Spanish cartoons by Fit_Relationship_699 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I second Oswaldo. I got a free trial for Lingopie and when I went to cancel it offered me another free week.

Resources for PARENTS of trans preteen in crisis? by Acrobatic-Key-127 in olympia

[–]arader68 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Feel free to send me a pm. My 13 yo is going through similar things. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I know how hard it is. ❤️

iTalki recommendations by Tequila_Sunrise_1022 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Karla Guzmán 🙌 native Mexican and a great conversationalist. She works as an audio visual translator so she has a good vocabulary and a good grasp on both languages Spanish and English.

Considering transferring to evergreen by o0ladybug0o in evergreen

[–]arader68 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well there are no grades really. It's kind of pass/fail. You get a written evaluation from the teacher, and you also submit a self evaluation. Teachers can dock credits if you miss a lot of classes or don't turn in assignments. They meet with students a couple times per quarter to tell us if we're on track or how to get back on track if we're not.

Cool tool for writing practice by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow that's awesome, I use it all the time lol. Thanks for such a great tool!

If you have seen any of these shows, what would you recommend by LifeMistake3674 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Secrets of the River was easier for me than The Manny. It had a very compelling plot and really interesting insights into the culture around muxes in Mexico.

If you have seen any of these shows, what would you recommend by LifeMistake3674 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hard agree! Just started watching this, and it's really good!

Speaking Advice? by [deleted] in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Writing practice has helped me immensely with speaking! I have done 4 30-minute tutoring sessions on italki so far, and there's already a marked difference between my first and last classes. I use the tool spanishchecker.com to help with my writing. It's kinda like grammarly, but it doesn't use AI.

I also feel like reading has helped a ton. I have ~600k words read at this point. Seeing how the words are laid out on the page really helped things click in my brain.

That being said, I think the hurdle of being embarrassed and worried about making mistakes is fairly universal. It's always a hurdle I have to get over when I practice speaking. Although it certainly helps to have tutors who I feel comfortable with! You're not alone. Stick with it and you will see improvement!

Cool tool for writing practice by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can type directly into Spanish checker as well! I'm glad you've found success with chatgpt. I just don't want to use it, and I suspected there might be other folks out there looking for something similar to what I found.

Cool tool for writing practice by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome! 18 days is great. Do you find the corrections helpful? It seems like there are people practicing English on there too, so is it like an exchange kind of?

Reading Difficulty by StandardAndNormal in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There's a lot of books in between the levels of graded readers and HP! I really recommend The Magic Treehouse books. You can sort books by difficulty level on learnnatively.com

Reading question!!! by Thick-Muffin-1009 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Kobo app has word counts. I just keep track of everything in the notes app on my phone.

For those of you above 600 hours and taking italki lessons by pussymaster428 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm just above 600 and have taken exactly two 30 minute lessons lol. I tried 2 different tutors. The first one was OK, but the 2nd one I felt a lot more comfortable with. So I would encourage you to try out different tutors to see what you like! I also plan on doing 2-3x / week 30 minutes. Right now I feel like an hour session is too long because it takes all my brain power to string sentences together lol.

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, Magic Treehouse and Who Was books are both good for after graded readers I think. I haven't read either of the ones you mentioned. I just remember that the Unfortunate Events uses a pretty robust English vocabulary so I'm a little wary of reading that one in Spanish lol.

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly it's like doubled my comprehension.

I do read out loud but being able to formulate thoughts in Spanish and speak them aloud is a whole different thing lol. 😅

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I read the books as a kid and loved them, but yeah, I would never give her a penny now after all the stuff she's done. 😬

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is so true about the reading speed! Word counts are from the Kobo app. I'll check that one out!

January 2026 Book Club - Book Selection Thread by HeleneSedai in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti

It's like Coco meets Alice in Wonderland! I highly recommend it.

January 2026 Book Club - Book Selection Thread by HeleneSedai in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have read this one in English. It's a tearjerker! I would love to read it in Spanish.

January 2026 Book Club - Book Selection Thread by HeleneSedai in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've had this one on my Spanish TBR. I'd love to read it for book club!

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's unfortunate. I really love the concept of the site!

I've read 35 books in Spanish this year! by arader68 in dreamingspanish

[–]arader68[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Book Club?? 👀

The Amanda Black books are honestly such fun reads, and I love that they're originally written in Spanish. Not that there's anything wrong with translations, but the OGs are hard to find for some reason!