[NABS-L] Any advice on language, learning platforms?

[Sami Osborne]

Hi Sara,



So glad you're interested in improving your Spanish!



Miso is absolutely right that connecting with an actual native speaker is realy the best way of working on your oral comprehension skills. As a matter of fact, I think I'll be able to connect you with someone who would be delighted to work with you.



I'm currently pursuing my master's degree in language translation and interpreting from NYU, and this past summer, I realized that although I was still fluent in Spanish, my oral comprehension wasn't as good as it was when I was first studying the language in school. This was partly because I didn't really have the opportunity to practice since graduating from undergrad, when I majored in Romance Languages, and all my translation assignments in graduate school have always been from the source language into English (never the other way around), since English is pretty much the only common language that everyone in my program can speak. So because of that, I thought it would be really nice to brush up on my oral comprehension skills. Luckily, I was able to find someone living in my hometown of Nyack, New York (although we met on Zoom once a week) who works as a professional Spanish tutor for students from all around the world. She's originally from Argentina, but has been living here in Nyack for over thirty years now. If you'd like, I can contact you off list to give you her contact info. She certainly has a lot of experience at what she does, and she's also very kind and competent. As her (seemingly) first ever blind student, I also got the impression that she's very eager to learn how we do things on a daily basis. I'm pretty sure she's always looking for new students to both work with and learn from.



I hope this info is helpful, and good luck in your language pursuits!



Sami  On Sep 25, 2023 10:52 PM, misokwak12--- via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> I think if you want to focus on speaking and listening, finding a language circle / Spanish table etc. may be the best fit. If you are connected with a college, you may be able to find such opportunity, especially with Spanish being quite commonly used.
> I have been affiliated with a few different higher education institutions and all of them had opportunities for people to come and practice speaking Spanish without having to be enrolled in a class.
> Miso
>
> Miso Kwak Ed.M. 
> (Pronouns: she, her, hers)
> PhD Student, Special Education 
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
>
> LinkedIn 
> Twitter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sara Luna via NABS-L
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2023 9:36 PM
> To: NABS Mailing List <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Sara Luna <sol.sky.luna at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NABS-L] Any advice on language, learning platforms?
>
> Hey y’all! 
> I wanted to ask if there are any language learning platforms you would recommend? I have used Duolingo on and off to practice my Spanish for a few years but, I am getting tired of it. Particularly because of some weird accessibility bugs and their increasing emphasis on Writing languages. I don’t ever see myself needing to write in Spanish so, my focus is on, comprehension and increasing my vocabulary. I would appreciate any input on different learning platforms particularly ones that are either free or, not that expensive.
>
> Peace 
> Sara 
>
> Sara Luna, 
> She, her, hers.
> Second Vice President National Association of Blind Students.
> Board member, National Federation Of The Blind of Illinois. 
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