#learning spanish

If you make a mistake (and we all do), you can quickly correct yourself and then add the word digo after it

Literally, digo is the present tense yo form of decir "to say", so you essentially are saying "I say" but it comes out like "I should say" or "I mean"

As in... if make a small mistake you can just quickly correct it that way. Like if you accidentally say "una planeta" you can just say un planeta, digo as your correction

The digo is your way of being like "oops I made a mistake, I know it was a mistake and I misspoke here is the actual thing"

...

today's gregor samsa is: learning spanish

Warning: This is a long list. Please don't feel pressured to do everything all at once—you are not supposed to. Experiment with different resources one at a time and see what works best for you.

Complete Spanish Step by Step:

An absolute gem of a textbook. It covers almost all the grammar a non-native speaker would need, and the selected vocabulary (especially the verbs) is excellent.

McGraw-Hill Language Lab App:

An app for all McGraw-Hill textbooks (including Complete Spanish Step by Step). The interface is a bit clunky, but it does include flashcards and listening/pronunciation resources.

LACartoons:

Feeling nostalgic? Want to rewatch cartoons from your childhood, lament the good old days, and improve your Spanish? Say no more, fam! (I literally just finished rewatching Death Note yesterday lol.)

Language Transfer (Spanish):

An awesome course that offers an alternative perspective on language learning. It draws a lot of parallels between Spanish and English and teaches useful shortcuts and tricks.

Dreaming Spanish:

A large repository of videos from different Spanish-speaking countries and creators, covering a variety of topics. Content is available at super beginner, beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Duolingo & Duolingo Podcasts:

Coupling Duolingo with the textbook worked wonders for me. I'd learn a concept from the book, then reinforce it on Duolingo (or vice versa). The podcasts are interesting, though I personally wish they were entirely in Spanish (I think I only listened to about 15).

Cram:

My favorite flashcard tool! It supports batch uploads and provides audio pronunciation for almost all the words you add

Recommended YouTube channels:

Español con Juan: This man is the sunniest sunshine one could ever imagine.

How to Spanish: Absolute bebes, cover a large variety of interesting topics.

Hola Spanish: The nice lady has that "favourite school teacher" vibe, and I love it!

Recommended reading:

Pick up a school or university textbook on a subject you know well. You'll be surprised how easily you can figure out unfamiliar words just from the context.

Recommended Series/Movies:

EVERYTHING WITH TONY DALTON LOL. Or just pick a favourite Spanish-speaking actor and watch their filmography. The list includes:

Los simuladores: I've seen the Mexican remake (because…TONY DALTON), but there are other versions too. The plots are basically the same across adaptations. Even if you don't catch every word, the context and situations are easy to follow and a lot of fun.

And ofc, TONY DALTON!!!!!

2. Sr. Ávila: Four seasons of TONY DALTON!!!! Won Emmy for Non-English Language US Primetime Program. Has English subtitles and TONY DALTON!!!!

Fun fact: Tony said in an interview that playing Lalo was refreshing after four years of portraying a character "with the personality of a wall." While Ávila himself is kind of punchable, the series has some really interesting characters.

3. Pinky and the Brain (Pinky y Cerebro): Always loved this cartoon, and it’s super fun to (re)watch in Spanish. The dub is excellent. You can find it on LACartoons.

(Languages taken from the top 10 foreign languages learned on Duolingo in 2024.)

I would like to bring your attention to two fundraisers that are near and dear to my heart.

@elhamhamdan-gaza is a young woman trying to survive in Gaza with her family. She was a top student at university until October 2023, when she and her family were displaced from their home in Khan Younis and forced to flee to Rafah. After the invasion in Rafah, they returned to their home in Khan Younis only to find it burned. They had no choice but to live in it. Elham and her family desperately need funds for blankets and clothes, because winter is here and nights in Gaza are very cold right now.

Elham's campaign is very low on funds! So far they have only been able to raise £594 and they desperately need more support. Please donate to them if you are able, and share this post and campaign with as many people as you can.

This campaign was verified by the Butterfly Effect Project (instagram) and is number 1180 on their spreadsheet, which you can access through the link on their instagram profile.

You can contribute to Elham's campaign by clicking on the link below:

Secondly, @drdarine is a young woman who is a medical student in Gaza. Despite being displaced and suffering hardships we can only imagine, Darine is continuing her studies and helping out others in the refugee camps and shelters in southern Gaza. Her family consists of seven people, one of them being my friend @dawoudi who is selflessly and unfailingly helping many other families in Gaza by verifying their fundraisers and promoting them on Tumblr. Everyday I see more campaigns added that he has verified, providing an important service to the many families in Gaza that need our help.

Darine's family has been fundraising since February, which is almost ten months! Despite that, they have only been able to raise $5,765, 19% of their goal. Progress on their campaign is extremely slow, often needing to wait multiple days for another donation to come in. We can do better than that.

This campaign was vetted by @gazavetters, and is number 15 on their spreadsheet, which you can find in the pinned post on their profile.

You can contribute to Darine's campaign by clicking on the link below:

Please support these fundraisers! Thank you!

Tagging for reach, let me know if you want me not to tag you in the future

I just learned (quite literally) that the word "e" exists in Spanish like in Portuguese (meaning "and") and I was a little surprised because I thought Spanish only used "y". But although they are used for the same reasons (as connectives) they have different uses.

You see, you generally really use "y" to connect words. However, there is an exception! When the word that follows starts with an "i" sound, then we use "e", even if the word starts with a "h" (which is silent in Spanish). For example:

Padre e hijo

Español e inglés

Julieta dijo que su hermano es sucio e inmoral.

Él era donante de pulmón e hígado.

But why does this happen? Well, since the conjugation "y" is pronounced like “i”, if we used it with another word that also starts with an "i", then it would sound awkward or unclear, because the sounds would merge like “iinmoral” ou “iígado”. So we use "E".

But! There's an exception to the exception: if the word start with an “hia”, “hie” ou “hio”, we use the conjugation "y". Some examples:

La piedra está limpia y hialina.

Es un tiempo de fuego y hielo.

Atropina y hioscina son alcaloides.

It’s a free language learning app called Lingo Legend, and I’m honestly a bit surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.

It’s basically just a vocab game where you’re a farmhand. The game is split between working on your farm and going on adventures.

You can choose what theme of vocab — though it doesn’t seem to be possible to put in your own — and set the pace you wish to play. There’s a daily energy limit, which you can refill by watching ads but there are no ad interruptions.

Supported languages are:

French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Dutch, German, Italian and Portuguese.

Maybe I’m just late to the party and everyone already knows about it but I rarely see it talked about.

wed 07.01.2026 ❄️☁️

managed to get a bunch of work done today and then proceeded to get GROSSLY OVERSTIMULATED while cooking dinner so it's not been a fun evening 😅. i didn't realise that clozemaster was going to come in so clutch when it comes to reading comprehension.

palabra de hoy 📝: alcanzar - to reach

things i did today 📤:

film A-Roll for patreon video (1hr)

edit patreon video (45mins)

social media (30mins)

spanish vocab (30mins)

spanish reading comprehension (1hr)

life admin (30mins)

rollerskating practice (30mins)

cooked dinner (1hr)