I thought Duolingo was great before it enshitified. I genuinely learned more from Duolingo than from any other method. Will Babbel fill that Duolingo-sized hole? I want to learn Spanish to rizz goth latinas. Also because it’s a beautiful language. I also live in an area with lots of people who speak it as a first language and I’d like to be able to communicate better. Thank you!
Babbel is a lot better than Duolingo.
I found that Duolingo just gives you phrases to repeat and memorize but Babbel actually teaches you the rules of the language and is structured more like real lessons. Definitely worth the switch.
If you really want to learn the language (and not rizz goth latinas - in that case go ahead and stay on Duolingo)… Ditch the apps, you already live in an area where people speak it as their first language. That’s the best opportunity you’ll ever get. Look for language cafes, where they explicitly welcome people who want to learn the language and you can speak with people who are willing to help you. If that’s a bit of a stretch for the beginning, consume media in that language. Start with things where there are direct translations available, e.g. a Spanish TV show with English subtitles available. Then, as soon as you can, ditch the English subtitles for Spanish subtitles and read spanish texts, and use a Spanish (i.e. not spanish-english) dictionary when things are unclear. Essentially, learn spanish based on the Spanish you’ve already learned, and not based on english, with the goal of moving towards thinking in that language as quickly as possible. Once you get in the hang of it, there shouldn’t be much in the way of taking your first steps using that language to speak with others, and then buckle up, because this is where you will learn the most.
When it falls, it’ll make things worse - no one’s understanding each other anymore.
Bible jokes aside, dunno when Duolinguo went to shit, but having used it around 2021, it was pretty bad already. I also tried some more of such “self-learning apps”, and neither were good, all memorization-oriented, without explaining actual rules.
Personally, if your region has plenty of Spanish speakers, I think it’d be better to try to find a private teacher/tutor.
Also, native Spanish speakers seem, from what I observed, rather comfortable on speaking in their native language online when the place allows, so maybe hang around Spanish forums and groups too? There’s some here on the fediverse too, like !chile@feddit.cl (one of the chiller ones imo - and pun not intended), and iirc some Mastodon instances too.
