Is it really easy to learn Spanish? It depends on how you look at it and how you choose to reach your goal of learning the Spanish language. If you think you will have to spend many hours memorizing Spanish grammar and vocabulary rules, learn long lists of Spanish words, and fear that others will laugh at you as you twist your tongue in unfamiliar positions trying to pronounce Spanish phrases, learn Spanish can be quite difficult for you. You must change this way of thinking. Think about how learning Spanish will enrich your life and how you will benefit from it. If you welcome new opportunities. If you are curious and like to learn new things and learn about different Hispanic people, food, music, and cultures, learning Spanish can be easy and even fun.
I am not a native Spanish speaker. In fact, in high school all I knew how to say in Spanish was “tacos” and “tortillas.” However, I was able to learn to read, write and speak Spanish well enough to eventually become an English-Spanish interpreter and even help others in their quest to become Spanish speakers. As I did? Below you will find some tips that helped me and will certainly help you too to make learning Spanish easy.
* Watch TV shows in Spanish
A good strategy to help you get used to hearing the Spanish language is to watch TV shows in Spanish. Watch Spanish news channels, documentaries, and history shows to learn the correct Spanish pronunciation of the most common Spanish words. Watch soap operas, comedies, and movies in Spanish to learn more about Spanish culture, jokes, slang, and other idiomatic expressions.
How is it possible to learn Spanish from shows and TV shows without understanding the language? The point is to just start looking and listening even if you understand 0% of what you are hearing.
There may be many days and weeks where you think you’re not making progress, but believe me, the brain is “learning” even if you don’t realize it, and without much conscious effort on your part. This is some of the “easy” part of learning Spanish but it takes time.
This is where many people get discouraged after a while. They cannot “perceive” any progress in their ability to understand Spanish, and the brain wants to go back to the “familiar.” It takes some discipline at first to listen to a foreign language for long periods of time without understanding anything because it feels like being lost somewhere on the roads of a strange big city during rush hour. People just want to come home to a place they already know and love and that feels “safe” to them: their own native language. Hold on, you will reach your goal of becoming a Spanish speaker if you persevere. Do not give up!
* Listen to Spanish Music
Another useful tip to learn more about the Spanish language is to listen to Spanish music. Using music to learn Spanish phrases and eventually become fluent in Spanish is very effective because song lyrics are often repeated over and over again. This repetition in itself is a strong way to reinforce learning Spanish vocabulary, or anything else, and repeating Spanish sentences to the tune of music is even more powerful. Just think of all those commercial jingles you can still remember and all those musical nursery rhymes you learned as a child… How could you ever forget them?
If by any chance some words or phrases in Spanish were not clear to you the last time you listened to the song, simply play the CD or MP3 over and over again.
* Read Publications in Spanish
You might ask, “How can I read Spanish words or any Spanish literature if I don’t know Spanish yet?” The answer is: it’s easier than you think. The Spanish language differs from English in that the letters of Spanish words are always pronounced the same way every time you see them, so all you have to do is learn a few simple letter pronunciation rules and you’ll be able to “read “. almost anything in Spanish even if you still can’t understand the full meaning of all the words and sentences.
This will help you a lot because you will be able to practice and improve your Spanish accent as you read aloud while learning to become familiar with printed Spanish words. You will also recognize and be able to pronounce words and sentences that you are hearing and learning while watching those Spanish TV shows and listening to Spanish music that I talked about in a previous article.
You will see that some words are used much more than others and others almost never. It will become a giant puzzle and little by little the pieces will slowly start to fit together.
* Bring an English/Spanish Dictionary
Having an English/Spanish dictionary with you helps you look up unknown words quickly. The words you search for can be used right away, or you can write them down for later study. Get a small one to take with you and a large one for your office or workplace.
Be curious and look up many of the interesting and unknown words you hear and see in the dictionary.
Another thing I did when I was learning Spanish was to carry a travel notebook with me that I would use to write down Spanish words that I wasn’t familiar with. I also wrote English phrases and words for which I wanted to find the Spanish equivalent. This will be of greater help to you as you progress more and more in learning and speaking Spanish.
* Use tutorials
Do all those “books to learn Spanish”, Spanish videos and Spanish audio CDs, DVDs and MP3s really work to make learning Spanish easier? I always tell people that they are like all the different types of exercise machines and gadgets available on the market today. Some are better than others, but most of them will work for you if you can keep yourself motivated enough to keep using them.
These were just a few tips on how you can make your goal of learning Spanish easy. Get started today and take your first step to learning Spanish the easy way.
For more free information, tips, and recommended products for learning the Spanish language, visit my blog: Learning Spanish Today!