Is it really easy to learn Spanish? It depends on how you look at it and how you choose to achieve your goal of learning the Spanish language. If you think you will have to spend many hours memorizing Spanish grammar and vocabulary rules, learning long lists of Spanish words, and fearing that others will laugh at you while 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-speaking. 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 television programs 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 idioms.
How is it possible to learn Spanish from TV shows and shows without understanding the language? The point is to just start watching and listening even if you understand 0% of what you are hearing.
Many days and weeks can go by where you think you are 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 something 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 return 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. Hang in there, 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 solid 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 kid… how could you ever forget them?
If by 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 rules of letter pronunciation and you will 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 while reading aloud while learning to familiarize yourself 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 unfamiliar words quickly. The words you search for can be used immediately or written 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 unfamiliar and interesting 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 words in Spanish that I was unfamiliar with. I also wrote phrases and words in English for which I wanted to find the equivalent in Spanish. This will be of greater help to you as you progress further and further 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 just 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 stay 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 in learning Spanish the easy way.
If you want to see more free information, tips and recommended products for learning the Spanish language, visit my blog: Learning Spanish today!
