I quickly realized that spending two months in Brazil, while amazing, definitely hurt my Spanish language skills. Add to that the additional time I spent in the States for Christmas, and I now find myself playing catch-up just to get back to the point I was at in December. It’s amazing how little time it takes to forget so much of what you learned.
Luckily, I’m back in Buenos Aires and have re-enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires’ Español por Extrañeros class, Nivel 3! So, while I may be the slowest in class, I am getting back into learning again. I also had my first session with my amazing tutor Marco today, so I’m sure my mediocre Spanish will return soon.
Well, today I found a very cool language web site that may also help. It’s called Learn10 and their goal is to help you learn a language 10 words at a time. Every day, they send you ten of the most frequently used words or allow you to input your own (subscription version). They give you these words via a Flash widget, email, text messages, or their iPhone app. They show you how these words are used by searching Twitter streams for them, thus providing real-world usage. They also provide tests, pronounciation and the ability to record your own pronunciations (and video) too. And you can post your results to Facebook and Twitter. The basic version of the site is free, while the premium version is only $9.95/month and includes a screen saver, competition and history to keep track of your progress.
You can check out their widget below: