How to Learn Spanish Online for Free
A friend and relative of mine just asked me the other day, “How do I get started learning Spanish?” and just by doing a quick search online for “learn Spanish” I can see why she wouldn’t know what to do first: there are so many free online resources for learning Spanish that it can be overwhelming if you have no idea where to go. I know this feeling all to well when I walk into a library. I’m LOST! There is just so much to choose from that I don’t even know where to begin! So, in answering her question I outlined a SIMPLE plan to get you through your first year of learning Spanish all 100% for free!
Start Strong
When you begin studying Spanish you are going to have to have a lot of dedication! I suggest you start out studying Spanish NO less than three hours a week. Honestly, if you can’t devote three hours a week you won’t progress and as a result, you’ll end up hanging up the goal of learning Spanish. This is especially true the first few months of studying. You really need to get a solid foundation quick so that you will stay motivated and get rid of that “lost” feeling when learning a new language.
Spanish Pronunciation, Grammar, and Vocabulary
You will need to start out by dedicating an hour to pronunciation, an hour to grammar, and an hour to vocabulary for the first 3 months. StudySpanish.com is one of the best web sites out there for learning Spanish and they of course have a pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary learning section. The lessons at StudySpanish.com are in order and build upon themselves, so it’s VERY important to not jump around on the site. Once you finish the pronunciation section, replace it with grammar. So that will give you two grammar days and one vocabulary day per week. Study Spanish has a lot of free material and I don’t think it’s necessary to buy their CDs. If you get through all of the free material and want more, then you can consider the CDs. But first get through the free stuff since there is a whole lot of it.
Children’s Short Stories
Ok, so learning pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary is the first step. After you have been studying for a few months, I recommend replacing your vocabulary study day with listening to and reading short children’s stories in Spanish. You’ll learn lots of new vocabulary words just from the stories so you can pretty much stop memorizing long list of related vocabulary words. Use WordReference.com as your online dictionary and don’t be scared to ask in the forums if you can’t figure out what a word or sentence means.
Watch Cartoons in Spanish
Once you start to feel that you are understanding the children’s short stories in Spanish, I recommend you add watching cartoons in Spanish to your weekly study plan. You can replace one of your grammar days with a cartoon day or you can add a day to your study routine since watching cartoons in Spanish isn’t too strenuous. It’s not strenuous but you really do learn a lot without even realizing it!
Learn Spanish in a Year Outline
I divide each change into 3-month increments. But if you feel like you are ready to move on to the next step before 3 months, you should. Or if you don’t feel ready at 3 months to move on, then stay where you are. You be the judge.
- 3 months: Start out having a study day for pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
- 3 months: Replace pronunciation with an extra grammar day. Therefore, you have two grammar days and one vocabulary day.
- 3 months: Replace vocabulary with listening to and reading short children’s stories in Spanish. Therefore, you have two grammar days and one story day.
- 3 months: Replace grammar with watching cartoons in Spanish. Therefore, you have one grammar day, one story day, and one cartoon day.
You’ve been studying Spanish for a year already and you know what, you can probably talk to and understand native speakers pretty well (at least when they are speaking to you). Congratulations! But don’t let it stop there and don’t EVER stop using what you have learned, because if you do, you know what will happen: you’ll lose so much of what you learned or maybe even forget Spanish completely. So, once you get to a level where you are happy with your Spanish abilities, then you can slack off the speed if you like and just start to really enjoy Spanish. Always try to do something in Spanish though: read a novel for teenagers, read magazines, read the health pamphlets in Spanish when you are at the doctor, try to speak 100% in Spanish at the Mexican restaurant, maybe even attend a Spanish speaking church, you get the idea.
And remember, if learning a foreign language were easy we would all be bilingual! It’s not easy. It’s hard and time-consuming and no program you buy will make you fluent! So, don’t get scammed into anything that tells you that you will be fluent in 4 months or something bogus like that. I personally have been studying Spanish for 7 years and received my B.A. in Spanish and I am still learning everyday! And just so you know, I started really communicating after 2 years of studying Spanish, but I only studied grammar so my formula wasn’t right. Once I added real Spanish speakers to the equation my Spanish speaking and comprehension abilities sky-rocketed! That’s why listening to and reading short stories and watching cartoons in Spanish is absolutely vital to your success!
Good luck!
Read Books for Children in Spanish & English
Just like you should watch cartoons in Spanish before jumping into regular TV and movies for adults, the same holds true for books. If you’ve been studying Spanish for a few months now, then you are probably ready to start reading some. However, if you JUST started studying, you will need to learn some basic grammar and vocabulary before you even think of picking up a book. The reason is that if you dive in over your head, then you will feel and be overwhelmed with a task that you cannot complete. Therefore, take a few months of studying Spanish before you begin to read books. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read, but just to keep your readings short at first.
Ok, here is a short list of online resources where you can read or download children’s books for free. The reason the list is so short is because I can’t find many good resources. Therefore, PLEASE share if you know of any good websites where you can read the books for free or for a small fee.
Children’s Books & Short Stories in Spanish and English
- At the International Children’s Digital Library you can read books in numerous languages including Spanish and English. You can’t download the books unfortunately. However, there is a neat feature where you can click the text to enlarge it.
- The Rosetta Project was started in 1996 by one man and just a handful of books. His mission was to create an online free library of children’s books. You can find books in several languages including Spanish and English. Many of the books have been translated from English to Spanish, so you can see the original English version as well as the Spanish translation. This is really nice to check your comprehension.
- At Tumble Books you can find a great selection of children’s books in Spanish and in English. You can read the books online as you listen to the narrator or you can turn off the narrator and read alone.
Children’s Books & Short Stories in Spanish
- At Eco Pibes there is a collection of children’s short stories in Spanish available for download in PDF. These short stories are provided by governmental organizations and therefore, usually teach a lesson about taking care of nature or hygenic lessons. However, these topics may be a bit boring since as adults we know, or we think we know, the answers, but these are very important topics that you probably couldn’t discus in Spanish if you needed to. These books will help you with your vocabulary in those areas.
- At Cody’s Cuentos classic stories are told by native Spanish-speaking storytellers and you can read along in the transcripts in you like. There are three different story levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Children’s Books & Short Stories in English
- At Storyline Online children’s books are narrated by professional storytellers and video animated as well. You really will enjoy these video storybooks!
- Read.gov offers a wonderful collection of classic children’s stories for you to enjoy!
And if you have more helpful online children’s book resources, please leave the link in the comments box below!
Audio Recording Tips for General Transcriptions
- Turn off all electronic devices that may interrupt the conversation or cause background noise. These include fans, air conditioning (if you can), cell phones, radios, etc.
- Introduce yourself and have the speakers introduce themselves with a few words at the beginning so that the transcriptionist can familiarize his or herself with the each speakers voice.
- Give a list of proper nouns and jargon to the transcriptionist. This will help the transcriptionist understand the audio better which will result in a more accurate transcription. In addition, this saves the transcriptionist lots of time from trying to figure out what the speaker is saying and then doing an internet search for that term.
- Ask your speakers not to interrupt each other or to speak at the same time. In the moment it is understandable, but transcribing when two speakers are talking at the same time is extremely difficult and many times impossible. You may have to remind them during the recording to not speak over each other or at the same time as one another.
- Set the microphone or recording device in the center of all of the speakers if you are recording a group of speakers. If you are recording a class or speech where one person will do most of the talking at the front, sit as close as possible to the speaker. And if you are interviewing someone, place the recorder closer to them than to yourself and if possible aim it toward them.
- If someone speaks too low, don’t hesitate in asking them to speak louder so that the audio will be able to pick up their voice.
- Start and end the audio at least 15 seconds before and after the conversation ends. This avoids cutting off part of the beginning and end of the speech.
- Do a test run with each speaker. Set the recording device where it will be placed during the conversation and have each speaker say something as they would normally speak.
- Advise the speakers that if there is a loud interruption to stop talking and let the interruption pass. For example, if the cleaning person goes down the hall vacuuming, let him or her pass by and then resume the conversation when the noise is gone.
- Don’t be afraid to ask someone to repeat themselves more clearer. Even if you understood what they said, if they slurred or you could tell that what they said wasn’t so clear you may ask them to repeat what they said or ask them to confirm what they said by you repeating the main points and saying, “Is that correct?”
- When addressing different people, it is extremely helpful to call their name and then ask the question. For example, “Maria, what do you think?” instead of just looking at Maria and saying, “What do you think?”
- Use a high-quality digital voice recorder. The Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder is one of the highest rated digital voice recorders on Amazon with 132 ratings! New it goes for around $165, but you can buy a used one for around $75.
If you follow these twelve simple but crucial steps you will save yourself time and money and even come out in the end with higher quality transcriptions than if you went into voice recording blindly. Let me know if you have any additional tips that I haven’t thought of yet, particularly those of you who know a thing or two about recording with tapes!
Ver Caricaturas en Inglés
Si estás aprendiendo o intentando mejorar tu inglés, probablemente has intentado ver películas o la tele en inglés. Estoy segura que muchos de ustedes han puesto la tele en un canal de inglés sólo para darse cuenta que ni entendiste lo básico. Los programas en inglés son hechos para hablantes de inglés adultos, y por lo tanto, son bastantes difíciles para una persona que está aprendiendo inglés, especialmente si se tiene un nivel de principiante o intermedio de inglés. Para disfrutar una película muchas veces es necesario que entiendes todo y si no entiendes una cosa importante puedes terminar completamente perdido y sin haber disfrutado ver la película en inglés. Por tanto esto te puede desanimar fácilmente.
Lo que necesitas es algo más a tu nivel! Y como adultos no pensamos mucho en ver caricaturas en otro idioma pero es una de las mejores formas de adaptar los oídos a los hablantes nativos y disfrutarlo a la vez.
Incluso si no entiendes cada palabra, o incluso la mayoría en realidad, aun puedes entender de qué se trata y estarás aprendiendo cada vez que ves otro episodio. Si tienes un nivel de principiante, te aconsejo que veas el mismo episodio dos o tres veces, lo cual no requerirá mucho tiempo como uno pensaría. Un episodio típico de una caricatura solo dura alrededor de 10 minutos. Así que puedes ver un episodio tres veces en 30 minuntitos. Recomiendo que veas el mismo episodio más de una vez porque cada vez que lo ves aprenderás palabras nuevas.
Si tienes un nivel de inglés intermedio, te aconsejo que veas el episodio uno o dos veces y después pasar al otro episodio o caricatura. Tanto como los que están en un nivel intermedio como los principiantes deben anotar las palabras y las frases nuevas aprendidas e intentar incorporarlas en su vocabulario. También, es recomendable escribir cosas que no entiendan. Para esto, pueden pedir ayuda en el foro si tienes una palabra o frase que no puedas entender.
Sin embargo, si las caricaturas no son para ti y quieres quedarte con las películas y la televisión, sólo tengo un consejo: no pongan los subtítulos de español. Puedes poner los subtítulos en inglés pero NO los pongan de español. Tu cerebro bloqueará todo de lo que se está diciendo en inglés porque tendrás el dialogo en español justo enfrente de ti.
Para ayudarte a empezar aquí están unos buenos sitios web para ver caricaturas en inglés:
Ver Bob Esponja en Inglés:
- Spongebob Square Pants – www.spongebob-episodes.com, 22 episodios
- Spongebob Square Pants - www.tv.blinkx.com, 90 episodios
Ver Los Simpsons en Inglés:
- The Simpsons – www.wtso.net
- The Simpsons – www.simpsonsepisodes.com
Ver The Family Guy
- The Family Guy – www.watchfamilyguyonline.org
- The Family Guy – www.watch-family-guy-online.com
Ver South Park en Inglés
- South Park – www.watchsouthparkonline.net
- South Park – www.southparkstudios.com
Ver Caricaturas Clasicas en Inglés
- ToonJet - Ver Superman, Betty Boob, Looney Toons, Popeye, y Woody Woodpecker entre más
Ver Los Pingüinos de Madagascar en Inglés
Espero que sean suficientes sitios web de caricaturas para ayudarte a empezar a verlas! Por favor, compartan más páginas con caricaturas en inglés. Se los agradeceremos.
Y aquí está una caricatura que puedes ver en inglés ahorita. ¡Disfruten Los Pingüinos de Madagascar!
Lenguajero Audiocast Contest – Create, Participate, & Win!
Lenguajero is a great new web site where you can post your own writings which will be reviewed by native speakers, ask and answer questions in the forums, and most importantly CHAT live with native speakers! You can see a list of people currently online, their native language, if they have a cam and mic or not, and invite them to chat if you are interested in chatting with them. There are also flashcards to help you improve your Spanish. The flashcards are broken down into categories such as nouns, adjectives, and different verb tenses.
So, what’s this about “Create, Participate, & Win!“? Well, until April 16th you can enter a 4 to 8 minute audiocast talking about whatever you like in your native language for a chance to win some down right awesome prizes. There will be two winners: a native Spanish speaker and a native English speaker.
Even if you don’t enter the contest, I still advise you to go check out the audio submissions and give your favorite one a vote! You can vote once a day until April 16th. Here is my audio submission. I talk about what I do in my free time and I would really appreciate any vote you give me.
Grand Prize for Native English Speaker:
- $75 giftcard to Amazon, iTunes, or Mercado Libre
- 3-month subscription to Notes in Spanish
- 2-month subscription to LoMásTv
- Set of transcripts of either the intermediate or advanced series of the podcasts at Cody’s Cuentos
Grand Prize for Native Spanish Speaker:
- $75 giftcard to Amazon, iTunes, or Mercado Libre
- 2-month subscription to Yabla.English
- Copy of the e-book TOEFL Tips and Strategies
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101 Podcast
When I first found SpanishPod101 I thought, “Now this is a nice podcast!” Boy, was I wrong. SpanishPod101 may have its foundation as a podcast, but it’s so much more than just that. First of all, SpanishPod101 breaks their podcasts down into 3 levels of difficulty: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. And since each lesson is an audio podcast its easy to take it with you on your iPod, your computer, or even just listen to right on SpanishPod101’s web site. You can even hook it up to where iTunes automatically downloads new audio and PDF lessons as they become available! In addition, you can read the audio transcription as you listen to the lesson on your iPod. I don’t have an iPod, but this really makes me wish that I did. How cool would it be to be able to get in a 3 to 5 minute Spanish lesson everyday where ever you are: in line, stuck in traffic, in history class (not advised), waiting on your brother, etc.
Each SpanishPod101 audio lesson comes with a printable PDF lesson that includes the trancription and the English translation of the dialogue, important vocabulary from the lesson, and detailed grammar explanations. In addition, premium members get access to a feature called “My Word Bank” which is a place to store all the new vocabulary words that you have learned. In the Word Bank you’ll find the English translation, the root of the word, its gender, and even its pronunciation. I’d say that that’s a lot more than just storing new vocabulary words!
After you’ve gone through some lessons and/or added some words to your Word Bank, you can create flash cards that will test your knowledge on the vocabulary from the lessons that you have covered and the words from your Word Bank. The word that appears on the flash card will be written and pronounced, so you get to reinforce your spelling and sound recognition of the vocabulary words. You can even keep track of your progess using this flash card feature. In addition, SpanishPod101 has a Spanish / English dictionary built right in and you can add words directly to your Word Back from the dictionary.
The flash card game is good but SpanishPod101 doesn’t stop quizzing you there. In addition to quizzing you on vocabulary with the flash cards, they also quiz you on grammar, lesson content, and vocabulary with audio-enabled quizzes.
Right now SpanishPod101 offers two different subscription packages. There is a Basic subscription which is $4 a month and a Premium subscription which is only $10 a month! However, they are currently working on offering a Premium Plus which will include one-on-one professional assessment, one-on-one live tutoring, and personalized self-study curriculum, and all this will be available for $26 a month! However, don’t forget that you can also sign up for a free lifetime account and you will always have the latest 10 audio lessons available to you for free!
Yabla English – Ver Videos en Inglés
Yabla English es un sitio web basado en videos y dedicado a ayudarte a aprender o mejorar tu inglés. Básicamente, es como ver la tele en inglés pero con la opción de ver los subtítulos en inglés y la traducción en español, poner de nuevo lo que escuchas frase por frase, y hacer el audio más lento manteniendo el tono natural. Lo bueno de este programa es que tienes el control completo de los complementos ya antes mencionados durante todo el video y eso significa que tienes la opción de escoger ver los subtítulos sólo cuando no entiendes algo y hacer que el audio vaya más lento cuando sea necesario para ti. Una vez que hayas entendido la parte del video usando las aplicaciones especiales, lo puedes poner tal y como lo tenías, es decir puedes quitar los subtítulos y ponerlo a la velocidad normal.
Esto es bastante chido pero se pone aun más chido con el juego sencillo, pero eficaz que está en de cada video. Durante el juego el video pasará frase por frase faltando una palabra. Tú, claro, tienes que llenar el espacio con la palabra que falta. Con cada palabra correcta que tengas ganaras puntos que serán guardados si eres miembro de miembro de Yabla English. Incluso recibirás algo de crédito por haber puesto parte de la palabra. Entonces, haz tu mejor esfuerzo. Pero lo que me gusta más acerca de este juego es que después de que tu terminas de ver el video la primera vez y sólo si has fallado en alguna palabra, se te dará otra oportunidad para hacerlo de nuevo para reforzar lo que has aprendido.
Complementos de Yabla English:
- Capacidad para que el Video Vaya Más Lento - Hace que el audio vaya más lento no sólo ayuda con la comprensión, sino también ayuda mucho con la pronunciación de inglés.
- Hablantes Nativos de Inglés – Escuchar inglés en conversaciones naturales es una de las mejores formas de mejorar el vocabulario y las habilidades para hablar y escuchar.
- Subtítulos en Español e Inglés – Si tienes un nivel básico de inglés, te gustará mucho poder leer los subtítulos en inglés mientras que escuchas el video. Te sentirás mucho más cómodo con la pronunciación de inglés. Sin embargo, si tienes un nivel más alto de inglés, tienes la opción de quitar y poner los subtítulos.
- Diccionario Integrado de Español e Inglés – Mientras que estás viendo el video con los subtítulos, sólo tienes que hacer click en una palabra y te aparecerá la traducción en la ventana que está ubicada a tu derecha.
- Repetición de la Frase - ¿No lo entendiste todo la primera vez? No hay ningún problema. Si quieres escuchar nuevamente una parte del video, sólo tienes que hacer click en el botón “replay.”
- Juego de Escuchar y Deletrear – Sip, así es. No sólo tienes que reconocer la palabra que falta, sino también tienes que saber deletrearla para poder escribirla en el espacio.
Espero que pruebes el demo de Yabla English porque estoy segura de que hará tu aprendizaje más ameno. Por favor, dinos qué opinas y si ya eres un miembro nos gustaría que compartas tu experiencia.
LoMásTv – Watch TV in Spanish
LoMásTv is a video based web site dedicated to helping you learn or improve your Spanish. Basically, it’s like watching TV in Spanish but with the option to view English and/or Spanish captions, replay what you hear line by line, and SLOW the audio down without loosing the correct pitch. What’s great is that you have full control of these features throughout the video which means that you can choose to show the captions only when you don’t understand something and slow the audio just when it is necessary for you. Then once you get it, you can go back to regular speed and without captions.
This is pretty cool but it gets even cooler with the simple, but effective game built right in to every video. During the game the video will play line by line but a word will be missing from the transcript. You, of course, have to fill in the missing word. You even get half credit for getting the word almost correct, so give it your best shot. With each word that you get correct you earn points and your scores are recorded if you are a member of LoMásTv. But what I like most about this game is that after you finish going through the video once and you missed some, you get another shot at the words your missed in round 2! Talk about reinforcement!
LoMásTv Video Features:
- Ability to Slow the Video – Slowing the audio not only helps with comprehension but it’s great to help with correct pronunciation as well.
- Native Spanish Speakers – Hearing Spanish as it is pronounced in natural environments and by native speakers is one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary, listening, and even speaking skills!
- English & Spanish Transcripts – If you are a new Spanish learner, you’ll love being able to read along in Spanish as the speakers talk. You’ll really get a feel for the correct pronunciation of written text. However, if you are a more advanced Spanish learner, you have the option to turn off the transcripts and only turn them on when you need a little extra help.
- Integrated Spanish & English Dictionary – While you are watching the video with the transcripts up, all you have to do to get a definition of a word is click on it! The definition will appear in the screen to your right.
- Phrase Replay - Didn’t quite get it the first time? No, problem. Just click “replay” and the last complete caption will replay. You can listen to each segment as many times as you need.
- Listening & Spelling Game – Yep, that’s right. Not only do you have to know how to recognize the missing word that you hear, but you also have to be able to spell it in order to write it in the blank.
Ok, so we know that LoMásTv has an awesome video platform to help you learn Spanish, but it also has around 200 free Spanish lessons organized into four categories: grammar, vocabulary, life, and expressions. Getting free Spanish lessons is good, but what is great is that the lessons accompany the videos and you can get full access to the videos by subscribing to LoMásTv for only $9.95 per month or $99.95 per year! They also offer group rates where you can save a lot if you are a school or university. If you aren’t satisfied or if you just simply change your mind, LoMásTv offers a 7-day money-back guarantee.
I hope you’ll go over to LoMásTv and test drive their demo videos. Please, let me know what you think and if you are already a LoMásTv subscriber please share your experience.
Spanish & English Conversations O’Connor’s Irish Pub, Vitoria-Gasteiz
A friend of mine from Peru, Sandra, invited me and my husband to go to a Spanish and English conversation group with her at an Irish pub in town. The conversational group started out with a few Spanish speakers wanting to improve their English, but has developed into a group of both English speakers and Spanish speakers. The group meets every Thursday at O’Connor’s Irish Pub in front of the “New” Cathedral at 8 o’clock PM.
Tonight was my first time at the conversational class and supposedly we were suppose to talk for 30 minutes in English and 30 minutes in Spanish. Well, we didn’t adhere to the rules too well and the conversation ended up being a mix of Spanish and English. There were quite a mix of people at the class too. There were native English speakers from Northern Ireland, England, and the United States. As for the native Spanish speakers, there were people from Spain (of course), Mexico, and Peru.
This conversational class provides language learners the opportunity to learn from native speakers from different places. I learned Spanish in Mexico and from my husband who is Mexican, and when I speak, the Spanish people always (OK not always, but a whole bunch) correct the way I say things. You see they think I’m wrong, but actually I’m saying it the way the Mexicans do. The same thing happened to me when I began teaching British English here in Spain. I was teaching a lesson on time prepositions and one of the prepositional phrases was “at the weekend.” I told my students that it had to be an error because I had never heard that in my life and that it sounded horrible. However, later I saw it again in another place and thought, “Whoa! It’s not incorrect English. It’s just British English!” So, learning Spanish with a varied group of people provides the opportunity to learn the way things are said in different parts of the world in the same language.
I’d like to invite you to the conversational English and Spanish group. Again the group meets every Thursday at the O’Connor’s Irish Pub in front of the “New” Cathedral and it’s completely free to come join in on the conversation. The beer is on you though. To find the group just look for the table with the little yellow dog on it. Also, if you aren’t in Vitoria-Gasteiz, ask around to see if there is something similar in your city. If not, I encourage you to start your own weekly or biweekly meeting.
Where Not To Start Out Translating Online – Translators Pub
I’m not sure where to tell you to go to find online translation work if you aren’t an experienced translator yet, but I’m pretty positive that the best place isn’t TranslatorsPub.com. I’ve been at TranslatorsPub.com for about four months or so. When I signed up I saw that to apply to most jobs you have to be a paying member, but I thought I would give it a try anyway. Well, most turned out to be a very very large percentage. I’m not sure what percentage of jobs are only available to paying members but just about every job that I try to check out, I can’t view. I’m completely against having to pay to just apply for a job. The fees aren’t too high but if we submit to paying a small fee here and a small fee there, those little fees will eat our money up in no time. TranslatorsPub.com needs to figure out a new approach. For example, I would pay a fee if I was awarded the job, but again, not just to apply to the job.
My other complaint with TranslatorsPub is their sign-in procedure to view jobs. Let me explain. I signed up to receive email notices when a new job is posted that matches my language pair. The notice tells me the title of the job. So I click through to log in in order to check it out. This is an irritating process since TranslatorsPub sends me to another page after I log in (with a well-placed ad) before I can view the job. This “extra” page has “click here to view the job” on the left and the well-placed Google Adsense ad on the right. One reason that I can think of for creating this step is to get me to click on the ad that is on that page. THERE’S NOTHING ELSE THERE. I’d like to ask them if they are running a translation company or an Adsense company.
Entire Screenshot of First Login Page (Notice the large ad to the right)
"Extra" page after login - States "Click here to view job" (Notice a new ad) In my opinion I should have just been taken directly to the job listing.
As for my time there, I think I’m done for now. I’m fairly new at translating (I’m 25 years old after all) and to pay to compete with other translators who have years of experience just doesn’t make sense. So, what I’m saying is that if you are an experienced translator and feel you have what it takes to compete and win the translations jobs, then you may want to pay to just apply to the jobs. But for all of you new translators, I think paying to compete with the big dogs is a little ridiculous. At any rate, good luck finding translation work and let me know if you know of an awesome (no fees to apply) translation freelance web site.