Submitted by DovahKiiiiiiiin t3_1033mzp in providence
Hey Providence! I've been teaching myself Spanish with Duolingo, but it's becoming clear to me that other human beings are required to actually learn a language. I'm wondering if anyone knows of meet-ups in PVD where Spanish learners hang out and hablan español? Cheers
Awesome. Because I'm in the same boat. Thanks for the info!
I am too! I stared DuoLingo on a whim and got hooked. I’m on a 60 day streak and now looking for other places to supplement my learning. r/Spanish is a good resource for additional material (I’m sure there are other subs for other languages). But I will be looking for some in-person practice at some point.
I've tried to sprinkle it in during the day, but it's hard when you don't actually converse. Though my Spanish reading has gotten better.
I have coworkers that are first generation and speak Spanish, but I don’t want to bug them in the middle of the work day to practice!
Look into Refold. I've used it with great success for German.
Gibt es ein Platz, deutsch zu sprechen?
Not that I've found, although I'm tempted to find a Yiddish speaking community and try it out there
Not sure about Yiddish, but I found with Danish that it's not like English->Scottish. It may sound like that, but when you try and actually understand, it's still a foreign language.
Folks from the class (both current and former students) along with some local hispanohiblantes also get together twice a month on weekends at either Madrid or Wildflour to chat in Spanish. That group posts in the Meetup app
Checkout this Meetup with Providence Practicing Spanish: https://meetu.ps/e/LLhsw/KZPXs/i
¿Donde esta la biblioteca?
El espanol para principiantes esta en la biblioteca comunitaria de Rochambeau. Ask librarians to find more advanced ones.
Another way to practice with humans is to go to Spanish restaurant and stores and try to speak there. Good thing is most people will be bilingual so if you get stuck you can always revert back to English. Just head to Broad St and get food or go shopping.
Always keep in mind the variances from Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish. Luckily it's about %80 the same across the continents and only differences are below from my observation
While its not a tonal language I can verify there are differences in speed of speech ( Caribbean ) and more indigenous words ( Mexico, Central, South America )
From my experience with Duolingo as well the Spanish lessons offered to Americans are Mexican/Latin American Spanish, mainly.
Then that should be fine if you want converse with that group, but if you go to Spain with what you learned be prepared for some misunderstandings.
While I never sent myself to Spain, based on videos I have watched over there it did take me a little time to adjust to how they spoke because I'm so used to hearing people from Latin America speak Spanish vs any actual Spaniards.
Yes! I can imagine a Spanish language learner having problems understanding various dialects. I fluently speak a dialect of Mexican Spanish*but often find myself having some trouble understand some Carribean Spanish speakers. And ditto some Spanish speakers from Spain.
*I say a dialect of Mexican Spanish and not Mexican Spanish. There is no single Mexican Spanish. There exists regional variation despite common characteristics.
There used to me a group on Meetup.com.
There still is. See my comment reply above
The meetup group mentioned below was great when I went a few years ago. Folks at lots of different levels. Friendly group.
The Olneyville Neighborhood Association has done an intercambio in the past for folks looking to learn either Spanish or English (and K'iche, too!). It was on Zoom due to Covid when I did it, which made it somewhat awkward, but it's the best formal way I've found to practice with native Spanish speakers. It might be a bit hard to hang if you're not conversational yet, though.
Community Libraries of Providence has classes at the Rochambeau library on Wednesdays stating next week.
At the Knight Memorial Library, they have classes on Monday’s starting at the end of the month.
They also have a drop-in class to practice Spanish starting in February on Wednesdays.
They also just opened a virtual Spanish class Saturday mornings .
All classes are free, but a $25 donation is suggested.
You also have Mango for free through the libraries.
Just keep in mind, the downtown library is Providence Public Libraries.
The 9 other libraries in Providence are Community Libraries or Providence.
They are two entirely different systems. Although, when you use any library in Rhode Island, you have access to all the materials statewide.
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Creo que esta pregunta es importante.
There used to be a bunch of Spanish announce tables but people kept throwing each other through them
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You can save your Pesos..and go on Sabbatical in Mexico City..or Central Falls, RI
newbiePVD t1_j2wps7m wrote
you are in luck. Providence public library has Spanish classes evenings at community libraries for 25$ donations or what you can afford. Beginner classes restarting Jan 11 but they also can direct you to intermediate classes. You are right duolingo is a little bit of fun but much better if combined with real classes.