I love that it shows both Italian and English subtitles. Now I am in Italian only subtitles but I can hover over words I don’t know and that has been so helpful! I’ve learned so much!
I'm so glad that you have stuck with it and for all that you are learning and reading! Like Dan says, you are having a renaissance of learning in your 60s, and that is very inspiring!
This is a great list of resources! Which did you find to be most helpful for your six year old? Or did you use the resources listed and teach her as you learned yourself? I speak Spanish (a little rusty) and I have been teaching my boys words and songs here and there but hoping to be more intentional with my five year old this year <3
I mostly just teach my 6 year old myself, but if I were to do a more formal program with her it would be Italki. I was doing some research on language acquisition and it's really incredible how children's brains are primed for language learning. I read that if children learn a second language between the ages of 6-12, they can learn to speak the language in a way that will sound like a native speaker. Between the ages of 12-18, that window closes a bit and it will be a bit more difficult to sound like a native speaker, but that area of the brain is still more flexible in its ability to replicate sounds than in adulthood. By adulthood, it becomes much more difficult to lose the native accent of one's first language. So adults will tend to speak a language, but with their native language's accent. It's interesting because my husband learned French as a child and when he speaks with French speakers, he has such a great accent that people assume he is fluent. They start speaking to him in French. He has lost a lot of the vocabulary now and if they are speaking quickly, he can't understand what they are saying. But it's amazing to me that after all these years, he can still speak it so authentically, because he learned it as a child.
Italki lessons are as inexpensive as $6/lesson. It has been such a gift to our family! Our teacher puts together lessons geared toward children. It's been wonderful!
These tips are SO helpful Rachel! Do you have specific time you study each day or do you just fit it in when you can? I need to find a rhythm to start practicing Spanish… I feel so close to being a conversational speaker, but also so far away!
I loved hearing Thomas's story about falling in love with you when you spoke Spanish! That was so endearing to me and so magical! The Italki lessons keep us in a good weekly rhythm. And we have homework from those lessons. This week I'm working on a translation. I might be less inclined to do that if it wasn't assigned, even though I know it's so helpful. For me, it has become a hobby, so I try to fit in in where I can. It brings me so much joy and just revives my spirit!
Thank you encouraging for me to keep at it. I spoke Spanish with a woman today after telling her that I was trying to learn it. She was so kind and it allayed my fears that I have to get it all right. 😊
I am so proud of you! It takes courage to put yourself out there like that. I find speaking in person to be the most intimidating! I love that she was so kind and made you feel comfortable. Thanks for sharing this story!
Another one I can really recommend is https://www.conjugio.com/
It's a tool to learn verb conjugations, and it's helped me a lot with learning Spanish verbs 😅
Thanks for this! I’ve really been loving Lingopie recently!
Haven‘t tried that yet, but need to check it out :)
I love that it shows both Italian and English subtitles. Now I am in Italian only subtitles but I can hover over words I don’t know and that has been so helpful! I’ve learned so much!
Love this! Thanks for getting me on board with Spanish! Great list of resources.
I'm so glad that you have stuck with it and for all that you are learning and reading! Like Dan says, you are having a renaissance of learning in your 60s, and that is very inspiring!
This is a great list of resources! Which did you find to be most helpful for your six year old? Or did you use the resources listed and teach her as you learned yourself? I speak Spanish (a little rusty) and I have been teaching my boys words and songs here and there but hoping to be more intentional with my five year old this year <3
I mostly just teach my 6 year old myself, but if I were to do a more formal program with her it would be Italki. I was doing some research on language acquisition and it's really incredible how children's brains are primed for language learning. I read that if children learn a second language between the ages of 6-12, they can learn to speak the language in a way that will sound like a native speaker. Between the ages of 12-18, that window closes a bit and it will be a bit more difficult to sound like a native speaker, but that area of the brain is still more flexible in its ability to replicate sounds than in adulthood. By adulthood, it becomes much more difficult to lose the native accent of one's first language. So adults will tend to speak a language, but with their native language's accent. It's interesting because my husband learned French as a child and when he speaks with French speakers, he has such a great accent that people assume he is fluent. They start speaking to him in French. He has lost a lot of the vocabulary now and if they are speaking quickly, he can't understand what they are saying. But it's amazing to me that after all these years, he can still speak it so authentically, because he learned it as a child.
Italki lessons are as inexpensive as $6/lesson. It has been such a gift to our family! Our teacher puts together lessons geared toward children. It's been wonderful!
These tips are SO helpful Rachel! Do you have specific time you study each day or do you just fit it in when you can? I need to find a rhythm to start practicing Spanish… I feel so close to being a conversational speaker, but also so far away!
I loved hearing Thomas's story about falling in love with you when you spoke Spanish! That was so endearing to me and so magical! The Italki lessons keep us in a good weekly rhythm. And we have homework from those lessons. This week I'm working on a translation. I might be less inclined to do that if it wasn't assigned, even though I know it's so helpful. For me, it has become a hobby, so I try to fit in in where I can. It brings me so much joy and just revives my spirit!
Thank you encouraging for me to keep at it. I spoke Spanish with a woman today after telling her that I was trying to learn it. She was so kind and it allayed my fears that I have to get it all right. 😊
I am so proud of you! It takes courage to put yourself out there like that. I find speaking in person to be the most intimidating! I love that she was so kind and made you feel comfortable. Thanks for sharing this story!