape. The subjunctive is all over the place and is really essential, especially for reading. I also like the crisp, real audio as opposed to the robot audio of Duolingo. Every unit starts with a long conversation in Spanish at normal speed--this is a good supplement to the very short conversations of Pimsleur. I am half way through the 9th level (each level has ten units and each unit has about 10 lessons).
- extr@: a fun sitcom in Spanish based on Friends. Good way to practice listening at the basic level.
- Destinos: fun, overdramatic soap opera. Still working my way through the show since it has so many episodes.
I have not tried either the FSI program or Language Transfer although they seem intriguing. With regards to Fluencia, I would say that it is very useful grammatically but that it should be used concurrently with the other programs. In fact, I would say all of these programs are complementary and work together since they excel in different areas. I have been practicing Spanish for about two years and can now have conversations exclusively in Spanish (albeit with a patient Spanish speaker!)