Favorite Language Learning Resources

favorite language learning resources

duolingo- a lot of language learners have issues with it but it’s good to get a base on the language and they’re always adding new languages!

memrise- good for vocabulary and memorizing, they have a wide list of languages

babbel- really effective if you want to learn how to communicate with people or get around, costs money for the full version but they have sales all the time

hellotalk- language exchange app, i’ve had really good experiences with this app, the only downside is that you have to pay to select more than one language you want to learn

tandem- similar to hellotalk, i like it slightly less but it allows you to choose as many languages as you want!

forvo- you can listen to native speakers pronounce things! it’s amazing!

ipachart- interactive chart with the international phonetic alphabet

wordreference- online dictionary for french, spanish, german, italian, portuguese, dutch, swedish, russian, polish, romanian, czech, greek, turkish, chinese, japanese, korean, and arabic

bab.la- another online dictionary with 24 languages

linguee- really great for learning phrases and seeing words in context

omniglot- encyclopedia of writing systems and languages, really great for learning new writing systems & also basic phrases! also has links to other resources!

the great language game- game for testing listening comprehension to several dozen languages!

ba ba dum- fun vocabulary game

easy languages- youtube channel featuring native speakers speaking a variety of languages but mostly spanish, french, and german

wikitongues- youtube channel attempting to document every language in the world

languagepod101- offers podcasts and youtube videos in a wide variety of languages

verbix- verb conjugating website with a wide variety of languages

quizlet- flashcard website that’s great for compiling vocab lists

lingq- i’ve only used it a little but it seems helpful especially for beginners!

tunein- allows you to listen to radio in a variety of languages

wikipedia- they have thousands to millions of articles in various languages so it’s a great place to test your reading skills, and in addition you can read articles about the language you’re learning and get a grasp on the language’s structure and sound system

lyricstraining- allows you to learn languages using song lyrics, really helpful for comprehension

lang-8- you can post things and have native speakers correct them, and correct things from other people!

feel free to add!

So I found this cool website for learning ancient languages

go wild

Grammar Friday: Ser vs. Estar

Multilingual Vocab Practice

My Favorite Things

(Vocab dump! Saw some people doing this and thought I’d try. I decided to start with a list of some of my favorite things. I’d want to talk about this stuff in any language. All German words are given in singular first, plurals that apply are in parentheses)

English | español | français | Deutsch

adventures | las aventuras | les aventures | das Abenteuer (Abenteuer)

animals | los animales | les animaux | das Tier (Tiere)

architecture | la arquitectura | l’architecture | die Architektur

art | el arte | l’art | die Kunst

babies | los bebés | les bébés | das Baby (Babys)

the beach | la playa | la plage | der Strand

birds | los pájaros | les oiseaux | der Vogel (Vögel)

board games | los juegos de mesa | les jeux de société | das Brettspiel (Brettspiele)

books | los libros | les livres | das Buch (Bücher)

breakfast | el desayuno | le petite déjeuner | das Frühstück

churches | las iglesias | les églises | die Kirche (Kirchen)

the city | la ciudad | la ville | die Stadt

coffee | el café | le café | der Kaffee

comedy | la comedia | la comédie | die Komödie

dancing | bailar | danser | das Tanzen

drawing | dibujar | dessiner | das Zeichnen

fantasy | la fantasía | la fantasy | die Fantasie

food | la comida | la nourriture | das Essen

French | el francés | le français | Französisch

German | el alemán | l’allemand | Deutsch

the guitar | la guitarra | la guitare | die Gitarre

history | la historia | l’histoire | die Geschichte

Italian | el italiano | l’italien | Italienisch

Japanese | el japonés | le japonais | Japanisch

jokes | las bromas | les blagues | der Witz (Witze)

kittens | los gatitos | les chatons | das Kätzchen (Kätzchen)

languages l los idiomas | les langues | die Sprache (Sprachen)

laughing | reír | rire | das Lachen

linguistics | la lingüística | la linguistique | die Linguistik

movies | las películas | les films | der Film (Filme)

musical theatre | el teatro musical | le théâtre musical | das Musiktheater

mystery novels | las novelas de misterio | les romans policiers | der Krimi

old movies | las películas antiguas | les vieux films | alte Filme

opera | la ópera | l’opéra | die Oper (Opern)

pandas | los pandas | les pandas | der Panda (Pandas)

philosophy | la filosofía | la philosophie | die Philosophie

puppies | los perritos | les chiots | der Welpe (Welpen)

purple | la púrpura | le violet | lila

rock music | la música rock | la musique rock | die Rockmusik

reading | leer | lire | das Lesen

singing | cantar | chanter | das Singen

Spanish | el español | l’espagnol | Spanisch

storytelling | la narración de cuento | la narration | das Geschichtenerzählen

strolling | pasearse | se promener | das Spazieren

summer | el verano | l’été | der Sommer (Sommer)

superheroes | los superhéroes | les super héros | die Superheld (Superhelden)

swimming | nadar | nager | das Schwimmen

swing music | la música de swing | la musique swing | die Swing-Musik

tea | el té | le thé | der Tee

theatre | el teatro | le théâtre | das Theater

travelling | viajar | voyager | das Reisen

true crime | el crimen verdadero | le vrai crime | das wahres Verbrechen

wine | el vino | le vin | der Wein

writing | escribir | écrire | das Schreiben

(corrections and suggestions are welcome!)

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.