Very unique and unpopular opinion, I know, but I hate watching ads during a show. Fuck the advertisers; I refuse to pay attention.
Rather than doom scroll, I’d love to hear what you think I should do when ads are on.
To make things challenging:
*often I’m pinned to the couch by my senior dog who I’m loathe to move unnecessarily, so getting up and doing squats is often out
*loud activities are probably out, see above
*be specific, ‘I play games on my phone’ - but what can you play casually, for 30s at a time (for example) and then happily go back to watching your show?
*use adblockers bla bla, not always possible and not in the spirit of my request.
That being said, all suggestions are great - I’m sure we’ll all get something from it. Stick it to the man!
Oh gosh I’ve tried Duolingo so many times over the years and never gotten far. I’m impressed with people who keep it up.
For me, the key was finding a regular time during the day when I do the lessons. That’s why I recommended you do it during the ad breaks.
Exercises like Duolingo are only half the battle. You need to have some immersion in the language you’re learning. Watch tv and listen to podcasts in the target language, you won’t understand (at first) but your brain will start recognising the sounds and structures.
An ex-coworker of mine recommended Mango Languages, which is supposed to be much better and also if you have a library card, you can usually get a subscription for free through them! The lessons are probably a little longer than 30 seconds, but not too much longer. I’d say a minute tops.