Language Learning Resources

It can be overwhelming choosing which resources you should use when learning a new language. Here is a breakdown of some of the best resources.

Remember the early days of the pandemic when lockdown meant we actually had to stay in our homes? It only took a few days of nonstop video games for me to start developing the desire to better myself. Ironically, right around the time the pandemic drove me to cancel my trip to Cabo San Lucas is when I decided to download Duolingo and dive into Spanish. My days of non stop video games turned into non stop Spanish. I’m still learning, and I love it.

Duolingo is the number one language learning app out there, and for good reason - It’s fun, engaging, motivating, and social. It’s a perfect jumping off point for learning any new language. I had several hundred day streaks and reached the end of the Spanish course. But after completing the course, I tried to do a bit of a self assessment, and came to the disappointing realization that I couldn't really speak or understand native Spanish very well at all. I was nowhere near what we would consider fluent.

A single resource in language learning will only get you so far, no matter how comprehensive. I tried just about every app/website/podcast there is and encourage others to do the same to find what works for you. I’m writing this blog to summarize my journey and share what’s working for me currently. I also want to introduce yet another new resource that I’m building, listenlanguagelearn.com, a podcast learning platform that I developed to help myself translate podcasts while listening.

Here are some of the things I’ve tried...

The uncontested GOAT of language learning. Nothing beats having a professional guide you through the nuances of a foreign language. Take, for example, the subjunctive mood in Spanish. Subjunctive is the last thing you learn before becoming a Spanish speaker because it’s the hardest concept to grasp, especially as a native English speaker, because subjunctive doesn’t exist in English. Duolingo gives practice for the subjunctive mood without much explanation. It wasn’t until my tutor explained the feeling or thought process that leads to subjunctive that I started to feel more comfortable with it.

I use LanguaTalk, a platform that connects students to tutors for a range of languages. You pay per hour long session and payments and scheduling are handled through the platform. Prices are set by the tutors and typically range from $20-$40 per hour. If you want to learn quickly, this is the best way. I currently have 2-3 sessions per week with my Mexican tutor (shout out Alexis) and I’ve gone from Spanish level A2 to B2 in about 5 months.

Language exchange is when you are connected with someone who fluently speaks the language that you are trying to learn, and is trying to learn the language that you natively speak. For example, I could be connected with a Spanyard in Spain who is trying to learn English. It’s a wonderful solution for listening practice and building confidence in conversation. The agenda is typically up to you to figure out, and it may feel awkward, but remember, you’re both in the same boat and making mistakes is how you learn.


The most popular is HelloTalk which provides its own user-friendly app on IOS and Android. It costs around $13 per month or save a bit with $80 dollars per year. There are plenty of other options - check out a nice breakdown here.

My girlfriend and I spent a month in Mexico City this year in October/November. It was an amazing experience that I’ll cherish forever, and would certainly do again. The main motivation was to immerse myself in an attempt to expedite my Spanish learning journey - but it wasn’t that simple. After day one in Mexico I realized how far away I was from my goal. I could say most things that I wanted, but when they spoke back to me, the speed and slang made it such that I could rarely understand. This was a big wakeup call and caused me to turn most of my efforts towards listening practice, and the main reason I decided to build ListenLanguageLearn.com.

Podcasts are my favorite way to learn. You can develop your listening skills and improve vocabulary all while being entertained by a story. Sometimes, however, you can be overwhelmed by a series of words or phrases that you don’t know, which can prevent you from following along. This is the problem that ListenLanguageLearn.com aims to solve. You can listen to the podcast, read along to the transcript, and if you encounter a word or phrase you don’t know, simply select that text and Google Translate will translate it for you.

There are currently 9 podcasts and three languages (Spanish, English, French) on the platform. And I add new audio every week. There is audio for every level, but the beauty of the platform is that you can translate what you don’t know, so users for every level can follow along to even the hardest audio.

It’s also encouraged to just listen without reading along, since reading the words can be a crutch. Close your eyes, look away, whatever. Because out in the real world, you won’t have a transcript while in conversation. ListenLanguageLearn automatically follows along with the audio for you so you won’t be lost when you need to open your eyes and translate something.

If you know of some audio that isn’t on the platform, and has transcripts publicly available, don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll add it as soon as I can.

I’ve already talked quite a bit about Duolingo but I just want to share a pro tip if you don’t want to pay for the service - if you use Duolingo on your computer, you can use an adblock extension so you don't have to sit through an annoying video ad after every session.

The LingQ platform is very similar to ListenLanguageLearn but a feature rich paid service. It’s run by a whole company instead of one idiot trying to learn Spanish. If you have the money for the monthly subscription, I encourage you to check it out.

You know what Netflix is. But it can be good for learning a new language and, of course, very entertaining. I personally love the Narcos series and have watched it a few times through, leaving me well versed in Colombian and Mexican slang. I recently graduated to using Spanish instead of English subtitles and can still understand most of what is said.

I also want to mention the Dual Subtitle Google Chrome Extension which allows you to have the subtitles of both your native language and the language you are trying to learn. It can be a bit overwhelming to do twice the reading, so you may have to pause sometimes.

This is less of a resource and more a learning method that can really help improve listening. It goes like this:

 1. Listen to the audio while reading along. Make sure to learn the words/phrases you don’t know.
 2. Again, listen to the audio while reading along. But this time at 1.5x the speed.
 3. Just listen to the audio at normal speed without reading.

After the third step, you’ll be blown away at how well you’re able to comprehend. An example that I really like can be found here, and I’m looking at offering a guided version of this on ListenLanguageLearn. But you have the option to do this yourself in ListenLanguageLearn using the Google Chrome browser, which allows you to change the playback rate (speed) of the audio.

These are some of the things that work for me, and I hope you find them useful too. But you should also do your own research to see if there’s something else out there that suits you better. The most important thing is consistency. Devote a bit of time every day, and make sure you appreciate yourself for working hard on learning new things. If you find another resource that you love, let me know, we can do this together!