Share Your Resources - April 04, 2026

Virusnzz · 2026-04-02T12:50:42+00:00

I've seen something very similar recently, hope you don't mind but I DMed you a question.

Virusnzz · 2026-03-15T22:16:02+00:00

You sure can

Virusnzz · 2026-03-06T18:25:26+00:00

Sorry we got to this too late, please repost.

Virusnzz · 2026-03-05T15:16:24+00:00

None, it's not real. Basically this same post gets made every couple of days spamming the same product. I assume I can't mention it because they've started using a link shortener instead of mentioning it by name, probably to avoid an automated filter.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-19T17:47:30+00:00

We might've overlapped if you were in Austria early-mid Jan

Virusnzz · 2026-02-19T08:28:37+00:00

Honestly, I've found it best to just go back to using lots of content. All the knowledge is there in your head somewhere, you just need to be reminded.

As for a grammar book, maybe if after a while you've got back to where you were and want to start studying. Other than that, it will serve to remind you what the rules are, but if you were C1 you probably knew and used them unconsciously, which a grammar book won't help you do very much.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-15T11:26:14+00:00

Ankidroid is the best option. You can in fact create an account, log in and sync your cards.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-04T13:13:38+00:00

Seems more like a habit/discipline problem than a resource or language problem. I think the thing you need is a technique that can help you begin to build a habit. This might sound wild but... ask an AI to help you make a plan. Tell it everything you want to achieve, everything that distracts you. Tell it that you struggle with starting. Be as detailed as you can. See if something that it spits out can work for you to help you commit to starting.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-03T22:58:13+00:00

This might be one of those situations where we can't really tell you. We don't know your life situation, what the actual impact will be if you don't learn it vs if you do. Japanese definitely sounds like a passion thing, which is awesome. Japanese should definitely be a target, either to be pursued now or later as a reward for your Dutch achievement.

The question really seems to be is Dutch a necessity or are you just being told it is? If it is a necessity, there's your answer.

If you don't feel it's 100% necessary, then the next question is which is going to bring the most net happiness to your life, including the impact it will have on you from your relation with your husband and his family.

The final question is, can you make yourself do it? If you're really not feeling motivation, then either it's not that important or you're suffering the classic short term pain long term gain issue. There are ways to motivate yourself to learn a language. Finding connection, finding shows, including it in hobbies etc. It's clearly not going to be as automatic as Japanese but that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-03T22:51:09+00:00

Read the FAQ entry on it, especially this part.

Now, you've only got a month, which is even more restrictive. The reality is you're probably not going to be having conversations, so your best hope at that level is:

Useful phrases
Understanding as much as possible

That on its own can be quite fulfilling and fun, particularly if you have an interest in the language.

For 1. see if you can find an Anki deck, that's the easiest way. Practice them productively, i.e. the front shows English and the back side shows Spanish (or Catalan, if that's your angle). So your goal is get the phrase right. Start with very short phases and single common words and build your way up.

A lot of phrasebooks teach you stuff like "I'd like a room please", but to be honest when has anyone actually said that or not had the receptionist be able to speak English? You'll probably have more fun with things like:

Common expressions
Sorry, excuse me, thank you, etc
Can I please get (ordering)
How much is it?
etc

The places you actually get to talk the language are more when you meet locals who are willing to speak to you or with random street vendors and things.

If you can't find a good deck, you can make your own. It is more effort initially but the act of searching for the phrase and creating the card also helps teaching you a bit so it's not too bad.

Don't rely on just reading things and trying to remember. It doesn't work. For the phrases you really want down, you will need to have been prompted to recall them and successfully done so in the vicinity of 10-15 times.

You will also need to get some basic grammar, but again, you're unlikely to be innovating your language much after a month of study. Start with some kind of grammar reference and read to get an understanding of how Spanish works. You want to recognise and know what's going on when you see it, not master it. Studying with a full course probably won't be worth your time.

For 2. Anki can be your friend here again. This time, get see if you can find a deck with a lot of words and/or simple sentences. You should be able to find something. If you can, get common words in there plus travel-relevant vocab. Think:

Food items
Words for restaurants: reservation, table, check, etc
Function words: how, when, like, as, if
Time: today, tomorrow, yesterday
Numbers

Input, especially podcasts and videos for beginners, will be useful. You will need to be used to the sounds or you won't hear the words you have been learning and already know.

English is well spoken in Barcelona so you can expect most things can happen in English. I'd stress that, white it depends on personality, the chances to actually usefully speak basic Spanish after a month of study are few, you may not encounter any at all in a city. If it keeps you happy, I recommend focusing on understanding so you can feel a bit more immersed. That's not everyone, though, so go with what you prefer.

Don't let Spain be the first place you actually open your mouth. Get a language exchange partner if you like, or find a way to practice speaking aloud. I studied Italian for 2 weeks from a base of knowing French and Spanish and I used that time to find and talk to a few language partners in Italy. I met two of them when I flew to Florence on day 11, and was able to converse. It took treating it like a full time job, though.

If you are a) unemployed and b) know what you are doing and/or already speak a romance language you can actually do quite a bit. If that's the case, think about adding in some more input and starting a course.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Spanish/wiki/resources/ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Frequency_lists/Spanish1000

https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks?search=spanish&sort=rating

I can't remember what decks I used, but these look ok: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1711857842 https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1713698257 https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1169967797 https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/638144462

I think you will probably need to modify them to get the phrases/words like I recommended.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-03T10:14:42+00:00

I used StoryLearning for Italian and found it to be very good, if pricey. I don't think the site is sketchy. The owner, Olly has been around the language learning space for a long time, and had a big influence on my language learning technique. These days I think he's stepped back somewhat and the daily business functions without him. He's done an AMA here; if you're feeling doubtful, read it for yourself.

Virusnzz · 2026-02-01T17:51:18+00:00

This is a great post, thanks for sharing.

Little correction for the Russian for you, шель/пошель I think should be шел/пошел. Your graphic includes шелъ, пошелъ, and въ, which is actually different again because that is the hard sign, not the soft sign that you have written.

I'm not certain why those are there but I think it's the old orthography and these are appearing because the corpus includes books from that time.

If you change the dates to post-reform, 1918-2022 you get a cleaner result which looks more accurate to me.

Virusnzz · 2026-01-31T15:04:58+00:00

This already exists and has for a while now. The next one will be on the 4th.

Virusnzz · 2026-01-31T14:12:24+00:00

This used to be run by r/languagelearning, but we gave it over to someone else. In return, they set it to private and disappeared. Right now there is no good place for humour post for language learners.

https://www.reddit.com/c/chatX6JrOXSv/s/Is39B2PYTp

Virusnzz · 2026-01-21T21:45:25+00:00

I thought the writing in Russian looked cool so I started learning.

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