A relatively newbie to Memrise and learning languages.
I first used Memrise (free) when going to Barcelona and was amazed with how much Catalan I learned in the weeks before the trip. Unfortunately, this didn’t help in Madrid when I had to take my amigo to A&E!
Unfortunately, I haven’t been abroad since and I had forgotten all about Memrise until I saw the promotional offer in January and decided to take the plunge. I have been learning Spanish since which is going steadily well.
Firstly, I want to ask about watching TV/Films in the language you are learning and also video games. I have just started reading Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner and he mentioned it’s a good thing to do in the intro but I am not sure when is the best time. What do others recommend?
Secondly, what’s with all the hate for Memrise? Here and Reddit I see a lot of negative posts which is a shame. I feel really grateful for the app because I probably would have never attempted to learn a language otherwise.
The “hate” is due to memrise trying to get rid of user created courses, which are absolutely better than the official courses. Memrise was also originally entirely ALL user created courses, and that was what memrise was all about. Memrise turned their backs on user created courses that made memrise what it is in favor of pushing official courses where there’s only a limited amount of free levels before paying is required to progress further. They’re throwing away the community in favor of what they think will make more money, which it absolutely will not I am sure. People are venting their frustration and rightfully so.
Thanks for your replies. Still don’t quite understand it as I am new to using Memrise.
If anyone fancies asking my main question, it would be really helpful?
Is watching films/tv or playing video games in the language you are learning beneficial? and at what level is the best for this? I’m beginner level with Spanish.
My Spanish teacher says that you can start watching pelis at any moment you like and the more you listen to a spoken language the more you understand. But I don’t think it’s the best idea if you want to improve your listening skills, because 1) movies are time-consuming 2) if you are a beginner at the very best you will understand 70-80 percents of a spoken language.
Therefore I’d rather recommend listen to the radio stations (1-2-3 hours a day) and do any other things at the same time. Just notice your progress: at the first time you distinguish separate words, then you will understand word sequences and frases, etc. Anyways, you can do an experiment (watch any movie you like) and make your own decision.
You get it all wrong, there’s no hate. The main topic of the last weeks is about declarations of love - how users love Memrise and how they are frustrated because they are losing Memrise they love. That’s all.
That is very useful advice, I think perhaps at the moment it would be more confusing than helpful to me but after another few months of using Memrise I can see it being beneficial.
I did experiment with football manager video game in Spanish but it’s all visual/reading and wasn’t so helpful right now, although it was interesting to see the football terms in Spanish. In the near future I think this can be helpful.
The hate, not so much here but more on Reddit sub for Memrise. I was in a buoyant mood having been using Memrise app for the last month then saw complaining and people claiming they have cancelled their subscription. It was quite deflating.
Still don’t understand the whole story as I’m new to Memrise.
Yeah, there’s no hate here. People are just generally opposed to this new decks idea. I’ll be staying, but others may leave Memrise due to this pitfall, it’s a great resource that I will use to my heart’s content. So basically, there are some negative views on the matter, but this isn’t turning into hate at all. Just people speaking their mind.
That is good to hear! I am all for people speaking their mind about injustices and from an outsiders perspective, it does appear that many people here are passionate and feel very effected by the changes.
People are just generally opposed to this new decks idea. I’ll be staying, but others may leave Memrise due to this pitfall, it’s a great resource that I will use to my heart’s content. So basically, there are some negative views on the matter, but this isn’t turning into hate at all. Just people speaking their mind. 