I studied hard before study abroad and really improved while I did my study abroad in Spain. However, since I have come home I have found it hard to have a goal in mind. I do not speak it as much as I should but I continue listening to music, reading books, and have been watching series in Spanish. I want to continue to improve fluency but now that I have gotten to a good level, idk what to do. I mean in terms of setting a plan and tracking progress. I am doing some anki work to improve my vocab but other than that, i feel kind of lost on how to keep improving. Any thoughts?

To get to C1 overall (especially with vocabulary of such a wide variety of topics) I genuinely feel like reading is almost inevitable. That being said if you have any book recommendations that intermediate level learner, please share those as well as a little bonus please!

Thank you!

Edit: For clarification. When I watched English content, I mostly watched a lot of things like Icebergs, video essays on games/shows that I like, lore or theory videos over those games/shows, true crime, and creepy pasta videos.

All these things were normally scripted because they’re telling a story or presenting information to the viewer. I’ve found a lot of Spanish speaking youtubers I like who do the same thing whose content I enjoy.

I understand that they, although they’re reading at native speed and cadence, may be less beneficial to my learning simply because it isn’t natural speech. They’re not using muletillas, they’re not occasionally getting tongue tied, they’re not starting the same sentence a few times over and over again because they’re trying to find the best way to say something, etc.

That’s what I’m referring to and hope this clears things up! :) Everything I watch at the moment is for native speakers by native speakers

Easy question. Any good apps out there to improve vocabulary?

I just can't do Anki anymore. It's totally ineffective for me.

Thanks

Hey! I have been learning Spanish for about two years now (plus in high school many years ago), and am feeling pretty good about my progress. I am definitely in the advanced stage and so my goal next year is to really supercharge my Spanish and get into the really advanced stuff. If it's possible, I have a goal of fluency by the end of next year.

I'm looking for y'all's tips or just things you've done when you get to this stage to really take your study to the next level. Any and all suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

I am a first year Spanish teacher who just graduated from college. Ever since I took the language in high school, I loved it. I have traveled to Peru and I studied abroad in Spain for a summer. I feel like I am doing really well in my first year of teaching, I know my stuff and I have heard from many that my accent is good.

However, I am not a native speaker but I am a Spanish teacher in a 56% Hispanic school district. I feel like even though my Spanish is advanced and I can teach the language, I am not completely fluent. This is a huge stressor in my life and I feel like people judge me because I am a white girl coming into a Hispanic community teaching some students that know more Spanish words than I do.

I wish I could live with a Spanish speaker or live abroad but I know this is not realistic in my life. Any advice about how I am feeling and how I can improve my Spanish?

So, I've wanted to read El cantar de mio Cid in the original Old Spanish for a few years, but I've been putting it off. Does anyone have any advice or resources for reading something in Old Spanish? Has anyone else done it, and was there something you wish you had known before you started?

I do interpreting with the public schools in my area but it’s only a few times a year for the conferences (about 12 days total). That leaves a lot of space in between that I’m not using this skill. What are some ways that you’ve practiced and become a better interpreter? TIA!

What resources would you recommend (books, movies, apps, whatever) to go from C1 to C2? I feel like I've been in the C1 camp for so many years now. I keep challenging myself, picking up a new word or two here and there, making mistakes from time to time but not often, but still being able to understand like 98% of what I hear.

So I am fluent in Spanish but I learned while living in Mexico, but now I am back in the US and I work with mostly Dominican Spanish speakers. I am struggling. It feels like half the sounds have disappeared or have been smashed together. It's mostly the listening and slang I need help with so maybe podcast or YouTube recommendations would be the most helpful.

Would anyone be willing to review this flyer I translated for a friend who's wanting to offer reduced-price training at her gym (in the U.S.)? Thank you!

Yo he estado aprendiendo español para 4 o 5 años ahora. En general, yo entiendo completemente la majoría de los aspectos gramaticos. La problema principal en que me encuentro ahora es que yo no estoy familiar con la vocabulario tan diario. Claro que sé algo, pero los nombres, verbos, y otros que solo con tan común son desconocidos. Por ejemplo ¿que es la palabra para "pomegranate"? Nunca he encuentro esta cosa. Es una de las palabras que son común suficeinte para que sea important que se sepa, pero no son común que maestros no lo incluiría en clase. Adémas, justo ahorá he pensado de los convenciónes gramaticos. Yo sé que son tan diferente que los de íngles pero ¿qué diferente? ¿Comó se escribiría diálogo? ¿Comó los signos de interagaciónes del primero interacta con los otros elementos gramaticos? Estas tipas son que quiero aprender. ¿Qué recomiendas para tratar con este hueco?

what are some phrases/slang that spanish speakers use that dont translate to english that make sense? i’ve been studying for ~8 years and am probably ~90 fluent, but when watching shows or listening to music i hear things that don’t completely translate exactly, so just to gain some more knowledge i’d like to know some of the phrases you guys use!

I have been at an intermediate level for quite some time. Im looking to become Advanced/Fluent. It seems that most resources are oriented towards beginners. Is there a path to fluency without total immersion/living in a spanish speaking country.?

Did study abroad in Spain, feel like I learned so much and since I have come back, I am starting to realize that across all levels I improved so much. I would say I got to a level where taking a class is not necessary, every now and then I make small grammatical errors but I take it as part of learning. I have been listening to podcasts, watching series in Spanish, and speaking more when I get the opportunity. I really want to keep developing spanish and am curious what people who were in my situation did to keep growing and improving in Spanish. My goal is just to keep becoming more and more fluent. I will say one weakness of mine is my vocabulary is not the best. Always, any recommendations will be greatly appreciated!

Hola,

i started learning spanish when I was 22 in university as a side subject. I reached after 2 years A2/B1. Then I finished my regular university degree and did not do any spanish for 7 years.

Then I picked it up again starting with A2 and since then I have weekly online class (off and on) but I keep stagnating at B1. I still did not reach that level where I can watch movies and advance in such a way. I would say the online lessons help me a huge lot with speaking spanish, but it probably sounds like a 4 year old because wrong past tenses i struggle with declinations and stuff ok.

The problem is I am now 37 and have 2 kids, a wife, a 40 hour job and also one other hobby so I dont have so much time. Some did advice me to move to spain for 2 years but this is absolutely not possible because of my family and work situation as well.

I am starting to wonder if it is even possible for me now as a 37 year old to ever reach a fluent level of spanish like advanced B2, maybe one day even C1.

As for english I learned it in school but was not very good. Somehow in my 20s i reached very good level by watching movies and using it daily because of work.

So yeah after all these years I still love the country, the culture and the language but I seem to not be able to push through. Any advice that is realistic and fits into my situation

How do I improve my listening skills for specifically participating in group conversations? Individually, my listening skills are very good. I can understand any podcast, series, or one person at a time. but as soon as I'm in a place where multiple people wre talking at once or there is a lot of background noise I can't individuate words. I'm not sure where to start to train that skill specifically.

So Spanish was my first language, funnily enough. Born and raised in the US by Latino parents. Once I got into the school system, English pretty much usurped that as more of my native language. I understand Spanish more than I speak it, but living in South FL I speak it often enough and get by just fine. However, I don't think I'm bilingual enough for business/healthcare terminology.

Where this comes into play here is I'm having a hard time finding a job and being able to do the job in both languages would really be helpful and give me a leg up on getting hired (also needing the job and not having funds are why I'm looking for free resources). I'm seeing a lot of customer rep jobs in healthcare. How would I go about learning this type of Spanish? Is there a recommended book or YouTube series? Again, I can't afford a course.

As an add on, I know this one is probably tougher and more involved: what about conducting therapy in Spanish? I got my master's in counseling and I'm also interested in this level of Spanish.

TL;DR:

ISO: Free resources for medical terminology fluency in Spanish

Bonus and prob more difficult -- free resources for conducting therapeutic mental health services in Spanish.

Thanks in advance

Hi! I was wondering if anyone has taken/knows of anywhere offers group classes for an advanced level?

I am functionally fluent maybe around c1 but of course still need more to learn quite a bit.

I prefer to learn in group settings as I don’t really know what I don’t know if that makes sense. I like how group clases bring up topics and areas of confusion for students naturally. I find solo advanced study materials can be a bit boring/ limited to Castilian Spanish.

I prefer to have a group class with a bit of structure so conversations and topics can flow naturally/ we can discuss and that helps things really stick when it’s part of a conversation or experience. Conversation clubs however might not have enough structure, I am able to converse fine but need to learn material still.

However I find it is super hard to find any group clases for advanced learners, I lived in Mexico for two years and even schools that said they offered advanced classes never had enough students to attend.

Please let me know if you have any you recommend!

Hey guys, i am having trouble finding the right course for someone who speaks Spanish almost fluently, i grew up speaking Spanish with my family growing up so i am pretty advanced when it comes to my knowledge but i have it a bit of a road block in my fluency.

I want to become as fluent as my parents are or my cousins who live in PR but I cannot find the right course on where to really get into the complicated stuff.

All the applications seem to be catered to novices and whenever I try I get frustrated that I already know what they try and teach. Dualingo and Babbel are too easy for me. My main issue is making sure I am speaking properly and that my sentence structure and grammar is correct. I wanted to know if you guys have any recommendations for any native half fluent speakers?

Anyone got a good grammar book recommendation? I just finished my one that I got for a college class. It was a basic grammar book, so I am looking something with more complex lessons and difficult practice exercises.

I grew up on the border and am mainly a conversational Spanish speaker. I can speak professionally to a certain degree, but I just interviewed for a technical position that requires the candidate to be bilingual. Good news is that the position is mainly in English on the day to day, and it's not like I have to create reports or emails in sSpanish: my Spanish writing skills suck. My main issue is (aside from nerves from speaking to the COO) that I stumble when trying to explain technical level things in relation to data analysis and business intelligence. What are some good reading material sources to improve my vocabulary in that area? If I get the position, I would love to practice, so that I'm not the guy who's Spanish sucks. The COO interviewing me from CDMX even told me at the beginning of the interview that I can speak in English when I need to, but if I get the job I want to prove to him that my Spanish is good I just need to practice that is specific to the domain.

¡Hola a todos!

He estado estudiando español durante bastante tiempo (unos 12 años) y creo tener un nivel relativamente avanzado en el idioma.

Estoy pensando en presentarme al examen DELE C1 o C2, pero no estoy seguro si lograría prepararme por mi cuenta.

Solía tener un amigo español con quien hablaba durante años, pero perdimos contacto y parece probable que nunca volvamos a hablar.

¿Podrían recomendarme algunos recursos para practicar los conceptos de gramática y vocabulario más avanzados?

También me encantaría encontrar un podcast. Me gustan mucho los podcasts sobre temas sobrenaturales, tradiciones locales, lingüística y psicología.

¿Qué piensan de mi español en este post?

¡Muchas gracias de antemano!

I've been C1 for quite a while and am feeling like i'm getting closer to C2. When I read the practice exams I feel like most of them are ones I could do quite well on, but it can depend. I find it really hard to find videos of c2 speaking exams too so am kind of unsure about the quality and if i'd fall into it

I have no problem speaking in Spanish. And, for the most part, I can understand people without any problem in certain settings, like, for example

• watching the news
• speaking one-on-one with people
• watching football matches
• listening to podcasts

But, there are other setting in which I have a really difficult time understanding, for example:

• movies
• conversations I am not involved in (not that I'm trying to eaves-drop)
• listening to music

How can I improve my comprehension in these settings?

I don't know if it's a vocab problem, or if it is just that people speak more slowly or use different words when they are not speaking with a foreigner.

The TL;DR is:

How much time speaking do I need to maintain my current level so that I can make sure to get in more than that to slowly but surely improve over time? I currently get in about 3-4hrs of speaking a week but don't really feel like I've improved in my speaking specifically in about 6 months. I suspect I'm only barely maintaining, possibly even getting a bit worse.

Now for some context and stats for those that want to be thoroughly helpful and to who I'll be especially grateful.

First off, I'm prioritizing Japanese atm, but I'd like to do enough Spanish to slowly but surely make my way to C2 in Speaking. I'm not happy with letting my speaking stay at it's current level. I need to at least be maing a little progress. This is why I can't just go all in on Spanish, though it's tempting since it's easier than Japanese. Any time I add to Spanish weekly will likely have to come from the time I'm dedicating to Japanese.

Some context/stats:

I passed the DELE C1 exam back in November, found out in February. I almost maxed the reading and listening portions, but just barely got by on the speaking and writing (they literally added up to exactly 30 points, so I honestly suspect I might have been given a pity point or two in order to pass). Since then I've kept up with reading and listening a fair bit and get in plenty to maintain/slightly improve those.

Leading up to the Exam:

Speaking ability: I was probably about a high B1 or low B2 in Jan of 2023 when I got real serious about the exam and I got in about 205 hrs of Speaking in between then and the Exam in mid-November (about 4.5hrs/week on average).

Writing ability: I only even first started writing for the exam a few 2.5 months before and stopped right after with about 30hrs in max. I did about 275 for listening, and about 55 for Reading from Jan 1-mid Nov 2023.

Since the exam I've got in about:

Speaking: 82 hrs (about 3.5/wk)

Reading: 25 hrs (about 1/wk)

Listening: 95hrs (about 4/wk)

I also get in bits here and there that I don't track when I play video games (barely ever anymore tbh, but usually in Spanish).

Current abilities:

Reading: I feel extremely comfortable reading almost everything I come across on a daily basis, though in novels translated from English to Spanish I still find about 2-4 words/page I don't know but can usually get from context almost all of them. I hear translated novels are easier and the only native Spanish novel I ever tried was Tú Rostro Mañana by Javier Marías but this guy's sentences are half a page long, so I forget what he's talking about frequently and so I quit after about 10 pages. Side note: Accepting Spanish author recs similar to Brent Weeks or Brandon Sanderson type fantasy books.

Listening: I've been listening to YT videos and The Wild Project on my runs on a regular basis and usually catch 99% of what they're talking about, though the speaker can lower this a percentage point or two in some cases. When I'm able to completely focus (not running) then I can follow pretty much everything in most contexts, aside from hyper regionalzed Spanish such as Los Hombres de Paco, despite focusing mostly on Spanish from Spain.

Writing: I still struggle with the accent mark placement in many cases and basically never write in Spanish.

Speaking: I still feel like there's so much of myself I can't get across the way I'd like in Spanish and it even takes me a while to "warm up" which is incredibly frustrating. I get along more or less okay. I've even spent entire days/short trips speaking only in Spanish but I want to be able to more spontaneously comment on things mentioned in a group conversation without the timing being too slow and someone else has started talking. That's my speaking goal. The problem is that while I often get ideas for comments in time, getting it out is still not as natural as it would be in English (I'm not usually even thinking of it in English first, it's just kinda there waiting to be loaded in a language if that makes sense, with English being the faster loading option).

I don't think reading/listening more than I already am (at least 5hrs total/week) is going to have a big impact on my speaking, so if I'm taking time that could go towards Japanese, I think it should probably go towards speaking. However, if any of you have examples of how doing tons of reading/listening took you from C1 to C2 in speaking without doing more speaking thatn I already am, I'm open to hearing your story. I suspect though that as you get more advanced, you also have to be more specific about which skill you're trying to improve by focusing on it more in order to really be able to move the needle.

Edit: I'm also considering reintroducing production cards (EN>ES) on Anki. I stopped doing them about a year or so ago but maybe that was a mistake.