Massive Input Language Learning Resources

My Dearest... five (more or less) readers, 

I regret to inform you that I am turning a new leaf, which will be effecting this blog. I've decided to more actively strive to improve my Spanish--like I said I was going to do like six weeks ago. As a result, my reading time will be greatly shortened, resulting in fewer books read and reviews written, which has been the mainstay of this blog this year thus far. I'm sure there will be approximately 1 person out there sad about this, namely my own mom. lol. 

However, I do want to share with you my master plan of Spanish learning, so just in case there is someone else out there looking to learn/practice a second language I might could save them the leg work. I've found some great resources! Personally I will just be using free/almost free ones, because, quite frankly, I'm a tight wad and will not be putting more money into language acquisition. I've already paid for the college classes and books, so why pay more? Besides that, I would call myself an upper intermediate/advanced learner meaning basically what I need most is review of the basics and lots and lots and LOTS of practice speaking and listening. Most of which comes rather conveniently free on the magical internet.

I am following the methods lined out by another blogger Ramses in his blog Spanish Only-- Learn How to Learn Spanish. He's Dutch, speaks/writes English fluently and majored in Spanish in college and is now teaching Spanish classes himself. The method isn't "his" per se, as he sites following in the footsteps of others. Basically what he created for himself was immersion, but in his own world. It's basically three parts: 1) media 2) flashcards 3) friends. He recommends having every single bit of media you take in be in your target language ie watch Spanish tv, read books in Spanish, set your computer to Spanish. Then add to that an electronic deck of flashcards of target language sentences which you add to and work on for a set amount of time daily. Then for real life speaking practice, make some native speaker friends! That's it in a nutshell. If you want more specifics, click the link above and then click on the Index tab on the top right.

I started poking around the internet for some decent Spanish language podcasts aimed at Spanish learners to get some massive amounts of input. (The whole method rides on the back of massive amounts of input ie just listening to your target language, like a baby does, before you talk.) Started poking because as helpful as that blog is, Ramses doesn't really post there very much anymore (mostly he's given it over to a friend that's learning French), so his list of resources was out of date. I was looking for the majority of the speaking, if not all, to be in Spanish and a transcript in Spanish and English. I want this as I can listen to the speaking. Then I can take the transcript and read that to get the parts I don't understand after the listening and also use the Spanish to English translations in the creation of flashcards. 

What I've found for audibles with transcripts:

Basically there's nothing out there free like that. Mostly everything's about $10 a month. Which isn't much, but not what I want or am willing to pay. But there are these promising places:

1) Lo Mas TV-- a vlog (video blog) of short clips of Spanish speakers just talking on various subjects. While the current episodes cost money, if you subscribe to their podcast via iTunes, the old ones are free and there's quite a few of them. Just search for it in iTunes. It has Spanish and English subtitles.

2) Spanish Pod 101-- Ok, there's a trick to this one. It has a fee with it to get the good stuff, but if you are willing to pay a $1 fee when you first sign up for your free account, then you will get access to "premium" content for like a month, which includes tons of stuff, like the transcript and audio clips, etc.  (If your more computer savvy than I, Ramses suggests adding audio clips to the flashcards. I don't have the software nor the know how to do this. Maybe Greg could teach me.) So I'm planning on just downloading/printing as many transcripts as I can before my premium membership ends. :-) 

3) Live Mocha -- I've mentioned this one before. I don't know if you can from a totally new account, but I can earn free lessons from my account. I started as a paid account last fall, but no longer pay anything. If I post comments/suggestions on 2-3 English learners' lessons, I earn 1 free lesson for myself. The lessons vary on skills addressed including: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Comments can take as little as 1 minute a piece, so that's a no brainer-- help someone else learn and learn some myself too.

4) Mi Vida Loca -- This is a short interactive tv series aimed at Spanish beginners. What I like about it is that besides the English/Spanish transcripts available completely free, it's interactive, which gives me practice responding to someone in a conversation in real time (after a practice round first). It's given me a little more confidence to just spit out my Spanish words, 'cause I know I know the words in my head, but getting them down to my mouth is sometimes a challenge. It's part of the BBC. They have other interesting things for Spanish learners here too. It mostly seems geared toward beginners, but there are some gems in there, like a list of Spanish idioms from Spain probably. Also there's a nice Spanish test on there, so you can see what you need to work on. Actually, I'd probably suggest you start there with that test.

There are a couple other places that I'm liking right now for sentences, meaning they provide Spanish/English written words, but little to no audible.

1) See Spain -- This is the Facebook page for a page that is connected to Spain's Tourism Bureau. They post beautiful pics of Spain everyday usually accompanied by some little quip about about the picture. I have figured out how to add pics to my flashcards, so I'll put the pic on there too!

2) News In Slow Spanish -- This one is another pay per listen page. But, the first few minutes of the transcript is free on their website! The podcasts itself I like, because it is about current events. Ramses would probably dislike this one because the audio is on slow mo. No, it's not at the native's pace, but it boosts the confidence of this learner. It also has a section on grammar, Spanish idioms and culture making for a 40 minute or so podcast. New posts once a week.

Here are some other podcasts (in addition to the News in Slow Spanish), most of which have transcripts available if you're willing to fork up the cash, that are currently producing new podcasts. Just search for them in iTunes.

1) Notes in Spanish-- This one runs about 20 mins and is a conversation amongst a couple people on a topic. After the conversation, they revisit the conversation in English to touch on difficult/new vocab words and grammar items. New post once a week.

2) Q & A Spanish-- This one runs 5-8 mins and is not really natives conversing, but more natives taking questions about the Spanish language and answering in English. Not really what I was looking for in the beginning, but could be useful! New posts every other week.

3) Spanish 360 with Fabiana-- This is again a Spanish native answering questions about the Spanish language, but this time in Spanish. It runs on average 10 mins with a new podcast every other week.

Other types of Spanish media to get input from:

1) TV-- Why not just tune into Telemundo or Univision and see what's on? Living close to Mexico, there are TONS of Spanish language channels on our basic tv beyond those two. But even when I didn't live here, we had those two! No subtitles!

2) Radio-- Again, living where I do, there's an actual Mexican station that I like to listen to on the way home that plays some great techno remixes on the commute home. There's usually at least one Spanish radio station floating around somewhere on the dial. Find yours! Or there's probably stuff available on iTunes radio. Haven't looked.

3) Books-- I haven't been the library here yet, but most have at least a small section of Spanish language books. Go see if you can find one that you've read before in English and give it a go in Spanish. It you already know the story a little, you won't get so upset about not getting all the details. Or that's the way I was anyway.

4) DVDs-- Many DVDs these days have the option for a Spanish audio track. Put it on! No subtitles though. As I've begun to understand more, I've noticed that what the speaker is saying and what the subtitles say are often slightly different. No need to confuse we wee language babes more!

The second part of the equation is the sentences on flash cards. I would encourage you read more about that from Ramses on his blog. Hit the index button on top right then scroll down to the list of "Sentences/Flashcards" post.

That leaves the third part. Again, living where I do and working with the elderly population, I have plenty of native speakers to practice speaking with. However, if you're not as lucky as I am there are other things you can do...

1) Live Mocha -- It also offers a way to be friends with other members (who happen to be experts in their native languages) and a free chat.

2) My Language Exchange -- Join up and talk with natives that are trying to learn English. Kind of like pen pals, except without the pen.

3) Shared Talk -- Pretty much the same as above, except it's run by Rosetta Stone.

4) Conversation Questions -- Before I moved down to the border, I had planned to use this list of conversation topics to start a conversation. I don't know about you, but sometimes it's a little awkward trying to have a good conversation with a complete stranger after the general introduction in another language. Perhaps agree the week prior to a topic so you can study up on the vocab you will need to express your opinion on the topic in your target language. Set a timer and talk for x amount of time in one language and the same in English--your partner's target language.

Alright, I think that's the end of my limited knowledge of how to practice your Spanish in a way that will make it functional one day.  Just remember, Ramses mentioned somewhere on there that a research project not too long ago found that a person needs somewhere around 800 hours of input before they can speak with reasonable fluency. Do not get discouraged if you don't understand anything or nothing and don't try to rush speaking a ton! I hope this list helps someone out there. Feel free to drop me a note about anything else you would suggest in your experiences!