Spanish Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
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iguanamon
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2350
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:14 am
Location: Virgin Islands
Languages: Speaks: English (Native); Spanish (C2); Portuguese (C2); Haitian Creole (C1); Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol (C1); Lesser Antilles French Creole (B2)
Studies: Catalan
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=797
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby iguanamon » Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:23 am

There's a new App available that helps learners use Radio Ambulante to learn Spanish. I saw this thread on twitter today from Daniel Alarcón of Radio Ambulante. I can't include the videos but you can click on the link and see and hear it all.
Daniel Alarcón wrote:Several years ago, when we started doing audience surveys at @radioambulante, we discovered something interesting: 20% of our listeners were using our stories to learn Spanish. So we started asking ourselves what we could do to better serve them.
It's an important question. For more than a year we’ve been working on @Lupa_app, (http://lupa.app) an app that transforms the rigorous journalism of @radioambulante into a fun and efficient method of learning Spanish. Let me show you some of its features.
You can switch seamlessly between the Spanish transcript and the English translation as needed.
With @Lupa_App, you're encouraged to use your ear to do the heavy lifting -- as it should be! -- but you can always turn on extra help when you need it.
And @LupaApp helps you keep track of new vocabulary you've learned, and learn colloquial phrases as they're used in different contexts -- so you're learning Spanish as it's really spoken!
We're so excited about this app for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it will give people who aren't yet fluent a chance to hear the amazing journalism we do. To hear Spanish that's real, with innovative tools that transform great stories into effective language lessons.

Looks like an easy and convenient way to use a great podcast to help Spanish learners incorporate native material in their learning on a tablet or phone.
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User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2109
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Nov 02, 2019 9:18 pm

Probably only a dummie like me needs to have this pointed out to him, but "app" means "for gadgets, not for desktops." :(
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
iguanamon
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2350
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:14 am
Location: Virgin Islands
Languages: Speaks: English (Native); Spanish (C2); Portuguese (C2); Haitian Creole (C1); Ladino/Djudeo-espanyol (C1); Lesser Antilles French Creole (B2)
Studies: Catalan
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=797
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby iguanamon » Sat Nov 16, 2019 1:32 am

Member kanewai has started a new thread- A Spanish Book Reading Resource, coming off the success of Carmody's original French Book thread.

I'll update the first page of this thread to include it. Thank you, kanewai, for taking the initiative on this and starting this thread.
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User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2109
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:08 am

SCMT wrote:Hello, Spanish group.

Thanks to those of you who have posted useful info in this thread and elsewhere; you have been more help to some of us than you know.

Anyway, gracias para la informacion.

Also, as I mentioned in my log, if anyone has suggestions for reading material that is above the level of a newspaper but not quite Hemingway, I'd love to hear it. I'm not much on chidren's lit or young adult, so I'd rather stay away from teenage vampire love stories, but if you have a favorite mystery, spy novel, or historical fiction, or anything non-fiction that isn't too opaque for an intermediate language learner, I'd love to have recommendations.
Whatever became of this question? Did you receive any useful suggestions? What have you been reading?
I am going to recommend a "simple" but perhaps not intermediate novel called Los de Abajo (often translated as The Underdogs) by Mariano Azuela. It is relatively short (one edition has 160 pages) and relatively simple in vocabulary, though there are some colloquialisms to look out for. There is an audiobook available, and a movie was made from it (which is not bad, but IMHO you should read the book first). The subject is the Mexican Revolution of 1917, but this is not a Hollywood version of history and there is no gore. It is about the underlings, the underdogs, who fought in the revolution. I did not list anything from "Library Amazon" because nothing I looked at had a "Look Inside" feature. Yet you should be able to find a good copy for less than $10.00. I have personally read it and enjoyed it.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
SCMT
Orange Belt
Posts: 245
Joined: Thu May 30, 2019 6:32 pm
Languages: Engilsh (N)
Spanish (Learning)
French (Beginning)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=10551
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby SCMT » Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:35 am

MorkTheFiddle wrote:
SCMT wrote:Hello, Spanish group.

Thanks to those of you who have posted useful info in this thread and elsewhere; you have been more help to some of us than you know.

Anyway, gracias para la informacion.

Also, as I mentioned in my log, if anyone has suggestions for reading material that is above the level of a newspaper but not quite Hemingway, I'd love to hear it. I'm not much on chidren's lit or young adult, so I'd rather stay away from teenage vampire love stories, but if you have a favorite mystery, spy novel, or historical fiction, or anything non-fiction that isn't too opaque for an intermediate language learner, I'd love to have recommendations.
Whatever became of this question? Did you receive any useful suggestions? What have you been reading?
I am going to recommend a "simple" but perhaps not intermediate novel called Los de Abajo (often translated as The Underdogs) by Mariano Azuela. It is relatively short (one edition has 160 pages) and relatively simple in vocabulary, though there are some colloquialisms to look out for. There is an audiobook available, and a movie was made from it (which is not bad, but IMHO you should read the book first). The subject is the Mexican Revolution of 1917, but this is not a Hollywood version of history and there is no gore. It is about the underlings, the underdogs, who fought in the revolution. I did not list anything from "Library Amazon" because nothing I looked at had a "Look Inside" feature. Yet you should be able to find a good copy for less than $10.00. I have personally read it and enjoyed it.


Although I didn't really receive direct suggestions, searching this forum (and other corners of the internet,) gave a bunch of useful leads. I'm currently 8.5/12 chapters through Como Agua para Chocolate, which I enjoy and which seems to be at an appropriate level.

I do appreciate your suggestion, and I will definitely check it out after I finish my current novel. I will post about it in my log the next time I update, but my last tutoring session involved a trivia game about Mexican history and culture, and it mainly highlighted my ignorance on those subjects!
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coldrainwater
Blue Belt
Posts: 686
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:53 am
Location: Magnolia, TX
Languages: EN(N), ES(rusty), DE(), FR(studies)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7636
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby coldrainwater » Wed Nov 27, 2019 6:23 am

I found [yet another] frequency list that I believe some may like to peruse.

wordandphrase.info/span

What I like most about it has to do with ease. It is very easy to browse and shows you results in very manageable, study-friendly chunks. If you click, list from #, you can start from any point in the list. There is also a prominent download button at the top of the page if you want the entire list. This resource was brought to our attention previously but came up in another language (EN) back in 2016. I am not sure if it was made clear that it was also available in ES.

Edit: It also looks like they were careful in creating the list. Comparison vs. larger Spanish corpora. I noticed that it looked way too clean to be an ordinary list.
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User avatar
Querneus
Blue Belt
Posts: 836
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2016 5:28 am
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Languages: Speaks: Spanish (N), English
Studying: Latin, French, Mandarin
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby Querneus » Thu Nov 28, 2019 2:53 am

coldrainwater wrote:I found [yet another] frequency list that I believe some may like to peruse.

wordandphrase.info/span

What I like most about it has to do with ease. It is very easy to browse and shows you results in very manageable, study-friendly chunks. If you click, list from #, you can start from any point in the list. There is also a prominent download button at the top of the page if you want the entire list. This resource was brought to our attention previously but came up in another language (EN) back in 2016. I am not sure if it was made clear that it was also available in ES.

Edit: It also looks like they were careful in creating the list. Comparison vs. larger Spanish corpora. I noticed that it looked way too clean to be an ordinary list.

Could you elaborate on how you recommend using that webpage? It has a very unusual interface. Things just change even when I just move the mouse to the side. :? I also don't seem to be able to find the bare list anywhere?

EDIT: Oh, okay, if you enter a number in the "LIST FROM #", you can see 20 items after that number in the list of 40000 words.

EDIT: "After 10-15 queries, we ask that you register for continued use of WordAndPhrase. This is a one-time process that takes just a minute or two." Well then...
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User avatar
coldrainwater
Blue Belt
Posts: 686
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:53 am
Location: Magnolia, TX
Languages: EN(N), ES(rusty), DE(), FR(studies)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7636
x 2381

Re: Spanish Group

Postby coldrainwater » Thu Nov 28, 2019 5:15 am

Ser wrote:EDIT: "After 10-15 queries, we ask that you register for continued use of WordAndPhrase. This is a one-time process that takes just a minute or two." Well then...

Thanks for pointing this out. Unfortunately, I have somewhat worse news to report on top of that. I registered and noticed that both the basic usage and premium/academic usage is substantially limited, both on a daily and monthly basis. They say the Spanish list will be downloadable soon (like the English is now), so beyond minimal searching, I don't see a way to get at all of the data now. I will let everyone know if I get a notification that the entire set is ready for download. It is shame that they are restricting it so, as I really do like their interface and how they present concordance, synonyms, etc for a given term.
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User avatar
klvik
Orange Belt
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:40 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (N) Spanish (Intermediate)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3149
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby klvik » Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:05 pm

If you are stuck at home due to the pandemic and are looking for a way to practice your Spanish, check out the special edition of the Tandem MOOC course. I have participated several times and have enjoyed it. Not only have I found it useful for practicing speaking in Spanish but also I have found it to be a great way to find good practice partners.

Here's the email I received this morning:

Dear former tandemMOOC participants,
We hope you are all keeping well in these difficult days. We know many of you are confined at home so we have decided to launch a new edition of tandemMOOC, with new tasks and a new feature in the RouletteTandem tool: if there are no native speakers online to talk to, you'll be paired with other learners of your target language in different parts of the world. Don't let distance get in your way of practising English or Spanish!
Join us in this special new venture starting on the 15th of April.
Registration is already open!

http://mooc.speakapps.org/
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January 5, 2020
2020 Output Challenge speaking: 66 / 3000

User avatar
Jaleel10
Blue Belt
Posts: 534
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:44 am
Location: Springbok, South Africa
Languages: Afrikaans (N), English (N)
Spanish (Advanced-B2)
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Re: Spanish Group

Postby Jaleel10 » Sun May 17, 2020 8:54 am

Hey, guys. It's been a while o/

How're the Spanish studies going?
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