Even the most extroverted, social language learners can sometimes feel a little isolated.
There are always those moments where you’re alone with some complicated Spanish exercises or a tricky textbook passage, wondering how you’ll ever dig yourself out of your language confusion.
But here’s the thing. You’re not alone.
There are so many language learners who feel that way, too—and tons of native Spanish speakers who are willing to help.
You can connect with all of them on Spanish language forums.
These online forums are fantastic places to instantly connect with Spanish speakers, pose difficult questions or just get some moral support. In this post, I’ll show you my six favorites.
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What Is a Language Forum and How Can It Help You Learn Spanish?
A language forum is an online site designed for discussion in the form of posted messages. Think of it as a digital bulletin board. You can ask or reply to questions, share language learning tips, get your Spanish writing corrected and lots more.
Studies indicate high-quality discussions take place in a forum setting. For language learners, the contact with native Spanish speakers, as well as other students, is very beneficial. You’ll see new vocabulary in use and will gain essential practice structuring thoughts and sentences in Spanish.
Plus, if you’re self-studying Spanish, forums can give you a community environment to practice and learn in.
After spending some time in a Spanish language forum, you’ll be much more prepared for real-life conversations with Spanish speakers!
Best Spanish Language Forums
1. Linguaholic
Linguaholic is an excellent place to begin your Spanish language forum journey. It’s great for meeting others who share a passion for learning Spanish. There are sub-forums for specific discussions about idioms, grammar, literature and more. You can also have 100 percent Spanish conversations in the Spanish-only lounge.
The lounge is the place to make friends, swap recipes and quite possibly find a Skype partner to practice your Spanish (almost) face to face.
I highly recommend checking out this site. Before I knew it, I’d spent a couple of hours chatting with other learners and not only did I get the chance to put my language skills to work, I also met some like-minded people. Definitely give this one a try!
Linguaholic hosts several other language forums as well, so once you’re fluent in Spanish, consider becoming a polyglot with a little help from any of the other language lounges.
2. Espanglishchat
Espanglishchat is less forum and more chat room but it’s still a useful place to hone your skills with other Spanish speakers. Chat rooms typically communicate using a single line of text that isn’t archived, so it’s slightly different from actual forums.
Topics tend to vary but expect language tips as well as cultural questions, politics, entertainment and other topical day-to-day exchanges. Need a recipe or want the skinny on how a holiday is celebrated in a Spanish-speaking country? This is the place to ask.
Be advised, there’s no censoring in the chat rooms, so there’s a chance some conversations could turn salty. Hey, that’s what scrolling is for.
A final thought about Espanglishchat: There’s a sidebar next to the chatroom that’s just loaded with links to an assortment of popular topics, from Spanish grammar to general language learning tips.
3. LingQ
You may already be familiar with LingQ, the immersive app that teaches you a language through entertaining podcasts, audiobooks, interviews and more. It’s a fun and effective way to learn Spanish through real, compelling content. Best of all, they also have a community of language learners and forums for you to dive into!
The Spanish forum hosts open discussion on a range of topics. It’s a great place to ask for resource recommendations or get corrections on your Spanish writing. You’ll also find learners and Spanish speakers looking to arrange language exchanges.
When you’re ready to branch out, explore all the other forums hosted on LingQ. There are boards for different languages as well as space to make suggestions for LingQ’s Spanish content and tools.
4. MyLanguageExchange
MyLanguageExchange is a massive language community. There are over 3 million members from more than 133 countries involved in this language exchange site. They host approximately 115 languages, so again, once you’re fluent in Spanish, feel free to browse and choose a new language to learn!
The goal of MyLanguageExchange is to match people up to teach each other their native languages. So finding a native Spanish-speaking partner in this online community means that you’ll spend some time chatting in Spanish (for your benefit) and some time chatting in English (for their benefit).
Head to the Spanish text chat page to see who’s available for conversation. You’ll communicate in a chatroom style, sort of like Espanglishchat. There’s even a voice chat option that’s great for perfecting pronunciation.
You can also join a forum for the larger language learning community at the MyLanguageExchange Bulletin Board. This is a great place to get language learning advice and practice tips.
5. WordReference
WordReference has an active language learning community with four different forums for Spanish learners (covering vocabulary, grammar, specialized terminology and learning resources). Discussions take place in both English and Spanish.
It’s a great place to dive into nitty-gritty language questions or learn about how Spanish is used in different regions.
One of the best features of this forum is the integration with WordReference’s Spanish-English translation dictionary. Search for a word and you’ll get not only a translation, but also links to all the forum discussions where that word has been discussed.
If Spanish isn’t your only language interest, or if you’re curious about Turkish, Greek or any of a couple dozen other languages, there are many more forums to explore!
Spanish language forums offer so much to learners as well as native speakers. They’re places to meet people, practice language skills and learn about what’s going on in places a lot of us have never visited.
Language forums let you practice your Spanish writing and reading. To complete your study program, pair these forums with FluentU for more natural learning of the visual and audible kind.
Maximize your time spent in a Spanish language forum by being an active participant.
Hanging back and watching how the process works is fine for the first visit, but don’t be intimidated by all the Spanish flying through cyberspace.
Jump into the conversation and see your own skills grow!
Above all, have fun!
¡Buena suerte! (Good luck!)
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
If you’ve made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It’ll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
