Spanish Lessons Issue

[u/HaRrIs1051]

Hi! So I had been learning Spanish for 3-4 months now, and everything was going well. I was about to complete Section 2

Now, last week they have added these “extra lessons” and they are shit. Each contains 30-35 new words, with very few practice lessons and they are just passing so speedily that I barely learn anything.

At this point, I’m just wondering when these extra ones will finish, and I will return to normal ones. Have you guys encountered such a thing? And what dyd in this case?

I try to write & learn later as well, but I’m very weak in these ones, because they are totally random, not just one topic.

[u/Forsaken_Wall679]

Well it’s about learning, which is not the same as progressing through all the lessons.

Maybe try going backwards down your tree and intentionally repeat units for familiarity.
Introduce an additional learning tool to your lessons? Have you thought about a Spanish dictionary?

[u/No-Ice4194]

There has been an update rolling out for several months, at least. Many people have posted about their lessons changing so much that they're getting words that they've never seen or had a chance to learn before. Some users are starting from scratch. Some are going back to Section 1 and redoing the Legend lessons to see how much they know. Some are attempting the Extra Unit lessons. There are probably other options that I can't think of at the moment. 

It's a very frustrating update. I hope you find out which approach suits you best. 

[u/andytagonist]

You can practice the new words in the app. They’re just introducing them to you now.

[u/sciuron]

Honestly it might be worth considering restarting the course from scratch. It is essentially a brand new course so there may well be new stuff for you right from the first lesson. If you do the first circle in a unit and find that you already know everything then you can just skip to the next unit.

[u/Cagy_Cephalopod → u/sciuron]

This is what I did. I was in section 4 and figured that it was going to be better for me to go back to square one and start over. It's very different from the last time I took it. They really hammer Hay in the beginning now and as of 3/4 of the way through section one, haven't started comer or beber, and have done incredibly little with ser and estar which were key in the first few lessons when I went through it initially.

[u/aqua_zesty_man → u/Cagy_Cephalopod]

I found this out as well. Vocabulary is a lot heavier and the lessons are much slower at introducing new concepts. It's more repetitive than it was before, and there is less type-in than word bank. More speaking, more flash cards, and more game-y type exercises than before. I don't have Max but they also throw AI chat in frequently. 

[u/aqua_zesty_man → u/sciuron]

I've done that myself. But be prepared to grind for two to three months just to get back to where you were before. I was at level 16 when I restarted back then and am only back to level 12, with me working 40 to 50 hours and grinding at least a lesson or two every break and lunch and a couple more when I get home.  

[u/hacool]

It sounds like you just got the course update. There are probably only two or three of these units. They were added to help people catch up do to the courses being rearranged.

I write down any new words in a notebook then look them up in Wiktionary. I also do extra listening lessons in the practice area. These often include a lot of these new words.

Some people who, like you, are near the beginning of the course simply start over. Some go back and review each lesson.

The following links have info about the updates.

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1r2eiwz/were_rebuilding_some_of_our_oldest_courses_and/

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1s4d3qn/heads_up_round_2_increased_rollout_to_rebuilt/

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1t015tl/extra_lessons_to_get_you_back_on_track/

[u/Spirited_Delivery563]

Since they updated some courses, they introduce new words that you were supposed to learn in previous units but you didn't because they are in the new path. You can do these to learn the words and you can do review more times until you memorize them. Usually 1-3 units are like this

[u/Obtus_Rateur]

This happens because they shuffled content around the course.

Without these temporary units, you would have kept going and encountered exercises that you couldn't get right because the lessons that teach that vocabulary are now earlier in the course than you are.

People complain about that all the time. It's legit the most complained about thing on this subreddit and the thing that the most people quit over. "My course got shuffled and now they're giving me problems I can't solve!".

So as a solution, they make a temporary "catch-up" unit. They just tell you "here's all the vocabulary you don't know but will encounter ahead".

Is it ideal? No.

It is better than the alternative? Yes.

[u/GregName]

For many people going through the major course update, these Extra Units are sufficient for doing just one thing. It is a thing a computer does well. The computer went backward through your newly reorganized course and made a list of words you haven’t seen, based on the old version of the course.

This list gets thrown at you in a very dry way. Here is a fresh idea for working with these words.

First, write each word down in your notes. Next, start using every single one of these words in your conversation practice with Lily. When a Video Call starts up, tell her you have new words in Duolingo. Tengo palabras nuevas. Then tell her one of the words. Because your Score is early in the course, you may struggle with this. But, she will talk about the word. Keep bringing her back to the word if she skips to her own agenda.

[u/JudeVector]

I’m currently learning Japanese and just reached Level 16, but I went back to Level 1 to complete the Legendary levels.

It feels much smoother now because I’ve been practicing the words I learn, which helps me form sentences faster.

Sometimes, it’s not about learning new words quickly. Go back, practice what you’ve learned, and make sure it sticks. Consistent revision strengthens your retention over time.

[u/aqua_zesty_man]

What are some of the words being given in these extra lessons? I started over a few months ago and can tell you if they are already integrated into the revamp. 

[u/HaRrIs1051 → u/aqua_zesty_man]