Duolingo stories

[asakiyume]

My desktop calendar is reminding that tomorrow we set off for Colombia. Thank you, desktop calendar, but I don't think I could forget that fact.

I'm nearly all ready. Just a few more tasks. But I took a break just now to practice Spanish with Duolingo Stories. (Interestingly, it turns out that one of the founders of Duolingo is from Guatemala. There's tense-making episode of the Duolingo Spanish podcast in which he describes how his family dealt with the kidnapping of his aunt.)

The Duolingo Spanish Stories are wonderful. Some of them are downright hilarious, like this one, "Muñecos de boda", about newlyweds who have been given two terrifying marionettes as a wedding gift. And the one I just finished, "Decisiones", had a moment that made me laugh out loud:



Marcos says, "I love this place," and Laura says "Me too. I just met our neighbor. He has thirty-five birds as pets." "Everyone needs a hobby," Marcos remarks amiably.

It's a very fun way to practice Spanish!

Comments

[sovay]

My desktop calendar is reminding that tomorrow we set off for Colombia. Thank you, desktop calendar, but I don't think I could forget that fact.

Travel safe!

[asakiyume]

Thank you; we certainly shall endeavor to!

[missroserose]

I wonder if Duolingo has that feature for Swedish?

I hope your trip is amazing and I will greet you from homeownerland when you return!

[asakiyume]

I know it has podcasts in other languages, but I wonder about stories! I hope so; it's a very fun feature. And yes indeed, re: homeownership!

[queenoftheskies]

Have a safe and wonderful trip!

[asakiyume]

Thank you very much ^_^

[teenybuffalo]

Oh my gosh! Have a marvelous time! If anyone is well-placed to enjoy themselves and get the most out of the trip, it's you guys.

[asakiyume]

Thank you! We'll certainly try.

Are you going to Readercon this year? It looks like I will be.

[teenybuffalo]

Yes! I'm looking forward to it.

[amaebi]

Buen viaje!

I'll have to try Duolingo stories.

[asakiyume]

I think you'll enjoy them--they're very good natured.

[larryhammer]

I wish Duolingo's Mandarin lessons had reading exercises like that.

[asakiyume]

It probably has to do with the numbers of people learning the language, but you'd think there'd be a lot of people learning Mandarin ... I wonder if there's a suggestion box...

I'd think ideally they'd want to have all these tools available for all languages.

[larryhammer]

I think it's more how long the course has been around -- they started offering Mandarin only last fall, and are still tinkering with the lessons. Still doesn't have speaking feedback, for example. Or stories. Just drills on characters, sound recognition, and grammar by example.

[zyzyly]

Have a wonderful trip!

[khiemtran]

Hope you arrived safely! I remember in the old days when I used to use Lonely Planet phrasebooks, there would always been mistakes and misprints, and every single traveller would end up reading the same wrong phrases (I think one in the Chinese one was about the pronunciation of the word for shower). I always wondered if the locals in the service industry started to catch on to what was happening.