Yesterday I said I would talk about one of my favorite new toys. I was thinking of Yabla, a subscription site that has videos with the option of showing both Spanish (in my case) and English subtitles. That’s easier than what I was doing with the Columbian telenova with the option of only one language.
Yabla also gives one the option of playing the video at 75% or 50% speed, but in the couple of videos I have watched I didn’t need that feature. When I used Yabla yesterday I used the recycle feature, so it played the same line over and over again. I would listen, stop it, then try to speak the words as fast as the speaker. I only did a couple of frames, but I right now I think that’s the most useful approach for me.
I also spent a lot more time on the Duolingo questions, practicing my speaking by reading the individual sentences aloud over and over. And I used Google Translate to translate yesterday’s blog into Spanish that I then read aloud, again trying to read at a reasonable speed. I figure if I were to do that every day it would be a great way of learning the vocabulary words that are most important to me. And it would help my listening.
So Yabla may not be my favorite toy, but it has its uses. Anyway, that’s what I’m experimenting with now. I’ll let you know how it goes.
July 18, 2023
Sounds interesting. That’s a pretty cool feature that you can slow the speed of the video.
Yes. 🙂
we all have our TOYS! at least when you play you come out with a new and better you and knowing a new language . with my toy, all i have is silly photos to talk about. have fun, I leave you with the one word I can say and understand adiós
We love seeing with you create with your toys! Spreading joy is not to be sniffed at. 🙂
Gosh, how very far we’ve come from classroom foreign language lessons! These sound like great tools for homeschooling moms and dads.
It’s amazing. That’s one reason it’s so much fun.
Never heard of it, but it sure is a great addition to those learning Spanish!
Yes!
I love how you find so many different ways of learning. All I’m doing nowadays is looking up an occasional word that is strange to me.
If you feel like doing more there are plenty of things to play with. But only if it sounds like fun.
interesting about how our technology is going in leaps and bounds to give us a way to learn more if we wish…
Yes, absolutely amazing!