Allan Bak

Hi everyone, I’ve updated my language resources pages – check them out: Arabic BCMS German Spanish

A few weeks ago I finally added a new target language: Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS)—also known as the Serbo-Croatian language—although I mostly just call it Bosnian, because the people I know who speak the language are all Bosniaks. The language belongs to the South Slavic branch of the Slavic language family and mainly spoken in the countries seen in this map: I’ve been using the…

I Passed the Spanish B1 Test

Yesterday I passed the B1 test in the Busuu Spanish course: The Busuu certificates probably aren’t “official” as such, but nevertheless I do feel they are an additional motivational factor for me and they’re nice to have. For now, my goal is to reach at least a CEFR B2 level in Spanish.

French & German Placement Test Results

So… after taking the Lingoda placement test for Spanish I decided to take the similar tests for French and German. I studied both languages for five years in elementary school and high school but haven’t used them much since then. I did notice that studying Spanish sort of revived my French to some degree (insert link), so I wasn’t that surprised that I scored higher in that language. Anyway,…

Spanish Placement Test Result

I Took the Spanish Placement Test at Lingoda today and got this result: The CEFR level of B1 corresponds to “lower intermediate level” (more about the CEFR levels here). I think I’m probably at the B2 level when it comes to listening and reading skills, but since my grammar and verb conjugation skills aren’t quite as strong, I think B1 is probably an accurate assessment result. Overview of the…

Spanish Learning Update #1

It took a little longer than expected to write this first update, eventhough I had planned on blogging on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I moved house across the country so that took up a lot of time… Anyway, lately I’ve been quite stable in my daily Spanish learning routine. On most days I do all or most of these things: Listen to the news in Spanish (usually Noticias Telemundo). Listen to…

I’ve Made a Decision Regarding This Blog

I haven’t been blogging regularly for a while as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with this blog. I’ve decided to treat it as a language learning diary of sorts and only write article when inspired to go more in-depth with a topic. So, I intend to post updates about my language learning journey here at least on a weekly basis from now on.

5 Language Podcasts You Should Check Out Right Now!

I’ve been listening to a lot of language and language learning podcasts (and there are quite a lot of them now) and figured I might as well share some of my favourites with you, just in case you aren’t aware of them already. Some of the podcasts on the list have been on the air for many years, while others are newer kids on the block. Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with any of these podcasts,…

What are Some Good Apps That Teach European Spanish?

Question: I want to learn European Spanish. Is there any app that could teach me European Spanish but not the regular Spanish? Answer: I guess what constitutes “regular Spanish” depends on where you live. For most Europeans “regular Spanish” would mean European (Iberian) Spanish. But if you’re American I guess you mean Latin American Spanish. A lot of apps tend to focus on Latin American Spanish…

Cool Maps for Spanish Learners!

¡Hola a todos! As you know I’m into language learning. I also really like maps. The other day I was looking for a specific map and stumbled upon this cool website, that has an extensive collection of maps from all over the world: Mapas del Mundo While browsing their maps I found some really nice maps of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries that would be great for Spanish learners who want…

How to Use “Easy Spanish” to Improve Your Spanish

I’ve seen several learners of Spanish ask how they can improve their understanding of spoken Spanish. I’m sure there are a lot of ways of doing that but I’d like to share an easy method with you here, using street interview videos in Spanish that have subtitles in both Spanish and English. Before you get started you should ubscribe to the “Easy Spanish” channel on YouTube. I’ve put one of their…

Top 5 Channels for Spanish Immersion

There are many ways to immerse yourself in a language, even without going to a country where it is widely spoken. One of the ways is to watch YouTube channels in your target language. Here is the top 5 channels I recommend to people who want to learn Spanish. The levels go from beginner to upper-intermediate, so you’ll have to choose which ones are right for your level: Easy Spanish (street…

11 Language Learning Channels You Should Follow on YouTube

I’ve personally learned a lot about language learning from YouTube channels. So… let me share my favourite channels with you. This is my top 5 of channels that are about language learning in general (i.e. not specifically about just one language) – in alphabetical order: Actual Fluency – Kris Broholm Benny Lewis Fluent in 3 Months Fluent Language – Kerstin Cable Lindie Botes Lindsay…