I still stand by all the posts in my 2018 French resources post, but there are a few other things I've used since then for languages including French, Spanish, and German (and some that are for other languages, too!). So here's a list!

# Lots of Languages

# Clozemaster

Clozemaster is an app I like for vocab practice in a language I already at least somewhat know - like Spanish or French, though you can also use it to learn a language that's new to you! It's a lot less gamified than Duolingo, and more akin to flashcards, but the flashcards make you reach for the word in the context of a full sentence rather than as a standalone definition. If I'm using the app regularly, I find it useful to pay for Clozemaster Pro to get around the X-sentences-per-day limitation. (Note - Clozemaster Pro subscriptions goes on sale relatively frequently! You often have to sign up from the website rather than through the app to get the best deal.)

Note that I loved this for Spanish, but found that the French dataset I played included a lot of sentences that were hard to guess even if I knew the word, because they relied heavily on French idioms (where you have to know the figure of speech, like "raining cats & dogs") rather than a literal use of the word. I have heard anecdotally that the Japanese dataset they use is poorly translated, for what it's worth.

# Comprehensible Input Wiki

Comprehensible input is a language acquisition method that relies on using the target language directly right away, with more immersion-type activities (reading and listening) and less direct instruction in grammar or vocabulary flashcard drills. This wiki lists tons of available resources that are useful for comprehensible input in whatever language you might be studying. n

# The Nature Method Books

The natural approach to language acquisition is pretty similar to comprehensible input's approach. You might also see it called the "nature method". This blog post listing different versions for different languages helped introduce me to the concept. Some of these are public domain; some of them are not. I haven't used these extensively, but from the little I've tried, it's so cool to see what I can piece together of a language I've never studied within the first few pages!

# Language Transfer free audio courses

Another resource I've bookmarked but not used much - there are free audio courses here for many different languages.

# Chalk Academy

Are you learning a language in conjunction with teaching it to your child? This website is from a woman whose Chinese parents stopped speaking Chinese to her when she was a young child, but now that she is a parent herself, she wanted to reconnect with her heritage language and pass it on to her children. She has a ton of great info on the site about things that worked for her, some more general that would apply to any language, and some that are Chinese-speciifc resources she used.

# GLOSS - free lessons from the US Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

These free lessons are available in lots of different languages. Some are audio only, some are video. They were created for use by the US Department of Defense, so, caveat for all that entails.

# French

# Fuss Free French

Fuss Free French is a really cool resource for learning French that describes one person's approach to learning French at a high level in a relatively short amount of time.

# Kwiziq

I haven't actually tried Kwiziq, but know some people who swear by it for training on grammar at the post-beginner level. It's also available for Spanish!

# Spanish

# Kwiziq Spanish

See above!

# Intermediate Spanish Podcast from Spanish Language Coach

This Spanish podcast for intermediate learners is great; short episodes on random topics, entirely in Spanish, but at a more approachable-to-my-current-level level than podcasts for fluent speakers. I've only listened to the intermediate podcast, which you can find on Spotify or elsewhere.

# German

# Deutsche Welle German course

Free course for German; I haven't spent a lot of time with this.

# The German Project

Free lessons on beginner vocab & grammar, but look especially to the German Children's Stories.

# BBC Lanauges German

Another site with lots of little things you could use, that I bookmarked but haven't spent a lot of time with. It looks like this section of the site is no longer maintained, so best of luck!

# Arabic

Admittedly I have bookmarked lots of courses but mostly have not studied much Arabic -- I am stuck on gaining confidence with the alphabet and figuring out what dialect to focus on or whether to go for MSA first.

# Alif Bee app

The Alif Bee mobile app is one resource I can vouch for; it's much more useful than Duolingo for learning the Arabic alphabet. (I think I would have got it if I stuck with my practice sessions; I don't necessarily believe that about if I had only used Duolingo!) I got what I needed without paying for it.

# Other resources

From my bookmarks, in no particular order:

  • Madinah Arabic free lessons
  • Talk in Arabic is focused on getting you speaking quickly
  • Mango Languages is a paid product that offers a pretty wide range of languages. I am interested in doing one of the Arabic courses once I get past the alphabet. A lot of libraries offer Mango for card holders; unfortutely the one in my city doesn't, but check your library before signing up to pay individually!
  • Arabic Workshop


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