Hi everyone,

I’m interested in learning a new language (Russian) as well as deepening my understanding of another (French), but my main free time is while I’m knitting, so I’m looking for audio-focused or low-visual resources that work well with my hands busy.

Things that would be ideal: - Podcasts or audio courses

  • YouTube videos that don’t require constant screen attention

  • Anything beginner-friendly for Russian (I’m starting from zero or close to it)

I’m especially curious about resources that focus on listening and speaking rather than reading/writing at first, since I can’t really look at a screen or book while knitting.

If you’ve learned a language this way or have specific recommendations, I’d love to hear them. Thanks in advance! 😊

  • Pimsleur is great for the start of a language, it gets your pronunciation solid early

    parent

    Seconding Pimsleur, it's perfect for this since it's literally designed to be audio-only. The repetition gets annoying after a while but honestly that works great when you're doing something repetitive like knitting

    For French podcasts once you get a bit more advanced, Coffee Break French is solid and the episodes are short enough that you won't lose track of your stitches

    parent root

  • Pimsleur would be great for this i think! Audio course that teaches you listening and speaking. All you have to do is repeat phrases out loud/answer out loud so you get the pronunciation down

    parent

  • As a fellow knitter I'm excited to see what suggestions you get! I'd say podcasts like 'coffee break Russian (I don't actually know if they make one in Russian but they have them in other languages)' would be good. I've also heard great things about Olly Richards short stories and I recently discovered a lot of those are on Spotify as audiobooks. Those might be a little bit advanced to start with for you but coffee break or other podcasts would be a good starting place. Now for the important: what are you working on right now? I had been making progress on a cardigan but that's really slowed down lately. Happy knitting and language learning!

    parent

    Oohh thank you for the suggestions!! I’ll definitely try podcasts!! I’m working on a raglan sweater right now, and I like to do the sleeves first because thats my least favourite part (I don’t like working sleeves with DPNs but I also don’t like magic loop or similar techniques so 😭) and it’s so slooow because of this but I’m hoping to make progress over the holidays hehe. Is it a cardigan pattern you’re working on? I’ve been wanting to make a cardigan after I finish this sweater 🤔

    parent root
  • parent

  • My favorites so far are: - Language transfer Spanish (free on YouTube) - Learncraft Spanish (free podcast) - Spanish with Paul (paid courses but really good) - Pimsleur Spanish (I borrow the audiobooks thru my library)

    parent

  • Pimsleur is a little old but good, I would recommend Mango Languages which is free if you put in a library card number and has a play button that turns the app into an audiobook

    The scaffolding and progression is really good

    parent

  • There's knot too many of those... Just a handful or sew.

    parent

  • Actually, the best thing is to talk to a native Russian speaker. For that, I can recommend the website interpals.net. I used it to practice my English very easily.

    But that alone isn't enough; you definitely need to review the vocabulary. For that, I can suggest a flashcard method. Actually, I have an app that will be useful for you. With Memoque, you can easily improve your learning by dedicating just 10 minutes a day.

    parent