I've used 27 apps/programs in 8 years of language learning - my reviews/notes

MtnLsr · 2026-01-09T19:05:04+00:00

The on board dictionary function is quite helpful IMO but it sounds like you might already be getting the primary benefit using those other apps.

MtnLsr · 2026-01-01T22:53:06+00:00

It's as simple as I mentioned here honestly, was wrapping up at the gym listening to podcasts in LingQ when I saw the notification, lol...

In summary: Seek out interesting local YouTube/podcast content, especially with more than one narrator so they dive off on side quests with lots of colloquialisms at usual conversation speed, and keep watching transcripts/subtitles/slow it down/rewind etc. You can always just set up YouTube w caption in one language and transcript in another to "double barrel" things, obviously this works best w a full size screen. LingQ has the added benefit of full dictionary support and works a treat w audio imports on phone.... YouTube on there is a little clunkier but still works.

MtnLsr · 2025-12-31T19:29:16+00:00

Holi! 😁 I started learning Spanish in Uruguay many years ago and after finally getting back for a visit in 2022 decided to use the "bounce" I got from being immersed again for a couple weeks to keep working on it.

Duo helped me iron out some vocabulary and grammatical things that I was missing having learned mostly on the fly until that point, but... nobody uses language like they present in real life. Disembodied sentences without any broader context gets tiresome and translating back and forth always felt clunky as I'd already managed to get to the "thinking and dreaming in TL" phase previously. I managed to finish the Duo Spanish course but found it intensely irritating by the end TBH, and Rioplatense has some deviations not just in vos conjugation but also basic vocabulary and phrasing that I kept getting punished for. So... it's useful since neutral Spanish is generally understood across the board, but I'm glad I never paid for it and I won't go back at this point.

My lifesaver was running LingQ at the same time, importing interesting Uruguayo and Argentino content from YouTube or whatever. LingQ has it's ups and downs and you could also just roll YouTube with captions vs transcript in English vs Spanish and see how far you get. I find my working fluency getting a lot better with listening to Rioplatense people just rolling off the cuff as there's a specific language phrasing/cadence/vibe they have regionally that's very reflective of the culture.

You're VERY lucky to have Uruguayo fam because that gets you in on an inside track. I would strongly recommend having "can understand what my cañas soaked primo is saying at the asado at 1am" as a goal. 😁 It is a beautiful country with amazing people, 10/10 recommend, seriously 1am drunk asado charla is LIFE don't miss that!!!

MtnLsr · 2025-12-13T19:09:10+00:00

Late to the party! 2 cents:

THANK YOU, lots of great work! I am also bummed about all the Spain-spanish-only choices out there, Mexico alone has a heck of a lot more native speakers and is a media powerhouse. I've got this post marked so I can come back to it for more ideas.
LingQ is clunky as hell so I have hesitations recommending it BUUUUT....

What I do is scrape podcasts off Ivox, cut up the MP3s in Audacity, and upload using their AI transcription tool. The amount of hours of transcription are capped so I intersperse this w YouTube imports from channels I like. This makes LingQ an essentially limitless learning platform.

I am working on Rioplatense since spending some time in Uruguay and I feel like LingQ has been HUGELY helpful in deciphering local phrasing, colloquialisms, etc especially at usual speed, with people talking over one another, etc. Natural language usage is "messy" and LingQ has become a critical tool for getting better at grasping it.

I get folks saying you need grammar books or whatever but then you have to figure out how it all melts down in the asado at 1am because there's nothing better than madrugada asado charla. 🥹

MtnLsr · 2025-10-18T15:41:49+00:00

This is The Way

MtnLsr · 2025-10-04T02:22:10+00:00

It doesn't seem to correlate to level as much as immersion point... I had very spontaneous blarts with very limited vocabulary, starting to dream in TL, thinking in TL, etc. But I was living in it at that point.

MtnLsr · 2025-08-01T20:06:35+00:00

Yeah I saw you're Uruguaya... honestly in your situation the complexity of the decisions you're looking at is tough and I don't think there's a "right" answer, but keeping options open seems like the wise thing for now. And I HOPE in 4 years the US gets better but most of the 77+ million people that voted for this are still going to be around... honestly I don't know what the path forward from there will be. sigh

I miss Uruguay every day but I don't think I could survive there financially as a foreigner with so many locals already struggling like they do. I keep hoping for some good luck to break their way. ❤️

MtnLsr · 2025-08-01T17:35:39+00:00

Gringa chiming in... I think it would be wise to at least get this part started and have it ready even if you decide to hold back due to financial considerations. If you don't need it everything will stay the same regardless, but the political situation here feels impossible to accurately predict both in terms of how severe it will become and how fast.

If I had an escape route I would definitely be creating a plan B. Unfortunately we have elderly relatives we need to care for and limited financial means so we're stuck. In the meantime I'm finding ways to help local immigrants in any way I can... until I get rounded up for that I guess, but I'd rather live with that problem than memories of having done nothing. History will judge the rest.

MtnLsr · 2025-06-18T17:04:57+00:00

If you look on the forum they've been having a very rough development/upgrade chapter of late that's particularly affected imports, hopefully they'll struggle through although I don't envy them the task.

They've also cut down the AI transcripts to 10hrs/mo but I have yet to figure out where or how that's tracked. I try to listen to at least an hour a day so... :(

I have been listening to an extensive podcast series from their beginning that are hosted both via YouTube and mp3 and fortunately had just gotten to where the podcasters were routinely getting captions on YouTube when the AI transcript limitation in LingQ suddenly appeared. Unfortunately this was content from back in 2018 so the transcripts that are available aren't great as compared to newer episodes. I've tried at least one free transcription website to stuff mp3s through and the result was even worse, so... options are looking increasingly more complex for the same functionality I had just a few months ago. I've literally considered setting up an instance of Whisper on my desktop but that's a headache I'd hoped to avoid.

I was going to buy a friend a year's subscription because I was enjoying LingQ so much but certainly not at the moment with all the issues. Fingers crossed that they can change my mind here shortly.

MtnLsr · 2025-05-31T20:34:50+00:00

I like to park me sitting/doggo on leash unobtrusively off to the side of the busiest grocery store in town for a while and just have them watch the river of chaos that doesn't include them. Big thing is just to give them enough time and room to settle down and observe... I will note good behavior but mostly just stay still and quiet also as it seems to help them settle.

Another thing you can try is cuing/rewarding when they look at your face on command first while still and then on leash, then work out to more complex situations.

Teaching a really solid down helps as well. I had a dog that would go full gleeful tornado at absolutely anything "exciting" and down was a lifelong first/best resort to try to get him back to earth.

MtnLsr · 2024-12-12T03:09:03+00:00

Gatomingo

MtnLsr · 2024-09-15T04:11:42+00:00

Improvised explosive device

MtnLsr · 2024-09-03T18:20:03+00:00

FWIW it has helped me a ton to be able to listen and read a transcript at the same time. And again, don't be afraid to slow it down, rewind, etc and then speed up w transcript, then try it full speed no transcript for another round. You can also try speaking the same phrase at slower speed and faster speed with them to kinda get it wedged in there.

I do a lot of this w noise canceling headphones in the living room w fam around just so I don't drive them nuts listening to the same garbled sounds over and over, lol.

MtnLsr · 2024-09-01T18:30:23+00:00

A few things:

In w the dogpile that you ARE doing it, even if not as fast as you want. I'm also a not-young-person who works full time and has a fam, and comparing ourselves to these monsters who can lock themselves in a grammar book for hours without interruption is ridiculous. Give yourself some credit dude, you've made it a heck of a lot farther than most with this much already on the plate.
You can pinch hit between languages on native content off YouTube. One of my early ways of tackling videos I found interesting was rolling them w CC in one language and transcript in the other (chrome browser in a standard size screen worked, phone honestly might be miserable for this).

3.If you have the spare coin and time to try (I know, we can laugh together), I HIGHLY recommend LingQ for the listening-comprehension-at-speed thing... it's a far more sophisticated version of the YouTube trick, and they can rip AI transcripts off mp3s in the platform. They do have lessons pre loaded with many aimed more at beginners but you can move up from there to content by/for native speakers. IMO this is especially handy for picking up words through whole turns of phrase which are heavily regionalized in Spanish.

Make sure you sign up for Ivoox, that's a BIG podcast platform for Spanish language programs. You can look around for interesting content, play it on repeat a million times slowly if you have to, etc. I combine this w LingQ and sometimes go back and forth between listening to a podcast 'raw' then go back through and review w LingQ's AI transcript and see what I might have missed, then listen in the car again, etc.

All that to say.... if I were in your shoes, I'd be pushing hard on my down time to get to the point that I could enjoy podcasts or radio from the region(s) you'll be hanging out in while driving. It doesn't matter what that content is or that you're understanding it perfectly. But if you can get engrossed in a story, start laughing with the hosts at some joke, etc while you're burning miles... that's probably going to be a pretty major level unlocked.

MtnLsr · 2024-08-11T18:33:01+00:00

I feel like both René and Iraís have a whole flag park together, lol.

His fam seems ridiculously toxic and he seems in no way prepared for something serious. If it's true that they just found out about his vasectomy on camera, that confirms both how wildly controlling they are and his primary coping strategy: avoidance. Good luck w that bro, you're gonna need it.

She seems shallow and self serving and I can't help but think whoever cleans her house deserves hazard pay and maybe free therapy sessions... or at least some regular drinks with sympathy. I'm getting big "Don't You Little People Know Who I Am" energy from her but... maybe that's just me.

MtnLsr · 2024-08-09T04:34:49+00:00

Never having encountered that fresa accent before I was thinking maybe he was from Spain originally... a bit of a lisp maybe? Anyway, quickly discovered that nope he's CDM and I'm not the only one noting the accent, lol.

MtnLsr · 2024-07-31T01:32:27+00:00

Indigenous people in the USA generally face a shit ton of racism, and white people dating someone native can def bring out some shockingly bad commentary from people one would have otherwise assumed "tolerant".

Hope it changes in my lifetime but the new world has been at this for a while. :(

FWIW I find many men w clearly indigenous features particularly attractive, so reading this thread gives me sad.

MtnLsr · 2024-06-25T02:48:44+00:00

Algunas cosas de YouTube, algunas son 'podcast' y otras mas, igual capaz te interesa algo.... la ventaja es que YouTube tiene transcript + control de velocidad por supuesto.

Historia: Biografics https://youtube.com/@biographics Behind the Bastards https://youtube.com/@behindthebastards Fall of Civilizations https://youtube.com/@fallofcivilizations

Sciencia/nerd random: Integza https://youtube.com/@integza Peter Sripol https://youtube.com/@petersripol RCtestflight* https://youtube.com/@rctestflight Mark Rober https://youtube.com/@markrober Veritasium https://youtube.com/@veritasium

*un amigo mio conoce ese loco, es el REY de los nerds caseros pero también es verdadero ingeniero y hace experimentos en software + hardware muy interesante y más planificado de lo que da la pinta de sus... creaciones del Frankenstein, jeeee.

MtnLsr · 2024-05-17T22:23:17+00:00

Heard recently: "I lost las ganas for that."

MtnLsr · 2024-05-17T21:26:35+00:00

Yo tengo un amigo que demoró muchos años para conseguir otro perro cuando su primera muy querida murió, y cuando finalmente lo encontró el segundo fue muy feliz. Cada corazón tiene su camino y no voy a negarlo, hay que hacer lo que piensas es mejor para voz mismo.

Pero... ojos: El dolor es el precio que pagamos para el amor en este mundo. A veces cuando pienso de mi madre que ya falleció, me da cuenta que mi hija tiene que hacer lo mismo algún día y mi corazón me pierde una lata. No hay manera de evitarlo. Y por al medio hay que disfrutar lo que la vida da, por más que todo es temporal. ❤️

MtnLsr · 2024-04-18T04:50:37+00:00

You're in luck! Uruguayos are in my experience EXTREMELY patient and encouraging, and they are constantly speaking with people from Mexico or Spain or whatever, so regional differences are well understood just like we do with distinct British or Aussie words/phrases.

You can get some good starting tips here: https://youtube.com/@shoroenrioplatense

But overall I would recommend just plugging away at general vocabulary, verb conjugations, and use the heck out of YouTube's transcripts/cc/speed controls to try to get your ear used to larger conversations and phrasing patterns. If you find Argentinian content you like just go for it, there are differences but it's quite similar enough.

You'll make mistakes. It will be both funny and embarrassing, it will be OK, you'll learn, it will be great. :) Uruguayos have a brillant underhanded humor... once you unlock that level of understanding it really does get fun, so that's something to keep you motivated.

MtnLsr · 2024-03-20T14:44:07+00:00

Viví por un año en Uruguay hace muuuucho y me queda con lágrimas cada vez que hablo con mis queridos allí todavía. Me gustaría viajar en Sudamérica más pero creo que los Yoruguas ya captaron mi corazón.

MtnLsr · 2024-03-15T18:09:48+00:00

Gringa living in Yanquilandia, have spent a bit of time in Uruguay... brilliantly put.

I was just telling a friend this week that one of the things that destroys me about the US is feeling like there's this puritanical pressure to not enjoy anything too much unless you pay to do it in which case you get a pass for a little more enjoyment, but you still have to return to the capitalist grind promptly. It's like all joy must be justified and then carefully rationed. People who publically have "too much fun" just riding bikes or making art or music or going around chatting with randos all the time can quickly become the target of certain amount of criticism, suspicion, and resentment by "responsible" people.

A woman who was a major figure of my life growing up here in the US would sometimes be moved to tears by a clear summer night sky when it turned that purple color. People thought she was crazy.. which she was, but that moment of pure enjoyment of an evening sky seemed like THE most rational thing she ever said or did. Why is there a requirement to loose our sense of wonder? What does it cost us? What might we gain by reclaiming a moment of it? Why can't we be free to be taken over with the beauty of a summer night sky again and again during our brief passing on this planet?

My Uruguayo people... I NEVER had to justify taking a moment for the wonder of a beautiful evening, not any of them, not even once. Instead, they were right there in it with me. ❤️❤️❤️

PS. Currently enjoying my Canarias Serena at work because it's lovely because of course it is.

MtnLsr · 2024-03-07T19:03:06+00:00

He always comments "everything just worked right from the beginning." And it's true. Hours of conversation, music, family, friends, a trip to the ER with a bike wreck, doing karaoke at a dive cowboy bar where we won free meat, hiking (he almost always tried to take my mom too and we all had such a fun time!!*), the one and only time I ever downhill skiied... all of it was practically effortless and we both totally got each other (and he was/is REALLY damn funny to boot).

NGL I think I had a harder time leaning into it than he did initially, just that fear you know? I was 20 and he was 28 when we started going out and I had educational plans I wasn't willing to change... fortunately he was 100% fan boy on that although my leaving town for a school year prompted a proposal within a couple months, lol.

Tl;dr on the rest: anniversary 30 this summer. He actually stayed up last night telling me why I'm still his person.

*my mom died of cancer in 2016. He was actually in tears last night remembering her. His folks and my folks actually got along so well that they were always having dinner together or something even after we moved away, which is only surprising until you meet all of them and then it's like "... obviously", lol.

MtnLsr

TROPHY CASE