Once you make your way to the Land of Opportunities, the United States, things aren’t as easy as you will want them to be. As a fluent Spanish speaker, you will have a hard time talking to people because of a language barrier.
Fret not! It is never too late to learn English. You can head to platforms that are dedicated to teaching you a new language as a Latino. While you have to pay for some of them, others are free!
Here are some of the tried and tested apps.
1. Preply
Not only is Preply great for Spanish speakers to learn English, but it is also amazing for English speakers who want to teach English.
The platform doesn’t have any set curriculum or lesson plans to follow. Those who teach languages come up with their lessons, making lessons as engaging as can be. As a student, it is your job to look for teachers teaching English and choose the one that seems most appealing to you. You should head to Preply to get started with your English lessons.
2. Lingoda
Lingoda is an online platform that has dedicated native-English speakers who teach the language. Not only do they focus on teaching how to speak English, but they walk you through the grammar and vocabulary as well.
The lesson flexibility makes it easier for you to work your classes into your schedule so that you can make things easier for yourself. The best part about Lingoda is that it teaches you English up to the Advanced (C1) level, which is the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level.
You may either opt for group classes or individual classes. The group class consists of 5 students at a time, which gives you more than enough time to ask your questions!
3. Duolingo
It wouldn’t have made sense if I didn’t add Duolingo to this list. Duolingo is among the most popular language-learning platforms all over the world. It has a highly interactive mobile app which makes the process a lot more fun.
Just like Snapchat, Duolingo also has a “streak” mechanism that you can maintain by completing a lesson every day. The process is quiz-based, which really helps grind your mental gears. You can fit a quick lesson into your schedule whenever you are free since they are short and easy to understand.
Some of the exercises demand you to speak, listen, and read so that you can understand the concepts better. Not only is it best to learn English, but you can also find a lot of other languages to learn such as German, French and a lot more! The best part about Duolingo is that you can use it for free.
However, Duolingo requires you to have an active internet connection to access all the exercises and keep your daily streak intact. So before you begin your English-learning adventure, be sure to prepare yourself with a conexión and an internet ultrarrápida (superfast internet connection)!
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4. EnglishCentral
If you feel like you will learn better with a tutor de ingles(an English tutor), then you should give EnglishCentral a shot. You can access it on both Android and iOS devices.
The app mainly focuses on teaching you through video lessons, which is why it has integrated speech-recognition software that helps you perfect your pronunciation. There are over 30,000 video lessons that you can use to polish your English speaking skills. You can learn new words by reading the transcripts and highlighting words that are new to you. You can also save words that you feel like practicing more.
Then, you can use the speech-recognition feature that will listen to your recordings and analyze how well you keep up with the video-lesson’s audio. You also have the option to opt for a live one-on-one session with a tutor to discuss your progress on the video lesson.
5. BBC Learning English
BBC has always been a pretty popular channel on TV, right? What if I told you that BBC has a program where you can learn English? It is a pretty well-known website when it comes to learning English. There are a lot of videos and podcasts that you can access if you are eager to learn English.
There are a lot of categories that you can choose between, ranging from language courses to exercises for grammar and punctuation. Even if you reach the C1 Level (Advanced English), there is still a lot more for you to explore and learn till you finally speak fluently and break the language barrier!
An Extra Tip
Just as soon as you land in the United States and reach your accommodation, make sure that the first thing you do is get a fast internet connection to learn English and stay in touch with your loved ones back home! You can also begin learning English so that communication is nothing short of a Brisa (breeze) for you!