Learn Spanish at Home
Learning Spanish at home? Easier said than done.
What do you need to succeed in learning Spanish at home?
Here you have a few tips!
1. Choose a Spanish dialect
Spanish is the official language in 21 countries, and not all Spanish is the same.
Before start learning Spanish, choose the Spanish dialect you want or need to learn.
In a broad sense, Spanish can be grouped into…
- European Spanish
- Mexican Spanish
- Central American Spanish
- Caribbean Spanish
- Rioplatense Spanish
- Chilean Spanish
How different is one dialect from another? Let’s take a look.
This is how “Did you guys take the bus this morning?” is said in different Spanish dialects.
- ¿Habéis tomado el autobús esta mañana? (Spain)
- ¿Tomaron el camión esta mañana? (Mexico)
- ¿Tomaron el colectivo esta mañana? (Argentina)
There are differences in vocabulary and grammar, but also in how words are pronounced.
Focusing on one Spanish dialect at a time can help you sound like a natural Spanish speaker.
Curious about listening to different Spanish accents? Watch these talented Youtubers.
2. Get some guidance
Learning Spanish involves learning to speak in Spanish, understanding what you hear or read, and being able to write.
You need to develop skills. How?
Developing a skill is not for the easily daunted. You will need time, effort, practice, and feedback, and this is what most people who are trying to learn Spanish at home get wrong.
They don’t give much importance to practice and feedback, the key ingredients to developing a skill.
Practice what? How? How much time? And what about the “feedback” thing? Let’s answer these questions.
If you can afford a teacher….
Hire him. If you can afford a Spanish teacher, get him.
Why? He will provide you will opportunities to practice Spanish and give you feedback. My recommendation: get a Spanish teacher whose native language is Spanish.
Oh! But don’t get any native Spanish speaker to teach you Spanish. If he does not know the process to teach Spanish, he will most likely frustrate you and unconsciously make you believe that Spanish is a hard language to learn, which is totally false.
Ready to hire? Let me share with you some options.
My favorite Spanish academy for beginners is Homeschool Spanish Academy. It’s an academy based in Guatemala, and I like the teachers because…
- They are all certified Spanish teachers.
- They are all native Spanish speakers based in Antigua, Guatemala.
- They all receive constant, extra training in-house.
If you would like to give HSA a try, you can schedule a free lesson here.
Do you prefer to look for a freelancer? I would recommend you ask him to share with you the topics he will teach you in the first months.
What he shares with you should look something like this…
What I mean is… make sure your teacher has a plan, a good strategy, or a method for teaching Spanish.
You can hire freelance teachers in…
If you cannot afford a coach…
If you cannot afford to have a Spanish coach, I would recommend you buy a good Spanish textbook and get a Spanish-speaking friend to correct your answers.
Some good Spanish textbooks and solutions to learn Spanish are…
Free and paid resources….
Some of my favorite sites where you can find free resources to learn Spanish are…
Remember, above all, whenever you practice your Spanish, make sure to ask someone who knows Spanish to correct you.
Practice how? Let’s check out some study techniques.
3. Try out different study techniques
To become a fluent Spanish speaker, to need to develop the following skills.
- speaking
- listening
- reading
- writing
- (I would also recommend you learn about the culture of Spain or Latin America.)
As you already know, to develop a skill you need to practice. So, why not try out different study techniques?
Above all, I would recommend you prioritize speaking over any other skill because, at the end of the day, that’s why you want to learn Spanish: to speak it.
Here are a few techniques you can try out!
Organize vocabulary
Endel Tulving, a psychologist and neuroscientist, discovered something interesting.
Once, he formed two groups of students and gave each group 100 cards with words printed on them.
He asked one group to memorize the cards. The other group was asked to organize the cards into categories.
The results surprised Endel! When tested, both groups remembered the vocabulary with the same precision.
Organizing vocabulary into a few categories can help you remember words.
For example, are you trying to learn food vocabulary? Organize it into categories: desserts, main dishes, fruits, vegetables, etc.
Here are some helpful links to Spanish vocabulary.
Create meaningful examples
When learning new vocabulary, make sure to learn how to pronounce it, use it, and spell it.
Done? Then, create meaningful examples. What do I mean?
Let’s take the word “chocolate”, for example. I need to write a sentence using that word that is meaningful for me.
- Compré dos barras de chocolate ayer en Walmart.
I bought two chocolate bars yesterday at Walmart. It’s true. I have two chocolate bars in my fridge right now. That example is meaningful for me.
Memorize useful phrases
Have you ever been worried about learning Spanish grammar? Memorizing phrases can help you learn grammar unconsciously.
Just type “Spanish phrases” on google and you will get lots of great articles.
Imitate native Spanish speakers
This is a technique that can help you improve your Spanish pronunciation.
Basically, you need to copy (imitate) what a native Spanish speaker says, exactly.
You need to listen to a native Spanish speaker and pronounce the words he says.
When I was learning English, I got a book and its audio, and would play short phrases, and repeat after the audio. My goal was to read as fast as the man in the audio.
If you use this technique, you will reduce your accent and pronunciation problems little by little and will become a confident Spanish speaker.
Narrate stories
This is probably my favorite technique. Narrating stories can help you become fluent in Spanish.
Read a short story, piece of news, or any content that interests you in Spanish, and then narrate it to a friend that can correct you.
Remember, you are trying to develop a skill, so you need practice and feedback because practicing something incorrectly can be worst than not practicing at all.
What if you ever feel like giving up? Let’s find out what you can do.
4. Have a support system
Create or join a support team made up of other learners of Spanish.
Who can you turn to when you face challenges in the Spanish learning process? Can you name some people?
A support team can help you fight discouragement and can share with you tips on how they overcame challenges.
Two communities I joined a while ago are…
r/Spanish is the biggest Reddit community dedicated to discussing, teaching, and learning Spanish.
5. Practice daily
How much Spanish should you practice?
It is best to practice 10 minutes daily than to practice one hour once a week.
Remember, the more you practice, the faster you will become proficient in the language.
Learning a second language is challenging to say the least, but it is surely rewarding.
Think this is neat? Share it with your friends!
