Language-Learning Resources

Updated on: by Amy Kennedy

Free Online Resources for learning another language

How to Learn Another Language

One skill that can help you when you work from home, especially if you do phone work, is being fluent in a second language.  Many companies are looking for people who are bilingual, especially in English and Spanish, though some companies are also looking for people who are fluent in other languages as well.  This post will provide information on some websites you can use to learn Spanish, as well as other languages, from home.

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Spanishdict.com

I recently started using this website to learn Spanish so that I can do interviews with spanish-speaking customers at my job at Apptical.  Spanishdict has four different courses, and each course has several different lessons.

Each lesson consists several different exercises that will  help you learn the material-first is  a video that is around 10-15 minutes long.  The video introduces the vocabulary, phrases, and/or verb conjugations  you’ll learn in the  lesson.

The next resource are flashcards that you can use to quiz yourself on the vocabulary and verb conjugations – you’ll see a picture, and then when you click the mouse again you’ll see the word and also hear its pronunciation.

Next is a recognition exercise where you have to choose the correct Spanish word or phrase for the picture that’s shown.

The  next exercise is a listening exercise where  you’ll hear the word or phrase pronounced and then you have to choose the correct English meaning.

Then you’ll have a recall exercise, where you’ll see the picture, and you have to write out the word or phrase, with any accents in the correct places.

The next exercise is a writing exercise, where you write out whatever the instructions tell you to write, for example “Tell me how old you are,” or “Tell me about your family,” and then compare it to the example that’s provided.

The last exercise is a speaking exercise, where you record yourself saying whatever the prompt is asking for, like “Tell me how old you are” using the correct form of the verb “Estar”  After you record yourself and listen to  your recording, you can compare it to the example recording that’s provided.

As you work through each exercise, you’ll earn points –  you need to accumulate at least 750 points before you can move on to the next lesson, which you can usually do by the end of the writing section.   In addition, there are other flashcard sets you can review on your own to learn additional vocabulary, as well as a phrasebook and a translator that you can use for words or phrases you can’t find anywhere else.  I’ve been using this website quite a bit, and it’s helping me develop a pretty good foundation for Spanish vocabulary, verbs, and phrases.

Livemocha

This is another language-learning website that’s similar to Spanishdict, but also very different.

For one thing, Livemocha has lessons in other languages as well as Sapnish.  Also, when you join Livemocha, you’re given a certain number of points that you can use to purchase lessons, or for feedback on some of the speaking, reading and writing exercises you’ll do.

They have many of the same types of exercises that Spanishdict has, such as recognition and listening exercises, but the way their writing and speaking exercises are done are a bit different – when you do them, you have the option to have someone review them – either an expert, or a member of the community, which costs a certain number of the points that you start out with when you first join the site.  If you want to have your work reviewed by an expert, it costs more points and also takes longer to get feedback.

However you can have your speaking and writing exercises reviewed by other members of the site, which costs fewer points, plus you get feedback a lot faster.

In addition, if someone gives you particularly helpful feedback, you can ask them to be your language partner, and you can actually  practice your speaking and writing with them through text and voice chat when you’re both on the site at the same time.   You can also rate the speaking and reading exercises of people who are learning English and give them feedback – when you do that you’ll earn points so you can keep purchasing lessons and getting feedback from members.

As good as this site is,  I have encountered one major problem with it – after I set up my password and got into the site the first time, I had problems logging into the site again. I contacted their tech support and the suggestions they gave me were not very helpful.  Because of that, I sought out another site for connecting with other language learners to practice my speaking and writing.

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My Language Exchange

I found this site when I started having problems with Livemocha. My Language Exchange is a lot like Livemocha, except it doesn’t have actual lessons.

You can sign up as a free member or a Gold Member-as a free member you only have access to certain features, such as the message boards, text chat and email. You won’t have access to voice features as a free member, nor will you be able to contact people directly through the member search – you’ll have to use the message board to find someone to do text chat and/or exchange emails with.

You can play games on My Language Exchange however, and in addition you can use  message boards to find language partners that you can practice speaking or writing with.

Also, when you’re a free member, gold members can contact you and start communicating with you that way – that’s how I found my current Spanish e-mail  pal – I’ve been communicating with him for a while  now, and he’s taught me a few good Spanish phrases, such as “Thank goodness it’s Friday (Gracias a dios es viernes), and he has also helped me with the Spanish I’ve been learning through Spanishdict.

Spanish 2 Go App –

With this app, you can download the Spanish 2 Go podcasts to your iPhone.  The podcasts are short, around 12-15 minutes each, and you’ll learn different words – the person who put the podcast together, David Spencer does a Word of the Day podcast, and he also has different podcasts that center around different themes.  This link will take you to the iPhone app, however if you have a Kindle or other Android device there is also a Spanish 2 Go Android app available.

Other ideas for learning new languages:

  • Watch television shows in the language you want to learn – a lot of cable companies provide at least a few channels for Spanish speakers – for example if you get HBO, there’s the HBO Latino channel, and there are also other Spanish-speaking channels.
  • Read books in the language you’re trying to learn – You may not know all the words, but you’ll know some, and you may be able to figure out other words because words in some languages, such as Spanish and French, look like and/or sound like their English meanings.
  • Find ways to practice the language you’re learning during the day – That doesn’t mean you necessarily have to start a conversation with someone, but for example when I’m working out,  when I do strength exercises I’ll count the reps in Spanish.  Or when I’m making a meal for myself, I’ll try to practice the names of the foods I’ve learned, like “La manzana” which means “apple” in Spanish.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a renowned language learning platform that offers interactive lessons in many languages, including Spanish. Each lesson includes various activities such as translation tasks, listening exercises, and speaking practice.

Duolingo’s unique approach makes language learning feel like a game, which can be quite engaging and fun. Its lessons are designed to be bite-sized so you can learn at your own pace whenever you have some free time. Duolingo also uses spaced repetition, ensuring you review words at the right intervals to commit them to long-term memory.

Babbel

Babbel is another comprehensive language learning platform. It offers a more structured curriculum than some other platforms, with lessons focused on conversation skills and real-life situations. Babbel’s lessons are crafted by language experts and voiced by native speakers, providing high-quality content.

A great feature of Babbel is its speech recognition technology, which allows you to practice your pronunciation right from the start. It’s not free, but many users find the subscription fee worth it for the quality and depth of the lessons provided.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is a longstanding player in the field of language learning. It offers in-depth courses in many languages, including Spanish. Its immersive approach involves teaching you new words and phrases in the context of sentences, without relying on translation.

This method encourages you to think in the target language, promoting fluency. Rosetta Stone also provides accent training using its proprietary speech recognition technology, TruAccent. While it’s a paid platform, Rosetta Stone often has discounts and offers, making it more affordable.

Memrise

Memrise is a language learning platform that uses spaced repetition and mnemonic techniques to help users remember new vocabulary and grammar. It offers courses in many languages, including Spanish. One of the distinguishing features of Memrise is its use of “mems” – visuals or word associations to help remember words.

Additionally, it has a “Learn with Locals” feature where you can see and hear native speakers using the phrases you’re learning. Memrise has a free version with limited features, and a paid Pro version that offers more in-depth learning tools.

I hope this post has given you some ideas for resources you can use to learn Spanish or other languages from home.  If you have other methods you’ve used to learn langauges, I’d love to hear about them!

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Comments

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Silver Moon

December 28, 2013 at 11:07 am

I need to improve my english quick, ofcourse to write better blog posts.
Suggest me some resources.

Tarah S

April 28, 2014 at 4:51 am

Spanishdict is now Fluencia, it’s pretty much the same setup and still free.

Miranda Grimm

April 28, 2014 at 8:14 am

Thanks for the update!

jpals

October 17, 2016 at 8:58 am

http://www.letspal.com <= i advise this website

Alisa

June 17, 2017 at 2:33 pm

Hi!
On your page I saw a link to Livemocha.
As you may have heard, Livemocha is no longer in business and that link no longer works.
Also, site, https://www.lingq.com/, is an web and mobile language learning tool for learning languages in context. This is a good analog of Livemocha!