Learn Spanish Language Online: 3 Quick Tips
- By Andrew Tracey
- Published 04/27/2008
- Education
- Unrated
Step 1: Get a Home Study Course
There's just no getting around the fact that you're going to have to spend some money on your own education if you're really serious about learning Spanish especially if you're really in a hurry and don't have time to sample everything out there. Personally, for this purpose, I like Synergy Spanish (see bottom) because it's specifically designed to get someone has proficient in simple daily conversational Spanish as quickly as possible, it can be completed in a few days to a couple weeks (depending on how hard you want to work at it) since it's only 68 lessons that are 10 minutes long each, it's only $49, and it's almost entirely audio (it does include an e-book) so you can listen to it in the car.
Step 2: Talk to Yourself in Spanish
Carry a Spanish-English dictionary with you everywhere you go (they make pocket dictionaries so there's no excuse!), and whenever you're thinking or saying something to yourself ('Where's the milk at?') try to remember to figure out how to say that same thing in Spanish ('¿Donde está la leche?')--you'll learn probably 20 or 30 new phrases in Spanish everyday if you will just commit and do this consistently.
Step 3: Watch Those Telenovelas (Spanish-language soap operas)!
If you get cable or satellite I can almost guarantee you that you get a Spanish/Latino channel that plays these things all day long
(they're VERY popular in Latin America, much more so than our soaps); you can just turn on the English subtitles and sit there with your dictionary--the KEY is to try to repeat everything you hear the actors say! You know what you're saying since you've got the subtitles on and if you do this enough you'll start to get certain little phrases, words, and patterns that are common in daily conversation ingrained into you.
Step 4: Spanish Childrens Books
These are great for teaching you basic Spanish reading/writing skills because they're specifically written for people with very limited vocabulary and language skills, aren't they? Except in our case it's adults beginning to learn Spanish instead of young Spanish-speaking children. They're available free down at your local public library OR online at places like: http://childrenslibrary.org.
Step 5: Practice with a Native Speaker!
This is one of the most important things you need to do for your Spanish and it's the one that people like to avoid like the plague--look, if you need to prepare to talk with Spanish-speaking natives, what do you think one of the best things is that you can do? How about actually practicing your Spanish WITH a Spanish-speaking native? If you don't have any friends that are native Spanish speakers then there's lots of sites online like Friends Abroad where you can meet someone online who's from a Latin American country and needs someone to practice their English with and will be glad to help you with your Spanish in return.
There's just no getting around the fact that you're going to have to spend some money on your own education if you're really serious about learning Spanish especially if you're really in a hurry and don't have time to sample everything out there. Personally, for this purpose, I like Synergy Spanish (see bottom) because it's specifically designed to get someone has proficient in simple daily conversational Spanish as quickly as possible, it can be completed in a few days to a couple weeks (depending on how hard you want to work at it) since it's only 68 lessons that are 10 minutes long each, it's only $49, and it's almost entirely audio (it does include an e-book) so you can listen to it in the car.
Step 2: Talk to Yourself in Spanish
Carry a Spanish-English dictionary with you everywhere you go (they make pocket dictionaries so there's no excuse!), and whenever you're thinking or saying something to yourself ('Where's the milk at?') try to remember to figure out how to say that same thing in Spanish ('¿Donde está la leche?')--you'll learn probably 20 or 30 new phrases in Spanish everyday if you will just commit and do this consistently.
Step 3: Watch Those Telenovelas (Spanish-language soap operas)!
If you get cable or satellite I can almost guarantee you that you get a Spanish/Latino channel that plays these things all day long
Step 4: Spanish Childrens Books
These are great for teaching you basic Spanish reading/writing skills because they're specifically written for people with very limited vocabulary and language skills, aren't they? Except in our case it's adults beginning to learn Spanish instead of young Spanish-speaking children. They're available free down at your local public library OR online at places like: http://childrenslibrary.org.
Step 5: Practice with a Native Speaker!
This is one of the most important things you need to do for your Spanish and it's the one that people like to avoid like the plague--look, if you need to prepare to talk with Spanish-speaking natives, what do you think one of the best things is that you can do? How about actually practicing your Spanish WITH a Spanish-speaking native? If you don't have any friends that are native Spanish speakers then there's lots of sites online like Friends Abroad where you can meet someone online who's from a Latin American country and needs someone to practice their English with and will be glad to help you with your Spanish in return.
Andrew Tracey
Don't be the ignorant gringo when you travel--check out these resources below before you start your Spanish learning program: How To Learn Spanish Online Fast Learn Spanish Language Online in Two Weeks or Less
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