I’ve seen multiple references to a “The Essentials” collection in older posts when trying to figure out how to best use this app and as a new user, I don’t see this collection. I am learning Spanish.
I’m assuming the category is gone but the content itself is not missing. Has this section been replaced with something else? What is the closest equivalent to this and why was the “Essentials” collection so great?
I’m thinking of just focusing on most common words for now and going from there.
I can still see it, but then I’ve played it through already. In my view, it was a first attempt to offer sentences not sourced from Tatoeba. I suppose the experiment was deemed successful, which paved the way for the new FFT. I don’t know why it is now hidden by default, maybe it has been absorbed by the new FFT.
I’m not sure I would call it “great”, rather a nice complement to the other material. Not being sourced from Tatoeba is a mixed blessing: on the one hand, the material is less quirky and more “safe for work”, on the other hand, you can’t go to Tatoeba and look at the comments and look for other translations.
I wonder if its hidden for newer users as I can’t seem to reveal this section. I was hoping to get a peek at this collection, but I guess I’ll just focus on the common words deck for now. Do you prefer the FFT to the legacy set?
To tell the truth, the new FFT is a bit too easy for me. 
A large percentage of all clozes are basically the same word in both English and Spanish, so it’s more like a review for me. Therefore, these days I tend to mix the legacy FFT with a some new FFT.
That’s a good choice. Some of the grammar exercises aren’t so bad, either. And there’s always the Random Collection (the purpose of which I’ve never really understood).
What do you mean by this? Like they consist of a bunch of cognates?
I don’t want to exaggerate, but that’s my impression, especially at the highest levels. On the other hand, that can’t be avoided in two languages that both have borrowed a lot of vocabulary from Latin (and Greek).
I kind of regret mentioning the cognates. In the end, I’m happy to have more sentences to practice on.
No worries! And your opinion is totally valid. Its valuable, especially for those more advanced that are interested in the platform so thank you for sharing!
Definitely appreciate all of the different sentences. Its really helping me understand even the most basic phrases a lot better and I feel like I’m getting a lot more information out of my daily input now in just a couple of days!
That seems odd. I see them (The Essentials). Directly below the Fast Tracks (which I love).
I’ve gone through every sentence (but haven’t mastered any).
I haven’t found a better program than Clozemaster for learning vocabulary (words and phrases). Plus, you get a ton of exposure that over time will help you ‘understand’ the sentence structures. It takes a lot of work, no shortcuts. But over time Clozemaster works its magic.
After 10 months on Clozemaster, I can carry on a conversation with AI in Spanish only. Still have a ways to go, but getting a little stronger each day…Prior to that, I didn’t know a word of Spanish (except the easy, obvious ones).
Good luck, LivelyDream! Enjoy the journey.
And yes, I would concentrate on the Common Words for now. You’ll see tons of authentic sentences and the target language will become more understandable in time. The Fast Tracks (and legacy fast track) are also excellent.
I’m going to attribute this to the fact that my account is very new then and have come to the conclusion that the “Essentials” just hasn’t been removed from older accounts. On my screen where you described, I do not see any “Essentials” section nor do I appear to have any option to add it to my menu.
I’m excited by my progress so far with Clozemaster however!
I’ve been taking a CI approach with learning in general and I definitely think this has been fantastic when it comes to understanding grammar better in a natural setting. I’ve been sticking with the common words and its been really helpful with getting used to the different tenses.
