Both my mom and dad speak Spanish, and yet I was raised with English as a first language, and no Spanish at all apart from the high school Spanish that is forgotten (by most) within a few years. I’ve been learning Spanish since the beginning of the pandemic, and now comes the moment when I can actually talk to my parents in Spanish. To some level, at least.

Bite size chunks is how I’m getting through Duolingo. It’s quite the challenge, and takes lots of determination and persistence. This is the second checkpoint on my way to complete the entire Spanish series. Last time, I finished all of the stories available, and this time I’ve finished all of the lessons for level one. There are 6 levels, so I still have quite a bit to complete, and wanted to share a bit about my progress.

Duolingo Stories is one of the features within the platform, but starting on a language track in Duolingo can be intimidating. I don’t know how many times I’ve started and stopped after having ruined a long streak, causing me to get discouraged. But Duolingo Stories is another issue entirely, in my humble opinion.

There are a ton of different language learning strategies, and reading is one of them. I had the bright idea to read my favourite book in English (actually translated from Portuguese), but in Spanish. It would be my first Spanish book (not including children’s books). Here’s how it went…

If you’re learning a language, this free tool might be right up your alley. I don’t have money for private classes all the time, or even bigger classes, so I’ve downloaded this app called Anki. If you’ve heard of it you know that it’s a tool that uses spaced repetition, and here’s a quick, simple way to get started using it.

FYI This is not a sponsored video. I just really enjoy using the app for a simple flashcard review. I’m still learning about new apps that I can use to continue learning languages, and recently heard of Quizlet so I definitely need to check that one out too!

As a Mexican-American, I struggle with my identity because I didn’t grow up with what I thought was the traditional “Mexican-American” lifestyle, in a Spanish-speaking household and didn’t know my grandparents for very long. In the past few years, I have realized that that part of me is important enough that I want to learn more about it, from Spanish to making tres leches cake.

Have you used Netflix as a language learning tool? Finding a show can seem daunting because there aren’t many obvious options available? It’s all about knowing how to find the shows in order to utilise Netflix as a language learning tool.

I've been trying to learn Spanish for a little over a year now, so when I actually travelled for speaking Spanish in Mexico? Here's how that speaking practice went down in Mexico.

If you're learning Spanish, use YouTube as a tool to learn Spanish! I'll explain several reasons why, show a few tips, and share my favourite channels.

I need to figure out what DELE level I am, if I want to obtain one of my 2021 goals. What even is a DELE level? What does DELE stand for?

After 9 months, I wanted to share my Spanish lesson experience with a tutor that I found online who lives in Spain. Learning Spanish during quarantine can be difficult, but also as an introvert this is probably how I would choose to have Spanish lessons as an adult anyway.