Today I’m grateful for Duolingo. At the start of the year I made a goal to learn Spanish. I’ve been using the Duolingo app every day– sometimes for a single quick lesson, and sometimes for a more extended learning experience– and I think it’s been really helpful.
Admittedly, the vocabulary taught by the app is quite basic. I’ve learned how to navigate a city, talk about my family, go shopping, and so on. These would probably be useful if I was traveling, but it’s difficult to have a “normal” conversation with a Spanish speaker unless they want to go shopping or something. And I don’t know that many native speakers. Alex is fluent as a result of serving a two-year mission in Peru, but I don’t have the opportunity to talk to him frequently. And Pepper served a Spanish-speaking mission in Boston, but it was a long time ago and she wasn’t really immersed in the language. Still, I do have the opportunity to talk to her frequently, and she helps me with my grammar.
My friend Nate, who works at Rosa’s, also started learning Spanish this year. However, he’s using a more “professional” course, and spends an hour or two a day working at it. As a result, he’s quite a bit more advanced than I am. Lately he’s been forcing me to order my lunch in Spanish; fortunately I get the same thing every time, so I’ve been practicing phrases like “Quiero una pizza pequeña con peperoni”.
I have a long way to go before I’m competent at Spanish, but even in these short, simple lessons I do, it’s been fun to see some progress. Español no es fácil pero es divertido!